While Willow loves her usual oatmeal, I like to change it up a bit in the morning with a quinoa baby cereal recipe every once in a while. I started this at about 7 months, and she has taken very well to it. Now that I’ve been thickening her purées and starting finger foods, she has graduated to regular ‘ol quinoa, but I wanted to share this recipe in case your babe isn’t quite there yet.
Quinoa is a great source of complete protein for babies (especially for little plant-based babies!) It also packs calcium, iron, and folate.
Remember to also rinse quinoa before cooking, because it rids of that bitter coating. To make simply:
- Take 1 cup of quinoa and rinse thoroughly.
- Add 1 cup of quinoa to a pan with about 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and allow to sit for about 12 minutes.
- Drain and add to a food processor with a bit of water (I added a tbsp at a time to reach my desired consistency). Blend until smooth.
- Fill up your freezer pods/storage and freeze for a few hours.
Once done, I have a ton of pods in the freezer to easily thaw for breakfast. We mix this with fruit and sometimes cinnamon, too. Some great combos:
- Quinoa, pear, and cinnamon
- Quinoa, apple, and cinnamon
- Quinoa, pear, and strawberry
- Quinoa and peach
- Quinoa and plum
- Quinoa, apple, and banana
- Quinoa, banana, and cinnamon
- Quinoa, banana, and peanut butter/almond butter
- Quinoa, apple, and peanut butter
- Quinoa, pear, and almond butter
- Quinoa, sweet potato, and cinnamon
