Sonia has been communicating with me in the form of comments, and messages and posts on my Facebook page since the past six months at least. She posted this recipe on my Facebook page almost 4 months back. It’s taken me this long to get her to say yes for posting this recipe on the blog, simply because Sonia responds to messages after a huge time gap. And by that time we’ve moved on to another topic. :-) So thank you Sonia for finally giving me the go-ahead for posting this recipe, for providing me with the pics, and for sharing your experience with me and other moms.
When I sat down today to publish Sonia’s recipe, I opened the posts on the Facebook page and my heart skipped a beat. I couldn’t find her post. I knew I had saved the recipe but wasn’t sure if I had saved the pic on my computer. After a brief panic attack, I found out that I had saved the pic as well. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to post this recipe on the blog, unless Sonia had a backed up copy. Now over to Sonia. (I’ve retained what Sonia shared as is.)
Sonia writes:
“At present, I am at most valuable job of all: Yes- I am a full time mom, looking after my bundle of joy…my son Aadwik. He is 19 months (Birth date- 08/09/2012). I live in Sheffield, UK with my husband and my son. Earlier, I was working as a Post-Doctorate research scholar.
Here, I want to share one incidence with all moms. This happened on a holiday visit to one of our friends around two months back. It was dinner time by the time we reached there and Aadi (nick name of my son) happily had his first meal…wow! But next morning, he refused to eat his breakfast. I thought maybe he was tired but then he refused his mid-morning snack too. At lunch, I gave him vegetable with roti and he spat out. I was surprised as he never did this before. Well, I kept my cool but obviously was worried for him. By that evening he had eaten just half a banana and…he behaved in a similar way at dinner too (daal rice). Then I thought to myself, Ok…that is enough…let me try to cook something for him. I made upma…the simplest thing I could make on a short notice, and to my surprise, he ate it….Thank God!.. Next day also, he ate only what I cooked. Now I understood….he wanted me to cook his food… So, for rest of our stay there (3 days) I cooked for him. It is surprising how he rejected food cooked by someone else. That said quite a lot about the perception of a 17 month old toddler. I don’t want to scare you, Moms! But be ready for almost everything and anything….”
Porridge for Toddlers, Oats Porridge with Fruits and Nuts
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oats
- 1 cup milk breast milk/formula for babies younger than one year
- Half apple
- Half dried apricot
- 1 tbsp powdered dates
- 1 tbsp powdered almonds
- 1 tbsp powdered walnuts
- 1 tbsp grated fresh coconut
- Half tsp brown/organic sugar
Instructions
- Peel and chop the apple into small pieces.
- Cook the apple pieces in half cup of water till they turn translucent.
- Meanwhile, in a separate pan, cook oats in milk for 4 to 5 minutes. Stir intermittently to ensure that the oats don’t get stuck to the bottom of the pan. (For babies younger than one year, you can cook oats in water and then add breast milk/formula.)
- After the oats are done, turn off heat and transfer them to a bowl.
- Add powdered dates, almonds, and walnuts, and grated coconut. (Please check with your health care provider before including nuts in your baby’s diet.)
- Mix the ingredients in a bowl and then add the cooked apple pieces. (If your baby’s too small to eat the pieces, you can mash them.)
- Add sugar and mix well.
- Garnish with chopped apricot and serve warm. (Don’t add the apricot pieces if your baby’s too small to chew them properly.)
- Serve warm.
Notes
You can cook oats in almond milk. They taste yummy!
Raisins can be added instead of apricot.
This surely looks yummy. Must try when I get back home. I actually give the same ingredients with ragi (without fruits) which Vishruth enjoys. Hope he will like this too!