No-Fuss Baby Porridge for Busy Mom 简易婴儿米粥

*updated*

Being a full time working mom with 2 little ones, week day morning is always hush hush time, cooking mushy porridge for my baby girl seems like a real challenge if I need to be early and beat the morning traffic.

Instead of cooking in a rush in the morning, I decided to use slow cooker to slowly cook the porridge overnight. After trying for 2 nights, I finally find the right method that works.

Pumpkin and sweet potato porridge, soft and mushy

Here's how.

Preparation time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 6 hours
Serving size: 2 small bowls
Suitable for: 8 months onwards=

Ingredients:
1 palmful or 1/4 cup of rice (adjust according to your baby's eating portion)
3 rice bowls of hot water
1 cup vegetables, cut into big wedges (refer below on possible choices of vegetables)

The Steps:
1. Soak the rice in water for 20 minutes so it's soften. Put the rice into the slow cooker, fill with 3 bowls of hot water. Add the cut vegetable, make sure they are covered with water.

2. Set temperature to "High" and let it cook for 30 minutes.

3. Turn to "Low" temperature, let porridge cook overnight for about 6 hours (note: "Low" is different from "Auto" mode).


A soft and mushy porridge will be waiting for you the next morning. Just lightly crush the vegetables with the back of the ladle. I usually cook the porridge at around 11:30pm, switch to low temp 30min later and by 6:30am - 7am I'll just turn off the cooker.

Store the porridge immediately into vacuum food jar and it shall be good to keep for 6-8 hours, depending what type of food jar you used. Rinsing the food jar with hot water before storing the porridge helps to extend the keep warm duration. 

When feeding, scope just enough in a clean bowl, do not reheat unfinished portion or overnight porridge to serve to baby as you won't want to risk feeding your little one contaminated food.

You can mix and match the following (remember to apply the 3-days rule when introducing new food). All portions are roughly chopped unless mentioned otherwise:

Pumpkin / butternut

Broccoli stem (finely chopped)

Sweet Potatoes

Carrots

Potatoes

Sweet Peas (finely chopped)

Asparagus stems (peeled and finely chopped)

Onion (finely chopped)

Green or Red Cabbage (finely chopped)

Celery (peeled and finely chopped) - use sparingly

Long beans (finely chopped)

Tofu (bean curd), finely chopped

Note: above are the vegetables that I had tried personally hence I add them in the list, you may include other ingredients of your choice, for example I have friends who add mushrooms, corns, butternut, peas etc for their little ones' meal.


I usually mix 2-3 vegetables of different colors in a single cooking for mixture of nutrition, no salt or sauce added. If you would like some natural flavoring for the porridge, you may add pre-washed anchovies when cooking or add half a tea spoon of this homemade anchovies powder when feeding. Do avoid using ready stock cube as those usually contain preservative and MSG.

You may read here to understand why adding of salt and sauces are not recommended for young infant.

For first time parent, do read about the Feeding Essential for Little Ones before you start your shopping spree... :)


Lesson about Fish Porridge...
After baby past 8 months old, I introduced fish into her diet. I have tried adding fish into her porridge and cook with the above method, and I would advise DO NOT USE  this method for fish. Firstly, fish only requires short cooking time (about 5 minutes) and by storing it in food jar it has a fishy smell that I really dislike;  I doubt babies would like that too.

So I have changed my approach. Instead of cooking the porridge for baby everyday, I prepare the ingredient for daily portion and past it to the care taker. This way, I know exactly what my baby is eating and can ensure she has balance intake of nutrients.


On The Go?
When bringing baby to the care-taker's house before work, or bringing her out for a short visit, I'll just pack everything i need into a keep warm food carrier, simple and sleek looking! 

As seen here: Food jar, BPA safe food container and feeding spoon and bib, all in a trendy looking, insulated food carrier.

This Fuel food warmer carrier with all the feeding stuff I need

Sharing with Parents and Caretaker...
I will always taste the porridge to find out if it taste nice and if the texture is just right for baby. Don't just follow books or advices blindly, find out for yourself what works best for your precious little one (at least this is what I believe).

Feeding variety of food in earlier age will avoid a picky eater, this will also ensure your little one absorbs balanced nutrients during their growing years.

Besides, some wonder why I only used the broccoli stem and not the florets? Well, I avoid florets for my baby due to the fear of any pesticide residues. You may choose to include the florets if you are certain on the  source of broccoli. It's probably just me being extra cautious. :)

Happy feeding!