Menu Planning Using Baby Food Cubes

Fresh out from the freezer...

Top roll left to right: Yellow and orange vegetables - parsnip, cauliflower, parsnip & carrot & cauliflower mix, pumpkin, carrot & spring onion mix, carrot.

Second roll left to right: Grains and root vegetables - brown rice, oatmeal, potato, corn, sweet potato.

Third roll left to right: Green vegetables - broccoli, haricots verts, green peas.

Fourth roll left to right: Beans - mung bean, red bean, black bean

Bottom roll: Meat protein - Chicken

I try to mix a favourite food with another non-favourite food so as to ensure that J will have a balance diet. For example, he loves potatoes, but can accept or tolerate broccoli. Thus, I like to do a combi of broccoli + potato to ensure that he will enjoy his meal. Below are additional combinations following this principle for J:

Combinations for main course:
- Haricots verts/Broccoli + Potato or
- Parsnip/Carrot/Green peas + Brown rice/Oatmeal or
- Sweet potato/oats + Oatmeal or
- Black beans + brown rice
- Black beans + carrot

Dessert:
- Avocado + 1/4 banana
- 1/2 Banana
- Corn + oatmeal
- Mung bean + 1/4 banana
- Red bean + 1/4 banana
- Red bean + corn
- Sweet potato

When planning menu, I try to ensure that he gets a varied meal. For example, beans does not provide complete proteins. Thus, if I serve beans to dessert, I will serve a type of grain such as brown rice as part of the main course. If I serve an orange vegetable in the starter, I will try to serve a green vegetable in the main course. In a meal, I try to ensure that there is a yellow veg., green veg. root veg. and grain. Making and freezing food in cubes allows me to easily combine to make a varied meal for J. The following menus are examples following this principle:

Lunch/Dinner (4 – 6 cubes)

Menu 1:
- Broccoli + potato (starter)
- Carrot+ brown rice (main course)
- Mung beans + 1/4 banana (dessert)

Menu 2:
- Green peas + potato (starter)
- Haricots verts + brown rice (main course)
- Red beans + 1/4 banana (dessert)

Menu 3:
- Haricots verts + potato (main course)
- Parsnip + brown rice (starter)
- Corn + Oatmeal (dessert)

Breakfast menu (2-4 cubes):
- Corn + oatmeal or
- Banana + oatmeal or
- Carrot + oatmeal or
- Green peas + oatmeal or
- Sweet potato + brown rice or
- Parsnip + brown rice