The Glorious Organic Brown Rice Porridge/Økologisk Brune Ris Grød/有机糙米粥[yǒu jī cāo mǐ zhōu]

For babies from 6 months.

If there is one single type of rice I would choose to introduce to J, it would be the brown rice because of its nutritional value.

Directions:
1. 1 cup of brown rice to 3 cups of water in a automatic rice cooker (takes about 30 mins)

2. When cooked, stir in 200 ml of formula milk and 3 teaspoons of vegetable oil

3. Puree with blender until desired consistency is achieved

OR for younger babies and to reduce cooking time:

1. Place a cup of water on the stove to boil.

2. While water is heating, grind ¼ cup of brown rice into powder for 2 minutes or less.

3. Sprinkle the brown rice powder into the boiling water and let it sit over low heat for 10 minutes. (Whisk frequently to prevent burning and lumps).

4. Add 3 teaspoons of olive oil and 2 teaspoons of formula milk powder (optional).

Storage:
1. Cool down, pour into ice cube tray and freeze.

2. Once frozen, knock the cubes out and store them in freezer bags (makes 2 ice cube trays, can store up to 8 weeks)

Nutritional Value:
Complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins B1, B3 and B6, manganese (essential for healthy bones, manganese also reduces the symptoms of asthma and is a powerful, energy-providing antioxidant), iron, phosphorus, selenium, Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs), fibre

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Additional Information:
A baby at home is a good time to re-look at the diet of the family. Rice, in particular fragrant white rice, is a staple diet in the Chinese home. But this is a tradition that I will not be keeping. Being a cross-cultural family, I intend to pick the best from both worlds – both the west and the east, both Danish and Chinese.

Brown rice or unpolished rice is a much better choice than the traditional white rice. I am determined to teach J to cultivate an appreciation for them. In order to succeed, this would have to start young, already when he is a baby.

Brown rice is very nutritious on its own, but eating it on its own is very plain and unappetizing. To make it more enjoyable for J, I mix 1 cube of brown rice with 1 cube of mashed vegetables, such as mashed carrots, broccoli or green peas. This will be his main course before serving a nutritious desert thereafter (like sweet corn and oats, or avocado and banana or banana alone). I intend to start slow with meat, prefering that he gets his protein from plant sources such as red beans, mung beans, kidney beans, black beans, tofu, etc.

So far, J is taking to eating brown rice and vegetables well :-), and I think that it is because I have not introduced him to meat yet.

It is recommended to buy organic brown rice as studies have revealed that traces of arsenic may be present in non-organic brown rice. Although these traces are too small to cause serious short term illness, in the long term they can have negative effects on the body. I therefore, only serve organically grown brown rice to J.

Homemade rice cereal using brown rice is more nutritious than most commercial cereals, which are usually made with white rice.

References:
www.homemade.baby-food-recipes.com/brown-rice-baby-food.html

www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/best-first-food-for-baby.html#ixzz0Tq8xxXVa