Baby Rice Cereal

[Amsiedoll]

Just wondering if anyone has made the TM Rice Cereal from EDB and whether they stored the left overs to re-use? Were you successful in re-using it? If so, how or what did you do?  My twins have just started solids and I made the rice flour which I then added breast milk to. I had a taste and it made my toes curl!  The bubbies ate it but I am wondering if I should have cooked the rice flour (as suggested in the EDB)? I saw Alan's recipe which looks great but we're just starting out on rice cereal alone and i really don't want to buy the shop stuff - it reminds me of plastic flakes! Would love to hear your suggestions, help much appreciated.

[Nay-nay]

Mmmm maybe the different milk flavour was what you weren't used to??  I make rice porridge for the whole family when we run out of oats. Just mill up 300g of rice and store it in a air tight container and cook as you need it. Maybe you could cook it (30g) with 250g water adding your milk after so it doesn't lose any goodness. But cooking it (imho) is alot better.   Let us know how they like it.

[debetha]

i think you have to cook it, was also disappointed that you needed to cook the rice - not sure how the bought ones differ in that no cooking is required. As naynay suggested, I made a cooked batch but used water, and from memory reduced the amount, so I could add breast milk as i made it up. can't get my head around cooking with my breast milk! stored leftovers for a day and a half. wasn't overly impressed though, resorted to some holle rice cereal as like to add on the run to veggies & fruit i have made with breast milk or water. mostly started on veggis/ fruit alone because it is so much easier to make using tmx.
 dh added some of the milled tmx rice to some (cooked) veggies, with ebm wihout cooking and dd was not impressed! it tasted a bit grainy.
just did a batch of quinoa porridge using red quinoa, dry roasted and then ground, and cooked through and was much more impressed with this. dd will be getting many variations on a quinoa theme - much more nutrtional value than rice too. tried cooking then pureeing, mucchmuch lumpier, made dd gag and then all her dinner and milk came back up.
keen for more babyfood chat though, first baby i have had the tmx for, she is just 6 months so the start of a new journey (i did write exciting, but deleted it, as bub #4 and find starting solids a bit tedious till they can feed themselves!)
deb

[Amsiedoll]

Hi debetha. Thanks for your reply. Haven't had time to look at replies to this thread but I did end up cooking the rice flour with breastmilk and water, which was an improvement on the first attempt but like you I am not to impressed and I would say bubbies wont stay cruisie with it for very long either. I will give the quinoa a go, thanks for the tip! Are there any allergy risks with quinoa? Tomorrow we move on to apple puree. Fingers crossed!
The twins are my first bubbies to experience the joys of TMX babyfood. My other two children (not twins!) missed out but are of course sampling many other TMX concoctions. Look forward to chatting some more about first foods...it is a journey Today we ditched the spoon and sucked rice cereal of mum's (clean) pinky. We had lots of laughs and giggles...we love solids (for now!)

[debetha]

i have been thinking about it & have come to the conclusion that the coomercial rice cereal must be precooked and then dehydrated - like the quick cook rice you can buy.
quinoa isn't particularly allergenic. We have since had oats with apples z(much more impressed with oats in the tmx - both outcome & quicker to prepare, lol). made apple puree first, as  my other kids love it, & added it to the oats in the last minute of cooking. now thinking about some chicken soup as she has a cold kindly shared by her siblings. Think I am being a bit less cautious than you, we haven't had any food issues here with my others, & they seem to have made a u turn on the theory of what causes allergies (ie early vs late xposure) - the sooner she can eat the same as her sibs the better. plus I only have one baby to feed! tend to hold back before trying dairy & egg though.
we tried pear before apple, and now I tend to make a combination apple & pear. the brat foods (= banana, rice, apple and toast) can be constipating, so i try to limit/ balance the - hence the pear.
looking forward to hearing how you go & sharing ideas. caught up with my 2yr old's mothers group yesterday and all 4 of us have thermomixes - but only 1 other has a baby. so hopefully lots of ideas between us.
cheers
deb

[Amsiedoll]

I'm being cautious because the twins are 4 and 3 quarters months old. They are fully breastfed but are looking for that bit extra. They are only getting tasters but by the time we get to 6 months it will be full steam ahead! The benefit of starting now is that when they hit 6 months and need that iron hit we'll be ready to get straight into it. I picked this tip up from Tizzie Hall Save Our Sleep. I've never started this early before as the other two were formula from about four months when my supply went heywire. No supply issues this time round!
So we tried apple. After the initial taster of straight apple and one pulled face  I added some BM and everybody was happy again. Back to rice cereal tonight. I halved the EDCB recipe. Instead of 1 and 1/2 MC of water I added 1/2 MC of BM and 1 MC of water. I am going to have to find some time to express more milk as the freezer supply is down to 1 container and its only small.

[debetha]

Can't be bothered expressing too much - I do a bit for feeds when I am at work (maybe 1-2 times per week). But tending to use water with the rice cereal, and using apple/ pear/ puree veg for flavour. Same for oats. She doesn't seem to mind!
Would imagine you have even more time pressure with twins. Maybe try pear (Sheyne rowley says she finds this one of the best tolerated first foods), and then you can also use just water, or half water half EBM
deb

[Amsiedoll]

Tried carrot and EBM. Twins absolutely loved it! DD hasn't been into this whole solids thing but the carrot got her interested. DS is wolfing down about a tablespoon ++ at each feed. He's loving it  Funny thing happening, my 22mth DS wants to have what the twins are having, so I am making him a bowl too, which also means he is getting EBM, something he hasn't had since he was 4 months old I'm thinking this could only be a good thing! I found getting up at 6am and expressing is working out alright, I'm able to fill two bottles so the freezer supply is on the up and up and I don't think I'll have to express everyday. I have an apple glut at the moment but I am looking forward to steaming some pears...I always find pear great for the bowel movements 

[Kristy-Anne]

We tried the baby rice cereal too and I wasn't sure what to do with it either. I actually tried to make the Thermo Fruit Wraps or whatever they are called. I do have a dehydrator but the Thermomix has stolen its' usual spot and I wasn't set up for drying the fruit anyway. I cooked up some apples and 1 of each of the kiwi fruits green/gold. I didn't peel the apples and I
 added the lemon juice, cooked to the recipe and used it as puree. My 6mth old ate it, but I'm not sure about the skins and the lemon juice or even the kiwi's. My other 2 boys ate it as well but might dry it next time to see what it is like.

I am newish to the forum, so I'm not sure how to reply under people's replies.

[judydawn]

You did just fine there Kristy-Anne.  At the bottom of each posting is the word 'reply', hit that and up will come the box box to type your reply in.  Hit  'post' and you are done