Stocks and Cooking porridge for baby with slow cooker

New to boiling stocks and cooking porridge for your baby? Not sure where to start and how to make yummy stocks that satisfy your lil ones’ tummies? Don’t know how to cook (very soft) porridge for your baby who has just started weaning?

Fret not! Here’s sharing what I used to do for my little girl after she turned 8 months old!

All you need are a soup pot (for the stocks), a tiny slow cooker (for cooking porridge), gather your ingredients and you’re good to go!

Now before you read on, I’ve updated the Food for Kids page with suitable stock recipes for porridge/ soupy noodles, so remember to check that out! 🙂 And the Soup recipes have also been compiled and you can access them from the link, or the drop-down menu of the Recipes for the family tab.

Vegetable (and fruit) stock

Ingredients

• 1 deep soup pot of water
• 2 corn cobs (IMPT note: some babies are allergic to corn, so if baby develops any allergic symptoms, stop giving the stock to the baby)
• As many apples as you like (skin and seeds removed, chopped into pieces: you can leave the skin on if you bought organic apples and washed them really really thoroughly. Personally, I wouldn’t risk it so I always remove the skin although it is said that the skin adds nutrients to the stock)
• Carrots (only suitable for babies above 8 months due to nitrates)

Method:

1. Boil on high heat till the water boils then simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours.
2. Sieve the ingredients from the soup and pack the stock into small portions to be frozen.

Meat and Vegetable Stock

Ingredients

• 1 deep soup pot of water (about 2-3L)
• 2 chicken breast bones (washed clean, fat removed)
• About 6-7 pieces of pork ribs (more if you like; washed clean, fat removed)
• 2 corn cobs
• 1-2 carrots (depending on the size of the carrot)
• 2-3 pieces of garlic (to ‘remove’ the smell of the meat)

Method

1. Put the chicken bones and pork ribs in a small pot of water (just enough to cover them).
2. After the water starts boiling, turn off the fire. This is to remove the dirt and possibly some blood from the meat and bones. Remove the chicken and pork from the water and discard the water.
3. Clean the corn and chop it into a few pieces.
4. Peel the carrot(s) and cut into cubes.
5. Put in all the ingredients into a fresh batch of water in a deep soup pot.
6. Once the soup starts to boil, you can turn down the fire and simmer for at least 2 hours. Normally I will simmer till I have about half a pot of soup left so that the stock is sweeter. The longer duration you boil your stock, the sweeter it will be.
7. Let the stock cool and portion into small servings to be frozen for future use.

Directions for cooking porridge using the slow cooker
• Wash 1 tablespoon (15ml) – I used a measuring spoon – of whole brown rice grains (I use those with husk removed – it should look light brown rather than dark brown) thoroughly to remove dirt. If you’re using normal white long-grain rice, you may need to add about 20-25ml of grains instead.
• Pour in three ladles of stock (about 150ml) and the rice grains into the slow cooker
• Warm the stock and grains on the stovetop till the stock is boiling hot before placing the slow cooker back to cook. [If your slow cooker is not suitable to be placed on the stove-top, do this step in a saucepan then transfer it to your slow cooker]
• Leave it to cook for about 2hours. After 2 hours, check the consistency of the porridge in case the porridge becomes too thick and dry. (If it does become too dry, add some hot water/ stock to it and let it cook for a little while.) The consistency of the porridge should be mushy enough for beginners to porridge.

For more recipes, check out the Food for Kids tab and Recipes for the Family.

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