Simple Grains (Cereal)

Although there are just a handful of baby cereals (oatmeal, rice and multigrain) on the market, 

you can make your little one a variety of different grains to try.

We skipped the rice cereal phase completely and jumped straight into veggies but I find myself using

grains all the time now to add to Peanut's meals.

In the first row you see brown jasmine rice, brown rice medley, red quinoa

and then pearled barley and regular quinoa.

For some reason I didn't show oats but I use those all the time as well.

Don't limit yourself or your baby to the same grains all the time

and don't assume that your little one won't like something.

It's amazing what they will eat when you expose them to knew things.

Also remember that just because they don't immediately dive into something that they don't like it.

Try and try again.

If you don't want to buy an entire box or bag of grains try out stores like Whole Foods or Sprouts that

have the option of scooping from a barrel. 

It's a great want to try something out and deciding if you like it.

These grains aren't going to be the same as their store bought counterparts.

These have a really creamy consistency similar to Cream of Wheat or Malt-O-Meal.

Simple Grains (Cereal)

1/4 cup grains of your choice

1 cup water

Grind your grains to a powder.

I use a coffee/spice grinder but you can also use a blender.

Bring your water to a boil and sprinkle in your ground grains, 

whisking constantly.

Turn the heat down to low and whisk occasionally, letting it simmer for about 5 minutes.

The mixture will get thick and creamy and all the water will be absorbed in the grains.

Alternatively you can sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the ground powder 

into 1/2 cup boiling water for a smaller portion.

Store the remainder of the powder in a sealed container in a cool, dark place.

Serve this warm (cold rice/grains aren't the best texture) and thin it down to the desired consistency with

breast milk, formula or water.

*Variations

-Add fruit purees or mashed fruit like banana

-Use this as a thickener for runny purees

-Add this to any of your veggie or vegetable and meat purees to complete the meal

-Serve this with breakfast, lunch and dinner

*Storage

This is best served warm and freshly made

 but really who has the time to make fresh cereal all the time?

You can easily refrigerate it, just be sure to heat thoroughly, mixing in additional liquid if needed, and let it cool to an luke warm temperature for your little.

Heating thoroughly brings back the creamy texture.

Yes, you can freeze it.  It comes out a bit rubbery.

When this happens just heat it, then add your liquid and stir it up as you would the refrigerated grains.

I would suggest making small batches vs. huge batches for this reason.

When used with other foods, the heat thoroughly rule still applies.  

Noone likes to eat cold rice.

*Benefits

Brown rice still has it's bran layer which allows it to retain more fiber (4x more then white rice)

as well as nutrients like niacin, iron, vitamin B6, magnesium and manganese.

Quinoa is not actually a grain but a seed and is packed with protein and essential amino acids.  

It's far more nutritious then rice and has more calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, copper, manganese, fiber and zinc than many other grains.

Barley has loads of fiber, iron, selenium and niacin.  Typically you see pearled barley but dehulled barley is unprocessed so get it if you see it.

Oats are a great source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. 

They also have tons of manganese, vitamin E, zinc, and protein.