Since Banoota is now eating what we have for lunch, it has been a lot easier as we don’t have to make her special meals. At first we still had to puree some of the food she eats from time to time and there are still some things which she is not allowed to have yet, like fish.
Last year during Ramadan, Banoota was still reliant on milk 100 % so there weren’t any special preparations required for ramadan but this year, we have to figure out what to cook her in a small portion that’s not baby food and still relatively health so we have been testing a few recipes from different books which allow us freeze different portions of the meals so that we can feed Banoota decent healthy lunch.
One of Banoota’s favourites is the Hidden Vegetable Bolognese Sauce which he has with either pasta or rice.
What you’ll need:
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 small Onion
1 small Leek
1/2 Celery Stick
1/2 small Red Pepper
1 small Carrot
1/2 an Apple
1 clove Garlic
1 tin(400g) of chopped tomatoes, you can substitute with fresh
450g Mince Beef
4 tablespoon Tomato Puree
2 tablespoon Ketchup
250ml Beef Stock, again you can make your own fresh stock.
1/4 teaspoon Oregano
Salt, Pepper & Spices of your choice.
1). Saute the veggies (except tomato) apple and garlic in olive oil for 10 minutes. If you want to add some flavour, you can add herbs and spices to taste.
2). Put the vegetables in a blender with the tomatoes and blend until smooth.
3). Cook the ground beef in the same saucepan you used to saute the vegetables to benefit from their flavour. Cook until brown/tender over medium-high heat.
If your child still have trouble with lumpy food then you can add the minced meat to the blender and blend blend blend. (Note, we did not do this for Banoota)
4). Add the meat and tomato mixture in a pot and stir, add the remaining ingredients, tomato puree, ketchup, salt to taste, stock and oregano and stir over low-medium heat for 45 minutes until the sauce is of a thick nature.
5). Divide the mixture in suitable containers for the freezer and you’re done. The recipe makes about 5 big portions, if you want them small you could also have 6 containers.
Banoota’s lunch yesterday, we made some pasta and added the sauce on it. She enjoyed it greatly. Since she still has trouble chewing we made sure the pasta was boiled until it was extra soft.
This sauce can be used in many different varieties of food, you can at bechamel sauce on the top of it and sprinkle with cheese until brown for another alternative. The apple adds sweetness to the sauce making it tastier. All you have to do is take it out of the freezer and re-heat it for 10 minutes while your pasta/rice is cooking and your ready to go. This has made feeding Banoota during Ramadan much less time consuming and at the same time she’s having health food. It’s not superbly healthy and all organic but it does have a lot of nutrients and is better than ordering out or ready made microwavable meals.