Spicy Sunday – Ginger
When you think of ginger, you might immediately think of gingerbread cookies or cakes. Ginger however has a myriad of other culinary uses and ginger nicely spices up many dishes that you can share with your baby.
Ginger is thought to help ease a variety of digestive upsets and conditions such as nausea, diarrhea and general tummy upsets. Herbal tea with ginger root is an effective and safe way for Mommy to Be to help relieve morning sickness. Check out EarthMamaAngelBaby’s special Morning Wellness tea if you need some nausea relief, expecting or not! Ginger tea is also wonderfully soothing when you have the flu or a sore throat.
Try incorporating ginger into a few of the foods that your baby is eating by roasting pears with a bit of ginger, roasting pumpkin and butternut squash with ginger or try adding some ginger when you are roasting carrots. For the big kids, add a slice or 2 of ginger to some homemade lemonade or ice tea!
Using fresh ginger is really simple though the peeling is a bit time consuming. Buy ginger in whole root form as shown in the picture and make sure it is firm and overall wrinkle free (a few lines and wrinkles are normal). Peel the ginger root by using a small paring knife or a small potato peeler. The exposed flesh should be a yellow-ish or tan-ish color; it may have a pink hue as well. From here, you can mince it, dice it or use the peeler to make thin strips of it. Add ginger to your dish during the cooking and it will give a nice light flavor. If you add ginger at the end of the cooking, it will be more strong and some say pungent. Enjoy this very tasty and versatile recipe for the whole family (Hi Elaine and Lydia & Deborah!)
Elaine’s Jasmine Rice (6mos and up)
You can add meats and veggies to this rice dish and serve as a meal for baby. This will also puree well but watch it so it doesn’t turn into a paste!
Ingredients:
12 cups Chicken or Vegetable broth
1 1/2 cup jasmine rice
Ginger – as much or as little as you like – try 4 strips about 2 inches long
Directions:
Combine 12 cups of chicken or vegetable broth with 1 1/2 cups of jasmine rice in a large stockpot.
Add a couple of slices of fresh peeled ginger for extra flavor. (Ginger is a natural tummy soother)
Bring to a boil.
Turn heat down to a simmer and cook for about 1 1/2 hours or until rice turns very smooth and creamy.
Stir occasionally.
The rice will break up to a porridge-like consistency.
Cool the mixture, remove the ginger slices and serve warm – Total YUM!
You can spoon rice into ice cube trays and freeze as is or puree if needed. This will freeze well - if you freeze it in portions without additions such as meats or veggies, then you can change the dish at every meal.
Category: Finger Foods, Herbs & Spices, More Baby Food Recipes, Spices
Is it really 12 cups of broth?
Comment by Jennifer Moore — July 21, 2010 @ 12:45 pm
Do you use store bought chicken or veggie stock? Where do you find jasmine rice? I have never heard of that. And you cook it for 1 1/2 hrs??? That’s a long time.
Comment by cheryl — April 23, 2012 @ 10:57 pm
I use both store bought and homemade stock and broth. I like the Pacific Naturals Organic brand, low sodium. Jasmine rice is pretty easy to find and I find it either in the “regular” rice section or in the Ethnic Foods department. My grocery store has all sorts of different departments that carry the same things… Yes, it does seem like along time but it takes that long for the liquid to absorb. You can cut the time if you would like a more “brothy” dish, just be sure the rice is cooked.
Comment by Maggie — April 25, 2012 @ 8:23 pm