Yes, stacie – same year, i think we took a bunch of sociology classes together, feels like sooo long ago! Congratulations on all this wonderful baby food you’re developing. i’ll be looking for it on the shelves!

with that in mind, i’d still freeze a bunch of those lentils. and if she isn’t keen on them plain, you can mix them with other things to make them more appealing to her—without hiding them. they also up the nutritional content of the other foods. so it is a win-win.

try things like lentils mixed with yogurt and a little cumin. or lentils with roasted sweet potato and cinnamon. or lentils with quinoa and soaked/chopped raisins. or even lentils with banana and a bit of curry. i could go on and on, but you get the idea.

finally, i’m not sure exactly why your patties didn’t hold up. but i’d guess it was a too-much-moisture issue. you have to make sure you cook down the lentil-veggie mix until it is pretty devoid of moisture before you shape them into patties and sautee. you might also want to try lentil rice balls. mix 1 part cooked rice with 1 part cooked lentils/veggies. by that, i mean, for example, 1 cup rice plus 1 cup of lentil-veggie mix. and, again, if you need to, cook off some liquid. let cool. shape into balls. and roll in wheat germ or flax seed. no need to do any more cooking.

let me know how it goes!

First off, I love your lentil cake idea! I remember crusting in Cheerios–LOL! It’s brilliant. Then, when your kid gets older, it’s funny. It was a good thought to use rice cereal as a binder–I probably would have tried the same thing–but now that I think of it, commercial rice cereal (is that what you used?) is super fine. Kinda loose, like well pureed veggies. Sounds like your cakes need a little more heft.

I used to make my own rice cereal for Isaac. I know I tried grinding raw rice (like in a coffee grinder) and then cooking and also pureeing cooked rice. I don’t recall which worked better. In this case, though, I’m thinking it’s better to puree after cooking so that the rice gets all sticky. Usually a bad thing but, in this case, a good thing. Also, at 8 mos, if you think your daughter can handle it, leave a little texture. That might help, too. Other binders that you can experiment with: egg yolk (no whites!), chick pea flour (careful if your daughter is gassy: lentils + chick peas), and wheat germ.

Another thought is to add a little cider vinegar (if you haven’t already). Michelle and I worked HARD on developing an 8+ mos lentil recipe for ChowBaby. The big challenge was giving the earthy lentils some brightness without using ingredients, like citrus, that are only recommended for 12+ mos. A dash of cider vinegar is safe and really helped brighten the lentils. This may not address your daughter’s issue, but who knows–everyone likes food that tastes as good as possible!

I’m going to sleep on other ideas for your lentil puree. Also, anyone else out there have ideas?! This is a great challenge!

Thanks so much, margaret