Tilapia & Matoke

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a weaning guide. To START weaning your baby please follow a proper weaning guide and the instruction of your baby’s doctor.

My little one took this down like it was the best thing ever. Out of all the pureed meals that I’ve made, I’d say this one and the chicken were enjoyed the most.

I used rosemary to mask the fishy smell and  added carrot to the matoke for a sweetness, and it all came together very nicely.  

First take half a filet of the tilapia, was and feel through for bones so you can remove them. Take your time with this part, make sure you get all the bones out. Please do not dismiss it thinking you’ll be blending anyway so it will be fine. There is a chance that if a small bone is left behind it may not blend completely, and would not be nice for that to get stuck in your child’s throat.

Once done, place over a couple of rosemary stems in a parchment lined backing dish and place in the oven at 180°C for 30 min.

In the mean time you can prepare the matoke. Peel about for large matoke bananas, cut them up and place in cooking pot with water to just about cover them. Cut in a medium sized red onion and peeled large carrot in chunky sizes.

Cook/boil till the matoke in cooked, which should be just about when the water is running out.

Your fish should be ready by the time you start cooking the matoke. This is yet a second chance to pick through with a fork for bones if you rushed the process before cooking it.

Blend the fish. You may need to add a bit of water to help that process along. I also added just a little bit of the rosemary that it was baked with to the blender. You don’t have to.

Then blend the matoke and carrot mix when it’s done cooking. I always blend the different food items separately because it allows me to control portion sizes better when serving the baby after blending, or when packing to freeze for later. Most especially greens like spinach. I once ended up with a lot of green goo that neither baby or I wanted to eat!

Then serve your baby, mix with spoon and taste. Add the fish in small portions, taste and see if you’d like it to have more fish first then add. If it tastes good to you then baby will love it too.

Matoke is an awesomely nutritious starch and fish is a great lean source of protein. The carrot has lots of good stuff too and it really rounds up the flavour of the dish with it’s sweet notes.

Try it! let me know how baby likes it. (^_^)

Mothers! How did you make fish or matoke for your babies? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.