Rice Balls for Toddlers with From The Frontline’s Gabrielle Morel

My youngest set of twins recently turned one. This is that wonderful stage where they’re eating more adult foods but some things are still off limits. The early phase during the toddler years when they can’t really master getting the spoon to their mouth yet and 90% of their food ends up on the wall and/or floors. So you could imagine my dismay when my babies got sick last week; what could I give them to eat? I had no idea how I would ever get these babies to eat soup when I barely able to get them to eat finger foods!

Well a good friend suggested rice would help my babies with those illness induced diaper issues.  I made brown rice for my babies and surprisingly they loved it! The only issue was every time I tried to feed them rice they grabbed the spoon out of my hand, which sent tiny grains of rice all over my floor. So the next day I decided I would make them rice balls, this way they could feed themselves. It is a little time consuming but it is a great idea for babies who love and are learning to feed themselves.

Ingredients
1 cup of Rice (I used brown rice for this recipe)
1 Spoonful of Beans
1 Strip of Chicken Breast

Directions
1. Add rice, beans, and chicken breast to the food processor. Mix well until the mixture becomes a paste-like texture. (I have tried this with rice only and it didn’t work very well.  I would suggest using a food processor to blend the rice with beans or peas to help the rice balls stick together.)

2. Grab a pinch full of rice mixture and roll them into tiny balls with hands. (I would suggest using ½ tablespoon of the rice mixture so it is small enough for a baby to pick up with their fingers.)