Baby food basics: almond bites

This is for my friend Jamie.

I started making these little "almond bites" for Cami once she began eating finger food around 12 or 13 months. I tried giving her cooked garbanzo beans (chick peas) at first but she turned her nose up at them so I had to get creative and disguise them.
These are full of protein, super healthy, and great for on-the-go.

**What you will need:

~ garbanzo beans - dried or canned (if you get them dried you must soak and cook them first: soak overnight in frig, rinse in cold water, cover with fresh water and cook covered on low for an hour to hour and a half)

~ almond butter

~ coconut oil (optional)

~ blender or food processor

~ bowl, plate, knife, large fork, nail clippers

* I started out using about half beans and half almond butter but have progressed to about 1 part almond butter, 2 parts beans. I don't measure, just kind of eye it.

* First, puree the garbanzo beans in the blender or food processor. You may need to add a bit of water if they are too chunky and not blending well. Not too much water tho...you don't want them too mushy.

This is a jar of beans being thawed from the freezer. I made a huge batch of beans and ran out of almond butter so I froze a bunch.

* Dump the bean mush into a bowl and add in the almond butter. The bowl needs to be large enough to accomodate a lot of mixing and mushing.

* I drizzle some coconut oil over the mixture to help it blend. Just start out with a little, then add more if needed. You don't want it to be too oily.
(I haven't tried this yet but you could probably use honey instead of coconut oil. It would definitely make them sweeter!)

* Mash and mash and mash with a large fork until it's all well blended. If you don't mind getting dirty just dive in with your hands and pretend it's Playdoh! I'm sure that will blend it quite well.

***The next 3 steps take quite a while if you're making a large batch so get comfy.

*Once it's all blended, take a good chunk of it and squish it in a nice straight line across a plate. (You can see in this picture why you need nail clippers before doing this.)

*Use a knife (butter knife works fine) to slice along in bite size pieces.


*Then take each piece, form into a ball, and toss in a jar or storage container (glass is best.)

*Store them in the frig. I usually make a big batch and freeze extra portions in jars.

Let me know if you have any questions!