Phase 2 - Chicken porridge

Ardea had her first cold recently -- it was really one of the more emotional experiences I've had since she's been born, second only to her being in the hospital for two weeks when she was born. That sad little cough! Her little piglet snorts!  I was so glad I had some of this porridge to give her as a kind of chicken soup for babies. In Vietnam, porridge is also one of a baby's first foods so I was also excited to start introducing Ardea to part of my heritage.

Chicken Porridge
1 4lb chicken (you can go smaller too)
1/2 small cabbage, quartered
1 small onion, halved
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
8 oz mushrooms
Water
1/3 cup uncooked rice

Place the chicken and vegetables in a pot and fill with water about 2 inches above the vegetables. Cook for about 1 hour. Pierce the chicken to make sure it is done and no red liquid comes out.

Take the chicken out of the pot. Shred one of the chicken breasts into very very small pieces and set aside. (If you want ideas for what to do with the rest of the chicken, check out my previous post here).

Keep about half of the cabbage and carrots, and a quarter of the mushrooms and onion. Add the uncooked rice. Bring this mix to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes -- check the rice grains to make sure they're soft. Remove the vegetables and rice and put them into a food processor. Add the chicken and about 1/2 cup of the stock. Start the food processor -- keep an eye out on the consistency and chunkiness of the puree. If it is too thick, add more stock.

You can freeze leftover stock in an ice cube tray and use it to thin out other baby purees.