Cheesy Carrot Bites

Feeding a growing boy gets really interesting once he decides to be independent and feed himself.  The teachers at day-care warned me that this was starting to happen and that Chackochi wouldn't let them feed him anymore. So that meant only one thing- prepare myself for finding dried up bits of food in random places all over the house! Yuck!

One of the ways to avoid a little of the mess and to allow him to still explore the fun of self-feeding is of course finger foods.  So he gets to have some independence and I get to still give him something tasty and nutritious.

This Cheesy Carrot Bites recipe is just another take on my Sweet Corn Mini Fritters. The recipe is quite versatile and you can make numerous variations of these! I made note of some options in the Notes section after the recipe, just to give you an idea. If you come up with a new flavor combo that your baby loves, let me know!

They're delicious, honestly. And, plus, how easy is the recipe! My favorite way for a recipe to begin is ‘Preheat the oven…’ because it shows that the prep doesn't need too much fiddling around with. The next best thing to see is ‘Combine all ingredients’ – can’t get any easier than that. J

And you can also prepare these in advance and freeze them for up to a month. How cool is that! In my opinion, these are best straight from the oven.  When I reheated them in the microwave, they were a bit soggy, but still tasty! (Yes, I had a couple too; they looked  way too tasty to resist  ;))

Cheesy Carrot Bites

Recipe Source:  Recipris 

Makes 15-20 medium-sized balls

Ingredients:

½ cup grated cheese (I used a mixture of Parmesan, Cheddar and Mozzarella)

¾ cup breadcrumbs

½ cup grated carrots

2 eggs, whisked

Olive oil spray (as needed)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

1.       Preheat the oven to 190°C.

2.       Combine all ingredients apart from the oil, and mix well.

3.       Take a tablespoon-sized portion of the mixture and squeeze it gently into a ball.

4.       Lay on a lightly greased baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining mixture.

5.       Spray the tops of the balls lightly with spray oil, bake until lightly golden, about 15-20 minutes. ( I got distracted and I left them in for about 30 minutes, so they ended up a bit more brown than I would have liked)

6.       Serve immediately.

Notes:

Option 1 - Substitute 2 cups of shredded zucchini for the carrot. Add 1/2 cup ricotta and increase dry ingredients by 1/4 cup. Remember to squeeze out the moisture from the zucchini or it will be soggy.

Option 2 - Substitute 1 cup shredded sweet potato and 1 cup shredded pear (use a firm pear like Bosc) for the carrot

Option 3 – Add 1 Cup of shredded apple to the above recipe