Good tasting baby food
Jars, Pouches, Organic, and More
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Read more about our vetting process.After months of breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, it can be surprising to realize that your still-tiny baby is actually ready for “real” food. This exciting (albeit messy!) transition may be a little bittersweet and can feel overwhelming, especially considering the numerous baby food options available in 2022.
We’ve rounded up some of this year’s best baby foods to help you get started on the right foot — er, spoon.
Both the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend exclusively breastfeeding babies for the first 6 months of life. Formula-fed infants are ready to start solid foods when they start showing signs that they’re ready.
In some cases, you may start solids around 4 or 5 months, but it’s best to discuss this with your pediatrician. If your doctor doesn’t have a different recommendation, most babies are ready to start soft or pureed foods by the time they’re about 6 months old.
If you’re picking commercially prepared baby food (versus making your own), it’s wise to start with simple, one-ingredient baby food. Most commercial baby food is labeled stage 1, 2, or 3 based on the texture and number of ingredients.
For instance, stage 1 baby food has the smoothest texture and typically has one ingredient, such as pureed pears. So, for your 4- to 6-month-old, you’ll want to start with stage 1 baby food.
Starting with one food at a time helps you monitor for any adverse reactions or food allergies. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology recommends monitoring each food for 3 to 5 days.
There isn’t really a perfect first food — the choice is yours! Some good foods to start: infant cereal (preferably oat or whole grain), meat purees such as chicken or turkey, or single-ingredient purees of fruits or veggies.
If you’re debating whether to start with fruits or veggies first, the AAP suggests that an infant’s preferences for sweets won’t budge even if veggies are introduced first. Mashed peas just don’t taste as good once you’ve had applesauce.
We chatted with pediatricians, read the research, polled real-life parents, read reviews, and used our own babies as taste testers (although we can’t say their opinions on nutritional value are very authoritative) to bring you some of the top baby food brands available.
In addition:
- We looked for foods that are certified USDA organic and have non-GMO verified ingredients.
- We focused on baby food that’s free of added sugar (but have called out one or two products that contain it).
- The baby foods on our list are free of harmful preservatives.
- We called out the brands that market their products as gluten-free and allergen-free.
All products are also vetted by our medical standards team, which evaluates brand integrity and product safety.
Reducing Exposure to Toxic Elements in Baby Foods
Three brands in this article — Gerber, Beech-Nut, and Happy Baby — were mentioned in a February 2021 Congressional Report for products containing significantly high levels of toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury. The FDA has since launched the Closer to Zero: Action Plan for Baby Foods to address exposure to toxic elements from eating baby foods.
- Best overall baby food: Beech-Nut Naturals Stage 1
- Best organic baby food pouches: Plum Organics Stage 1
- Best budget-friendly baby food: Gerber Organic 1st Foods
- Best baby food for constipation: Gerber Natural 1st Foods (Pear)
- Best organic jarred baby food: Happy Baby Organics Clearly Crafted Stage 1
- Best personalized subscription service: Cerebelly
- Best fresh baby food: Once Upon a Farm Cold-Pressed Organic Baby Food
- Best first baby cereal: Gerber Organic 1st Foods Single Grain Cereal
- Best, most interesting baby food blends: Little Spoon Complex Solids
- Best all-around clean baby food: Baby Gourmet
Best overall baby food
Beech-Nut Naturals Stage 1
This affordable baby food is an all-around fan favorite.
Beech-Nut baby foods come in recyclable glass jars and are available in both natural and organic varieties. Blends are available in every stage, from single-ingredient foods for brand-new eaters (like butternut squash and plum) to multi-food blends with chunkier textures for older babies.
The ingredients in Beech-Nut baby foods are simple, with no artificial additives. Plus, these little glass jars are available at most grocery stores, so they’re easy to find. However, while it’s great for recycling purposes, glass can be dangerous — always supervise your little one around glass.
Beech-Nut Naturals are free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) but not certified organic (unless you shop their organics line). They contain no added sugar.
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Best organic baby food pouches
Plum Organics Stage 1
If sustainability, organic foods, and non-GMO ingredients are important to you, Plum Organics has a great line of baby food options to try.
Their BPA-free pouches are super convenient and available in a variety of fruits, veggies, and grains for each stage of eating. These foods have no added salts or sugars, so they’re nutritious and simple for baby’s maturing digestive system. They’re also widely available and can be purchased in bulk for greater savings.
And while feeding experts definitely discourage using pouches exclusively, there’s no denying that pouches are very convenient for occasional on-the-go feedings. To make sure your baby is still progressing in their journey through solid foods, try squeezing the pouch contents into a spoon. And be sure to watch out for the small plastic caps, as they’re a choking hazard.
Plum Organics is certified organic and non-GMO, and their baby food doesn’t contain added sugar.
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Best budget-friendly baby food
Gerber Organic 1st Foods
Gerber is the classic baby food brand, and they’ve made changes over the last few years to make their food more health-conscious (e.
g., starting an organic line). Yet they have maintained their status as one of the most affordable prepared baby food brands on the market.
They offer benefits like glass jars, organic ingredients, and a wide variety of food choices at a lower cost than some other brands on our list.
Gerber Organic is USDA organic, non-GMO, and free of added sugar.
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Best baby food for constipation
Gerber Natural 1st Foods (Pear)
Sometimes babies get a little constipated when they’re beginning their solid food journey, especially if they’re eating a lot of dairy or iron-fortified cereal. In addition to continuing breast milk, some foods may help relieve your little one’s digestive discomfort, including all the “P” fruits.
So prunes, pears, plums, and peaches are some options to help keep tiny bowels on the move. You can find great fruit purees in any brand on our list, but one of the more cost-effective is the Gerber brand. The good news is that many babies love fruit, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get your little one to down some prunes or pears.
This product is made with non-GMO ingredients and pears grown with Clean Field Farming practices. It doesn’t contain added sugars.
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Best organic jarred baby food
Happy Baby Organics Clearly Crafted Stage 1
Another great organic baby food option, the Happy Baby company offers their organic baby food jars at most stores — although not quite as widely as Beech-Nut and Plum Organics.
Happy Baby jars offer a wide variety of foods, from kale and mango to spinach and peaches and chia seeds. You can start with their single-ingredient jars (this is important for ruling out allergies, as well as to help baby learn to like spinach even when it’s not disguised by pears). Then, you can move on to their fruit and veggie blends as your little one grows.
High quality ingredients, creative flavors, and no artificial ingredients all make Happy Baby a solid (no pun intended) choice.
Happy Baby is USDA organic and doesn’t contain added sugars.
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Best personalized subscription service
Cerebelly
Cerebelly allows you to personalize your subscription of baby food pouches based on your child’s age, leaning on science to determine what foods will benefit them at their stage of development.
You’ll take a quiz that asks about the current development and language cues your baby is showing (responding to their name, grasping toys, using noises to show emotion, etc.). It also asks about motor, social, and visual skills.
The results will clue you in on key nutrients that may benefit your little one and customize your baby food pouches based on this.
To boot, the brand has earned the Clean Label Project Purity Award (which evaluates products for toxins and contaminants), is certified USDA organic, and contains no added sugars.
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Best fresh baby food
Once Upon a Farm Cold-Pressed Organic Baby Food
These organic, cold-pressed baby food pouches and cups are found in the refrigerated section at your grocery store (and yes, they have to be refrigerated at home).
The company also has a subscription delivery option to make baby food even more convenient for your busy schedule.
Creative names like Wild Rumpus Avocado and Magic Velvet Mango will have you smiling, and the variety of flavors will (hopefully!) appeal to your little one. Once Upon a Farm offers a variety of food stages, so you can start with their purees and move on up to their finger and toddler foods as your baby grows.
Once Upon a Farm is certified organic and non-GMO. Their products contain no added sugars and are Clean Label Project certified.
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Best first baby cereal
Gerber Organic 1st Foods Single Grain Cereal
This simple cereal is a great first food for baby. You can mix this one-ingredient whole grain cereal with breast milk, formula, or water to provide your little one with some crucial nutrients (such as iron) and experience with spoons and textures.
The AAP recommends oatmeal or multigrain cereals over rice cereals, as they have a lower risk of exposure to chemicals such as arsenic (which is sometimes a concern with rice products).
As your baby gets used to other foods, you can also mix this cereal with fruit or yogurt to provide a heartier meal.
Gerber Organic is certified USDA organic and non-GMO, but this product does contain some added sugars.
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Best, most interesting baby food blends
Little Spoon Complex Solids
Once your baby is ready for more advanced blends, Little Spoon has a unique line of complex blends that contain multiple purees as well as other seeds and grains for texture.
For example, one blend contains quinoa, butternut squash, and apple. Another contains kale, white bean, pear, basil, quinoa, and avocado oil.
Little Spoon purees use certified organic and non-GMO ingredients. They’re free of added sugar.
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Best all-around clean baby food
Baby Gourmet
Baby Gourmet is another Clean Label Project Purity Award winner, which means they go above and beyond to ensure their baby food is free of harmful toxins that naturally occur in the environment.
This Canadian company is also set to donate 1 million meals to vulnerable populations by 2025. It’s founded and run by moms, which can be reassuring.
Baby Gourmet is certified organic and non-GMO by both U.S. and Canadian standards. All packaging is BPA-free. Products contain no added sugar.
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As a general guideline, it’s a good idea to start with iron-fortified baby cereals or pureed meats if your infant is breastfed. Breastfed babies are more likely to need extra iron than formula-fed babies.
It’s also advisable to start with simple, single-ingredient purees of meat, vegetables, and fruits.
Choosing brands that are certified organic, use BPA-free materials, and are conscious of using whole food ingredients (e.g., they don’t add “extras” like salt, sugar, or corn syrup) helps ensure a healthy start for your little one.
According to the AAP, you shouldn’t give babies under age 1 cow’s milk, honey, unpasteurized dairy, or undercooked meat, as these can be an infection risk for a baby’s developing immune system.
You’ll also want to avoid foods that are hard or sharp or present a choking risk (for instance, chips, nuts, popcorn, raisins, raw apples, raw carrots, whole grapes, hot dogs). For a more comprehensive guide to which foods to give and what to avoid, check out our article on infant nutrition and starting solids.
While experts used to advise waiting to introduce highly allergenic foods (such as dairy, wheat, nuts, and eggs) until after the first year, the experts now say that delayed introduction of these foods may increase a child’s risk of food allergies. So, with the guidance of your pediatrician, go ahead and introduce those foods within the first year.
Seek immediate emergency medical attention if you notice swelling of the tongue and mouth, wheezing, or trouble breathing after your child eats certain foods
Some babies are raring to go when it comes to trying food, while others may take a little more convincing. Either way, definitely get your camera on video mode, as there are bound to be some hilarious faces and some impressive food spillage along the way.
Here are some pro tips to help make the process as smooth as possible:
- Wait until your baby shows signs of readiness for solid food.
- Keep trying. It can take 5 to 10 exposures for a baby to accept a new food.
- Make it fun and silly.
- Cook and eat as a family as much as possible.
- Let your baby play with the spoon and even the food! While incredibly messy, this helps them get comfortable with the textures, smells, and tastes of new foods.
- Talk with your pediatrician if you have any questions or concerns. They’re a great resource and want to help you grow a happy, healthy baby.
What’s the best baby food for growth and weight gain?
If your baby is under 6 months and breastfeeding, it’s recommended that you stick to that exclusively for 6 months. When you’re ready to introduce solids after 6 months, it should be in addition to breastfeeding and formula, not as a replacement.
If your baby is formula-fed, they may begin eating solids sooner than 6 months.
While no one specific food is recommended, a variety of foods and colors is best, including meats, vegetables, and fruits. One of the key foods that can help with growth and weight gain is avocados (high in healthy fats and fiber but low in sugar).
Always discuss your baby’s dietary changes with your pediatrician and attend regular checkups to monitor growth.
What’s the easiest food for babies to digest?
Just like adults, babies do best with regular bowel movements. If they’re having a hard time with this, oatmeal is one food known to be easy to digest and promote regularity, as it contains higher amounts of dietary fiber.
It may also help to focus on quantity. Try feeding your baby smaller meals more often, rather than fewer larger meals. This may be easier on their system and allow them to digest foods more easily.
What’s the best baby food to start with?
Mashed banana and avocado are some of the most popular solids to start with. Soft, ground oatmeal is also great.
When it comes to fruit and vegetable purees, focus on variety, but don’t overdo it with those that are naturally high in sugar (such as berry purees).
Most importantly, at 6 months old, all foods should still be pureed and cooked. Once your baby is 9 months old and older, you can start to introduce vegetables cut into pieces. The only other no-no is honey, which they shouldn’t have until they’re over a year old.
It can feel like a lot of pressure to choose the best nutrition for your child, especially when trying to capitalize on the years before they start demanding chicken nuggets and ice cream. But there are a lot of great, healthy options available in 2022.
Whether you choose to make your own baby food, buy jars or pouches, or use a baby food subscription service, there are a number of resources to help you feed your baby.
10 Popular Baby Food Flavors, Ranked Yummiest To Grossest By A Mom
When a not-so-little-anymore little one reaches the exciting phase of starting solids, parents are usually a bit more excited about this new phase than their little ones.
But trying new things can be an exciting experience for everyone involved.
RELATED: 10 Healthy Snacks Your Picky Toddler Will Love
And with all the first food options it can be a little tough to pick just one flavor for a baby's first solid. But, since moms know their little ones and the look on a baby's face at the first taste of his or her first solid food is kind of priceless, take a look at this list of yummiest to grossest solid foods for a little food-spiration.
10/10 Bananas
Call mom crazy, but bananas seem to be the yummiest choice for baby's first solid food. They are sweet and soft enough for toothless mouths, pretty bright in color and they smell nice. What's not to love? With so many choices of baby food on the market it may be hard to choose just one but judging by the faces babies make, bananas is one of the safest options he or she is sure to love.
9/10 The Orange Root
If mom is feeling more veggie-friendly for baby's first solid, think carrots.
They are high in beta carotene which is great for helping your little one develop great eyesight, not to mention that they are sweet tasting yet really healthy. If jarred goods aren't really mom's thing, try steaming the real deal for a while until they're soft. For an extra kick, they can even be mixed with baby's milk of choice.
8/10 The Saucy Apple
Apple sauce is such a fun "big boy or girl" choice for baby's first solids. Also, the added spices in apple sauce, like cinnamon, are great to expose your little one to at an early age, not to mention cinnamon's natural antibacterial properties which are great for fighting off yucky illnesses young babies are prone to getting before their immune systems are fully developed.
7/10 Super Food Avocado
When it comes to a baby's first, avocado, depending on the season and availability should be one of the first. The creamy texture and numerous health benefits is bound to make the famous super-food, avocado a crowd-pleaser.
Some moms have found that on occasion babies don't care for the taste, while other babies grin and eat it up, which is why it's ranked in the middle of our list. So give it a try, and let your little one decide.
6/10 The Sweet Potato
For an iron-rich, fiber-intense, baby food, check out the sweet potato. Most babies really like the earthy nature of the sweet potato and of course the sweetness which is not too overpowering.
RELATED: 10 Easy Snack Ideas For New Moms
Most stores carry sweet potato as a baby food option, but if you're feeling adventurous steam the potato and mash it up for baby to try. This is lower on our list so mom makes no guarantees that he or she will love it, but of all the baby food flavors available this is by far one of the better choices.
5/10 Boom! Splat! Squash!
For the coolest onomatopoeia that also doubles as a vegetable, try squash for baby's first solid. Enjoy making a squashing sound while he or she is eating.
There are at least 8 types of common squash mom can find around town, most commonly during Autumn, it's hard to go wrong with this as a baby food. Consider erring on the sweeter side for firsts, however. Think: butternut squash or pumpkin to start. Again this isn't all baby's cup of tea so you never know.
4/10 Rice Cereal
Mom isn't sure if it's the texture or just her tots that enjoy frowning up his and her faces at the sight of rice cereal, but this one is definitely ranked grosser on the list of common baby foods.
RELATED: 10 Easy Breakfast Ideas For New Moms
To be fair, there are many different kinds of cereal on the market, which is not to say that your little one will dislike all of the types of rice cereal available, but from mom's perspective the consistency needs to be just right and tricks, like adding milk instead of water or mixing off the heat, can really make all the difference.
3/10 The Pea Sized Vegetable
Peas! Okay if we're being honest it can be difficult to find any child, from baby to pre-adolescent that gets excited about eating their peas.
Unfortunately for moms who are looking for a first baby food, that same sentiment applies. Many babies just do not care for peas. Perhaps it's the pea skin that slips off when mashed, or maybe it's just the way they taste, but many babies spit out their servings of peas.
2/10 Spinach
If it was good enough for Popeye why not good enough for the baby? Well, for the jarred baby food spinach in the grocery store, sometimes there is a strange smell, one can't be entirely sure if this is the reason little ones shy away from the leafy green, but it's certainly off-putting to mom.
RELATED: 10 Meals To Batch Cook For The Fourth Trimester
For the real deal, i.e. the non jarred stuff, it's almost impossible to get the strands ground up into a creamy texture, suitable for a first baby food. Some add cream to make this a non-factor. Either way, most babies frown up and do a hard pass on the stuff.
1/10 Beans
Yuck! Okay maybe not yuck entirely, but, many moms have found that their little ones do not like beans at all for a first form of solid food. Sure, they can be mashed and made baby edible, but beans are far from being baby's first choice of food. Although there may be hundreds of varieties of beans very few are on the sweeter side, which generally is baby's preference since they are somewhat born with a sweet palate. Happy first solids!
NEXT: 10 Things To Know About Babies & Food Allergies
Read online "365 Healthy and Delicious Meals for Baby Food" - LitRes
Foreword
Nutrition - what could be more important for a growing organism? How your baby starts to eat when you wean him will affect his future development and perhaps even adulthood. In our time, in industrially prepared products, you can find a lot of food additives, flavoring and coloring, which are not at all useful for a small person - and in these conditions the importance of homemade food increases many times over.
The basis of human nutrition is meat, fish, dairy and sour-milk products, various vegetables and fruits, buckwheat is obligatory for cereals.
Vegetarianism, fasting for children is unacceptable, and canned food at an early age is undesirable.
It is best to cook your own food from food purchased raw. It is advisable to buy meat and fish in a piece and not give a small child store-bought convenience foods. Remember that when preparing children's dishes (up to 8-10 years old), hot spices are not added.
Starting at about a year old, a child can get many meals from an "adult" table. It must be remembered that the child has already learned to chew and swallow rough food, but can he bite well? Gradually, the child must be accustomed to more and more varied foods, while noticing whether this or that product will cause an allergy. Unfortunately, this problem is now actual. Eggs, honey, later - chocolate and citrus must be introduced under control. But in our time, any products can give an undesirable reaction, which is why parents need to be careful.
If up to a year the child's diet mainly consists of pureed soup, cereals and mashed potatoes, then after a year it is already possible to give meat in the form of fried or baked cutlets, casseroles, meatballs; vegetables and cereals - not only in pureed form, but also in the form of pancakes, vinaigrettes, you can give raw vegetables, rye bread.
The wider the set of products, the more fully and fully the child's need for proper nutrition is satisfied.
Dishes for infants
Recipe no. 1
Vegetable broth
Ingredients: 50 g vegetables, 100 g water.
One of these vegetables: Carrots, cabbage, turnips, potatoes or zucchini Wash thoroughly, peel, cut into small slices, cover with cold water and cook covered over low heat until tender. Then strain through sterile cheesecloth, bring to a boil and pour into a sterile bottle.
Vegetable decoction can be given to an infant between feedings as a drink. Usually, such supplementation is required if the child is bottle-fed or breast-fed "by the hour". If the child receives a breast on demand, then mother's milk is enough for him.
Recipe No. 2
Juices for the first feeding
To obtain 50 ml of juice, 100 g of any berries or fruits are required.
Wash fresh green apple, pour over with boiling water and grate.
Put the resulting puree into cheesecloth, folded in half, and squeeze the juice with a spoon. Drain the squeezed juice into a glass dish and close the lid. If the apples are sour, add sugar syrup to the juice before feeding.
Red-skinned fruits can cause an allergic reaction, so a green apple is best.
Recipe No. 3
Juices for the second food
To obtain 50 ml of juice, you need 100 g of any fruit or vegetable.
Option 1.
Sort ripe plum fruits, rinse thoroughly, scald with boiling water, remove the seeds and put the pulp into a sterile double-folded gauze. Squeeze out the juice with a stainless steel spoon.
Option 2.
Wash young carrots (carrot), scald with boiling water and grate on a fine grater. Then squeeze the juice through cheesecloth.
Carrot juice is rich in vitamin A, so it is desirable to add it to other vegetable juices.
Recipe No.
4 Fruit purees
To obtain 40-45 g of puree, 50 g of fruit are required.
Option 1.
Wash ripe apples or pears without spots or damage, pour over with boiling water, remove the skin, remove the seed nest and grate on a fine grater.
Option 2.
Wash fresh apricots thoroughly, cover with water, cook until soft. Rub through a sieve, add granulated sugar (1 tsp), boil again.
Blueberries, black currants, apples and pumpkins, strawberries, sea buckthorn, etc. can be puréed in the same way.
Recipe No. 5
Carrot puree
Ingredients: 1 carrot, 1/4 cup milk, 1/3 tsp butter or vegetable oil.
Wash the carrots with a brush, peel, chop, put in a saucepan, pour a small amount of boiling water and simmer under the lid in its own juice, stirring occasionally, until tender. Hot wipe through a sieve, add warmed milk, a little salt, put on a slow fire and warm, not boiling. Put butter or vegetable oil into the finished puree.
Recipe No. 6
Mixed vegetable puree
Ingredients: various vegetables - 80 g, potatoes - 20 g, milk - 1/2 cup, butter or vegetable oil - 1/3 tsp, sugar - 1/ 2 tsp
Wash fresh vegetables (carrots, turnips, cabbage, beets) with a brush, peel, chop, simmer covered in a saucepan with a little hot water so that the vegetables are stewed with steam in their own juice. Make sure that there is water at the bottom of the pan all the time (if necessary, add boiling water). Add sugar to speed up cooking. Bring vegetables to half-cooked and add peeled and chopped potatoes to them, then simmer until tender.
Pass hot vegetables through a sieve, add hot milk, a little salt and beat well, then put back on the stove and bring to a boil.
Add butter or vegetable oil to the puree.
Recipe No. 7
Spinach puree
Ingredients: spinach - 100 g, milk - 1/4 cup, butter - 1 tsp, flour - 1/2 tsp, sugar syrup - 2 ml .
Carefully sort the spinach, discarding the brown parts, wash in running water, transfer to a saucepan and simmer in its own juice until soft (10-15 minutes).
Then rub through a sieve and season with white sauce. For the sauce, dissolve the butter in a saucepan, fry the wheat flour in it, add hot milk and boil for 5-6 minutes. Add a little salt to the puree, seasoned with sauce, put on fire again and bring to a boil. Season the finished puree with butter and sugar syrup.
Spinach contains iron, phosphorus and magnesium and is therefore beneficial for the development of the child's body.
Recipe No. 8
Spinach-potato puree
Ingredients: spinach - 100 g, potatoes - 150 g, milk - 1/2 cup, sugar - 1/2 teaspoon, butter - 1/2 teaspoon.
Wash potatoes thoroughly with a brush, add a little boiling water, cover and boil. Sort the spinach, wash it, put it on a sieve and let the water drain, then transfer it to a separate pan, add granulated sugar and simmer in its own juice without adding water. Peel the boiled potatoes and rub hot through a sieve. Grate the cooked spinach into the same bowl.
Stir the puree, dilute with boiling milk, add salt, beat and bring to a boil over low heat. Fill the finished puree with butter.
Spinach is an excellent source of iron, one of the leaders among plants in terms of iodine content. The vitamin D content of spinach makes it useful in preventing rickets.
Recipe No. 9
Cauliflower and zucchini puree soup
Ingredients: cauliflower – 50 g, marrow – 50 g, egg yolk – 1/2 pc., butter – 1/3 tsp.
Peel the cauliflower, remove the green leaves, cut into small tufts and wash well. Wash the zucchini, peel and cut into small pieces. Put the cabbage and zucchini in a saucepan, pour a small amount of boiling water, close the lid and simmer over low heat until tender. Then pour the broth into a separate bowl, and rub the hot vegetables through a sieve. Add broth and salt to the puree, mix well and bring to a boil. Season the finished soup-puree with butter, pounded with the yolk of a hard-boiled egg.
Recipe No. 10
Vegetable puree with liver
Ingredients: carrots - 100 g, potatoes - 100 g, liver - 50 g, broth - 1/2 cup, butter - 1/2 tsp.
Soak fresh steamed beef liver in running water, remove skin, cut across the grain and quickly fry in hot oil in a saucepan with a lid. Then add a little water or low-fat broth and put the saucepan in the oven for 5-10 minutes. You can pre-stew in oil, adding a little onion.
Steam boil potatoes and carrots, peel, rub through a hair sieve along with stewed liver, previously passed through a meat grinder. Dilute the puree with hot broth, salt, beat, put on low heat and, whisking, bring to a boil. Add butter to the finished puree.
The liver contains many minerals: iron, copper, calcium, zinc, sodium and others.
Recipe no. 11
Mashed potatoes with chicken
Ingredients: chicken meat - 100 g, potatoes - 200 g, milk - 1/4 cup, butter - 1/2 tsp.
Boil low-fat chicken broth, strain through a wet napkin and pour it over the peeled and cut into large pieces potatoes. The broth should just cover the potatoes. Boil potatoes under the lid for 25-30 minutes, then rub through a hair sieve, adding pre-cooked and minced chicken meat. Dilute the resulting puree with boiling milk and beat with a whisk. Heat on the stove until boiling. Add butter to the finished puree.
Recipe No. 12
Vegetable cutlets
Ingredients: various vegetables (carrots, zucchini, kohlrabi, potatoes) - 250 g, egg - 1 pc., flour - 1 tbsp. l., sunflower oil for frying, crackers - 2 tbsp. l., parsley, salt.
Boil well-washed and chopped vegetables in salt water, finely chop and mix with egg yolk, herbs, salt, whipped egg white and breadcrumbs. Stew cutlets in a small amount of water.
May be served with sour cream.
Recipe No. 13
Semolina porridge
Ingredients: milk - 1/2 cup, water - 25 ml, semolina - 2 tsp, salt, sugar syrup - 3 ml, butter - 1/3 tsp.
l.
Pour water into half of the taken milk, boil, then pour the sifted semolina in a thin stream and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 15-20 minutes. Then salt a little, add sugar syrup and the remaining warmed milk. Bring the porridge to a boil. Put butter into the prepared porridge.
Semolina contains 70% starch, a lot of proteins, vitamins and minerals, and since it cooks quickly, all of them are preserved.
Recipe No. 14
Pink semolina porridge
Ingredients: semolina - 2 tsp, milk - 70 ml, water - 25 ml, sugar syrup - 3 ml, carrot juice - 30 ml, butter - 1/ 3 tsp
Pour juice from fresh carrots into ready-made, slightly cooled semolina porridge, mix thoroughly and immediately give to the child.
Preparation of carrot juice: wash carrots with a brush, scald with boiling water, scrape off the skin with a sharp knife, wash again with boiled water and grate. Put carrots in gauze scalded with boiling water and squeeze out the juice.
Recipe No. 15
Semolina porridge with pumpkin
Ingredients: pumpkin - 100g, sugar - 1 tsp, portion of semolina porridge.
Peel the pumpkin, cut into small cubes, sprinkle with sugar and, after extracting the juice, simmer until softened. Then mix with ready-made semolina and bring almost to a boil.
Pumpkin contains a large amount of carotene and vitamins, including a lot of vitamin D. Even a weakened body easily absorbs fiber, so pumpkin dishes are recommended for therapeutic and preventive nutrition.
Recipe No. 16
Semolina porridge with dried apricots
Ingredients: dried apricots – 1 tbsp. l., sugar - 1 tbsp. l., a portion of semolina porridge.
Prepare dried apricot fruit puree. Rinse dried apricots, add a small amount of water, close the lid and simmer until soft. Then rub through a sieve, add sugar and boil until thickened. Boil liquid semolina porridge and mix it with slightly cooled mashed potatoes.
Dried apricots contain significantly more minerals, including potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and phosphorus than fresh apricots. Eating dried apricots is recommended for anemia, impaired vision, heart disease and as a general tonic.
Recipe No. 17
Dessert semolina porridge
Option 1.
Ingredients: small apple, sugar - 1 tsp. l., a portion of semolina porridge.
Prepare liquid semolina. Wash a small apple just before feeding the child, scald it with boiling water, peel, grate, mix with sugar and combine with slightly cooled porridge.
Option 2.
Ingredients: semolina - 3 tbsp. l., milk - 1 cup, salt, egg - 1 pc., flour - 1 tbsp. l., breadcrumbs.
Boil thick porridge from milk and semolina, salt and, when it has cooled down a bit, mix with egg and flour. Transfer the prepared mass to a board sprinkled with breadcrumbs and roll it out to a thickness of 0.5 cm. Then cut into squares 4 x4 cm and fry on both sides.
Serve with vegetables or salad.
Can adults eat baby food: benefits and harms
- Photo
- Natalia Kurzova / Adobe Stock
Now we will talk about the benefits and harms of products made specifically for children. These include fruit and vegetable purees, juices and nectars, yoghurts and curds, cereals and various snacks for the little ones.
Pluses of baby food
No harmful components
It is clear that baby food is made specifically for babies. Therefore, they do not add harmful additives, dyes, flavors, a lot of sugar and salt. Not a single ingredient in the composition should cause an allergy or any disorder in a baby - which means that such food is safe for an adult. Moreover, manufacturers are strictly looked after - all children's products undergo a thorough check, and only then they get on the shelves in stores.
Tasty and convenient
Children's curds, cereals and purees with a sweet fruity taste can easily replace high-calorie cakes and other "adult" desserts. Some may also like cookies in cute little packages.
Speaking of packaging. Kids are not physically able to eat a lot, so for them everything is laid out in small portions. And these jars and packaging are very convenient to take with you for a walk, to school or university.
Low Calorie
Children's fruit and vegetable purees, and in such tiny portions, are very, very few calories! Some stars even specifically switch to only baby food in order to lose weight. So, for example, did Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.
Ready to follow suit? Well, slow down. Now let's talk about why you shouldn't do this.
Disadvantages of baby food
Not enough essential nutrients
Yes, these delicious purees contain only useful things and nothing harmful. But do not forget that this is still baby food.
That is, it is made specifically for babies - taking into account the peculiarities of digestion of young children. And the body of an adult, you know, is very different. An adult needs a lot more fiber and dietary fiber - otherwise problems with the intestines will begin.
Sometimes it's not so tasty
Taste is both a plus and a minus of baby food. Sweet foods really look like a delicious dessert, but mashed vegetables and meat? We are used to cooking with all sorts of spices, which will definitely not be in the composition of dishes from a jar. In general, "adult" and "children's" food is very different in taste. You can, of course, get used to eating baby food all the time ... But why?
Is it useful or not?
There is nothing wrong with occasionally snacking on baby food. It can be quite healthy, tasty and without extra calories. But you definitely can’t replace all breakfasts, lunches and dinners with them - in this way you will deprive yourself of important components and harm your health.
