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Picky baby food recipes


10 Easy Baby Food Recipes: Homemade & Healthy

By Anjali Shah on

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It is so easy to make your own homemade baby food recipes — and most of the time, making baby food at home will be healthier and cheaper than store bought! This is your guide to making healthy baby food at home that you can feel great about giving to your little one!

Many of you know that I made homemade baby food recipes at home when my kids first started on solid foods. I’ve gotten so many questions about whether it’s really that easy to make your own baby food at home. And trust me – it is!

Making your own baby food recipes can be enjoyable and isn’t difficult, even when you’re busy or tired. There are really only three steps to making great baby food at home: steam, puree, and freeze.

Once you’ve made a few basic purees, you’ll be eager to try some more complex recipes with additional ingredients, or even create your own concoctions to suit your baby’s tastes.

Making your own homemade baby food recipes is a great way to discover which foods your baby particularly enjoys, as well as introducing them to a variety of flavors in a creative way that fits your budget, lifestyle, and locally-available ingredients.

These are some of my must-have baby food recipes for purees, made with healthy, easy-to-find ingredients. You’ll never find added sugar in my baby food recipes.

I guarantee that making baby food at home will be cheaper than buying expensive pouches, which often contain significant amounts of sugar from fruit purees or even fruit juice concentrate.

What Foods Are Best to Puree?

You can literally puree pretty much any food for your baby! The best foods to start with are sweeter vegetables or less-sweet fruits including:

  • Avocados
  • Green Beans
  • Peas
  • Butternut Squash
  • Zucchini or Carrots
  • Pear
  • Sweet Potato
  • Apples

Once your baby has mastered these purees, you can move onto more “pungent” veggies, tart fresh fruit, and proteins like:

  • Broccoli
  • Spinach
  • Cauliflower
  • Berries
  • Stone Fruits and Cherries
  • Lentils
  • Chickpeas / Beans
  • Meats (if you are planning to give your baby meat)
  • Whole Milk Yogurt and Cheese

You can introduce grains and sweeter fruits much later so that your baby doesn’t get too used to foods with a sweet taste first (which will make them more likely to reject green veggies which have stronger flavors).

So once your baby has been exposed to a large variety of less-sweet fruits and veggies, you can introduce foods like:

  • Single-Grain Cereals like Oats, Barley, Wheat, Quinoa. I don’t recommend rice cereal unless your pediatrician specifically tells you to use it because rice cereal is usually made with refined grains, is low in fiber, and doesn’t have many nutrients. I recommend making baby cereal at home (even though there are store bought versions available) to avoid heavy metal contamination – and because it’s so easy!
  • Ripe Bananas
  • Papaya
  • Pineapple
  • Mango

You can also add warm spices to your baby’s food at any point — spices like: cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, cumin, coriander, paprika, garlic powder, ginger powder, etc. are all great to add new flavors and to expand your baby’s palate!

What is the Best Way to Store Homemade Baby Food Purees?

I recommend freezing your homemade baby food in ice cube trays for storage. I love these Mumi & Bubi Trays because they come with airtight lids and hold a ton of baby food!

I would freeze the baby food in these trays, and then once frozen, I’d pop out the puree cubes and transfer them to an airtight container, or to zip-top freezer bags.

Is Homemade Baby Food Healthier?

Yes it is! This is because when you make baby food at home, you can control both the quality of the ingredients and the types of things being included in your baby’s food.

Since your homemade baby foods don’t have to be shelf stable, you don’t have to worry about any preservatives or stabilizers in the food you’re giving your baby.

Additionally, most pre-made baby food is very fruit-forward which makes it quite sweet and high in sugar. This can make babies who eat pre-made food more likely to only develop a liking for sweeter foods, which could make them pickier eaters later on.

Note: Not all pre-made baby food is bad and there are some healthy vegetable-forward pouches available today. These can be good options if you’re on the go or in a bind and need food fast! You can see my list of the healthiest baby food pouches here.

How Do You Make Baby Food Recipes at Home?

All you need are the right tools – many of which you probably already have in your kitchen, and knowing the method, which is as easy as: steam, puree, freeze.

You don’t need a fancy baby food maker to do any of this stuff – in fact, I recommend against buying a special baby food maker because it’s a pretty pricey purchase for something you can’t repurpose for anything else. I like investing in kitchen tools that can grow with you and your family.

Equipment Needed

#1: Invest in a Good Blender or Food Processor. I recommend getting one that you can use for smoothies and other “grown up” recipes – so the purchase is worth it! Any blender will work, but my favorite is the Vitamix. 

It purees everything SO smoothly that the consistency exactly mimics the thin consistency of the baby food pouches at the grocery store. And you don’t have to peel any of the fruits/veggies (except for the obvious like bananas, oranges, pineapples, melon, etc. – that have a hard shell) because the Vitamix is so powerful that it pulverizes all of the peel of most fruits/veggies to retain all of those nutrients for your little one.

It can also make chunkier meals for older babies or when your baby transitions away from purees. Lastly, you can use it for so many other things like making soups, smoothies, pancake batter, falafel mix, brownie batter, etc. – the list goes on and on! I bought one when I started making my kids’ baby food and absolutely LOVE it and use it all the time (still!)

#2: You need covered ice cube trays. You could just take regular ice cube trays and cover them in plastic wrap, but I found that ended up with my purees getting freezer burn which wasn’t great. I love these Mumi & Bubi Trays – which store / stack really well, have tight lids, and hold enough baby food for about 1 month!

#3: A Steamer Basket.  It’s worth it to have a steamer basket that can fit inside any pot. Steaming fruits/veggies in bulk is key to making baby food easy and quick to make at home – and a steamer basket can make all the difference!

You also need a good, large pot – but literally any pot will do. And that’s pretty much it! Then you can literally make any baby food recipe at home for less cost, less time and a healthier puree for your little one than a store bought version.

How to Make Homemade Baby Food Recipes – Step by Step

  1. Wash the fruits and veggies you are planning to puree.
  2. Chop them into 1/2 inch sized cubes and put them in a pot with just enough water to almost cover them. Alternatively, put them in a pot with a steamer basket to steam them.
  3. If you are steaming them, steam until fork tender (easy enough to mash). If you are putting them in a pot with water, just cover the pot with a lid and bring it to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer, covered, until the fruits or veggies are fork tender.
  4. If steaming, put the fruits/veggies into a blender with some of the liquid you used to steam them. If you boiled your fruits/veggies, transfer everything from the pot into the blender (so you don’t lose any nutrients that might have leached into the water while you were boiling the produce).
  5. Puree the fruits/veggies until smooth. Transfer to ice cube trays and freeze.
  6. Once frozen, pop the cubes out and transfer them to freezer-safe zip-top bags.
  7. To reheat, simply defrost in the microwave or in a small saucepan on the stove. Serve your homemade puree at room temperature.

What Foods Should You Give Baby First?

I can pretty much guarantee that your baby will happily eat fruit purees, because they contain a significant amount of natural sugar.

Babies are naturally inclined to enjoy sweet tastes (remember, breast milk is full of lactose, which is a sugar!), so exposing them to low-sugar vegetables early on is really important for developing their palates.

Once your baby is ready for solids, around 6 months of age, I recommend introducing fruits and vegetables in the following order:

  • Avocado, carrots, green beans, sweet potato, butternut squash, pears, apples, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower. 
  • Then introduce any other fruits and vegetables that you want, and eventually add in fish and meat.

10 Healthy Homemade Baby Food Recipes for Beginners

1. Baby’s First Food: Avocado Puree

Millennials may be famous for their love of avocados, but guess what? Babies love avocados, too! In fact, avocado was the first solid food that we gave both of our kids. It’s incredibly easy to make an avocado puree, and it’s highly nutritious, too.

Avocados really are a great choice for baby’s first foods — they are delicious, flavorful, and have a great texture. Even better, they’re packed with 20 vitamins and minerals, including folate, fiber, potassium, vitamin E, and iron, as well as plenty of “healthy fats” that will help with your baby’s brain and nervous system development. Chances are, avocado will soon become one of your baby’s favorite foods!

VIEW THIS RECIPE

2. Carrot Puree

After avocado, carrot is an excellent food to introduce to your baby as you start giving them solids for the first time. Carrots are naturally sweet and are great for combining in purees with green vegetables in order to make them a little more enticing. All you need to do for this recipe is peel the carrots, cook them for 6-8 minutes, and then puree! Not only are carrots full of Vitamin A, which helps promote healthy skin and eyes, but they are also easy to digest and very unlikely to cause an allergic reaction. 

VIEW THIS RECIPE

3. Green Bean Puree

Now it’s time to bring in some greens! I recommend starting with green beans to introduce your baby to the taste of green vegetables. They are low in sugar but full of Vitamin A and fiber. I have to admit that my kids were not enamored with green beans from the start, until I started mixing them with organic plain yogurt. Once you’ve introduced green beans on their own, you can also combine them with carrots for an even tastier puree, but it’s important that babies first get accustomed to eating not-so-sweet foods.

VIEW THIS RECIPE

4. Sweet Potato Puree

Orange vegetables like sweet potato, butternut squash, and pumpkin are super healthy options, packed full of carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. And what’s more — babies tend to love them! You can prepare them so many different ways, including microwaving, steaming, or boiling. However, my favorite cooking method is to roast sweet potatoes in the oven so that they begin to caramelize, and then pureeing. 

VIEW THIS RECIPE

5. Butternut Squash Puree

Butternut squash is a delicious and extremely nutritious veggie, packed full of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, fiber, and potassium. As with sweet potatoes, I recommend roasting the butternut squash in the oven for an hour so that it becomes caramelized. After roasting, peeling off the skin and putting the squash pieces into a blender can get a bit messy, so you’ll want to make this in bulk. Don’t forget to line your baking tray with parchment paper for easier clean-up!

VIEW THIS RECIPE

6. Pear Puree

Once your baby has developed a taste for green and orange veggies, it’s time for a real treat — pears! Not only do pears taste great, but they’re also full of nutrients like fiber and Vitamin C, which help to prevent constipation and promote a healthy immune system, respectively.

Pears are also fantastic for mixing with other foods that your baby might not be so keen on, such as green beans. We get through a lot of pear puree in my house (it’s great mixed with oatmeal!), so I always make this in bulk.

VIEW THIS RECIPE

7. Apple and Prune Puree

Poor prunes — so unloved and misunderstood! If you find yourself walking past the prunes at the grocery store without a second thought, consider this: prunes are a fantastic food for babies! Quite simply, prunes are dried plums, and they’re full of antioxidants. And just as their reputation suggests, they really do “keep things moving” so that your baby doesn’t become constipated. My kids were more interested in prunes when I mixed them with apples. This prune and apple puree is also great with yogurt, oatmeal, or combined with green vegetables to give them a little natural sweetness.

VIEW THIS RECIPE

8. Broccoli, Spinach, and Cauliflower Puree

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more nutritionally-dense puree than this mixture of broccoli, spinach, and cauliflower, which is full of vitamins and minerals, including iron. This puree also contains loads of phytonutrients, which are known to have anti-cancer properties.

I recommend introducing this puree in small amounts, early in the day, because it contains a lot of fiber. Fiber is great, but it could potentially lead to gas or stomach upset if your baby eats too much, so you’ll initially want to avoid this puree close to bedtime. Once your baby gets used to these veggies though, you can serve it anytime you’d like! If the taste of the greens is too overpowering for your baby, consider adding a little bit of organic plain yogurt and some pear puree.

VIEW THIS RECIPE

9. Zucchini, Apple, and Carrot Puree

This puree is guaranteed to be popular with your little one — it was certainly one of my kids’ favorites. Zucchini and carrots are mild and fairly sweet veggies, and with the addition of two organic Fuji apples, this flavor combination is even more delectable! It’s a perfect puree to mix with your baby’s oatmeal.

VIEW THIS RECIPE

10. Pea Puree

Peas contain lots of vitamins, specifically Vitamin K, which is important for bone health, and Vitamin B6 and folic acid, which promote a healthy heart. In order to ensure that your purees retain as many nutrients as possible, avoid overcooking green veggies. Ideally, you should cook vegetables so that they stay bright green. Steaming them for just 3-5 minutes or boiling them for 3-5 minutes and then submerging them in cold water will help them to stay bright green and retain their chlorophyll. A word of advice: You may want to mix the peas with fruit or sweeter veggies in order to make them more appealing to your baby.  

VIEW THIS RECIPE

If you enjoy making these purees — and your baby enjoys eating them! — check out my Super Easy Baby Food Cookbook for more easy homemade baby food recipes!

With over 150 recipes for babies, toddlers, and older kids, you’ll find plenty of ideas for purees that you can make in bulk, ahead of time, so that you never run out of your baby’s favorite foods.

It also includes guidance about mixing and matching ingredients to create the best-tasting purees, all while introducing your little one to a variety of flavors and textures.

And for when you start to transition towards finger foods, you’ll find plenty of toddler-friendly recipes that you can prepare in 30 minutes or less!

I hope this post helped you to navigate the wonderful world of making baby food at home.

Just remember – this is an opportunity to experiment and enjoy introducing your baby to all of the yummy tastes, flavors and textures that solids have to offer! Have fun with it!

More Resources to Make Healthy Homemade Baby Food Recipes!

  • The Super Easy Baby Food Cookbook
  • Top 10 Baby Superfood Recipes
  • A Sample Feeding Schedule For Your Baby (6-12 months)
  • 30 Family Friendly Recipes Your Baby Will Love

Picky Baby Food Ideas

Has your baby been rejecting food at mealtime? If so, you’re not alone. Babies often have highly discerning tastes that may come off as “picky eating.”

Image by Stephen Andrews

The term ‘picky eater’ is often used disapprovingly by parents and caregivers to describe a variety of eating behaviors. Some caregivers have expectations of how much food needs to be consumed by their little one, and label their child ‘picky’ if less food is eaten.

It’s a completely normal behavior for your baby as you help them discover new food flavors and textures. Trying out different foods and textures can help you find what they will eat during these phases.

When picky eating and jags begin

Picky eating often shows up around a year of age but may happen sooner. Your baby’s appetite and food intake varies by meal and/or by day. Today’s favorite food is rejected tomorrow, and the preference for only one or two foods, commonly known as food jags, may begin. 

Other caregivers experience food jags with their child, where only one or two foods are acceptable and this may be called ‘picky eating. ’ Sometimes toddlers just want to be active, and sitting in the highchair keeps them from their preferred play which earns them the ‘picky’ emblem.

Remember that these eating patterns are normal. Your child’s food intake needs depend on their level of physical activity and what their body needs. It’s important to continue monitoring their weight and ask their pediatrician if you have any concerns.

The best defense is to introduce a variety of tastes at a young age to acclimate the developing palate toward adventurous eating.

How you can help baby picky eaters

The most important thing you can do when you perceive your child as being a picky eater is to continue to offer a variety of healthy meals on a regular schedule. The selection of foods offered should also include previously rejected foods.

It’s important to remember that your baby is being introduced to a variety of flavors and developing tastes, and it’s perfectly normal if a food is not immediately accepted.

Things to avoid with baby picky eaters

The worst thing that caregivers can do for themselves and their children is to make food and mealtime a battleground. Mealtimes are meant to be pleasant, and forcing your little one to eat can actually cause him or her to become pickier and eat less.

Likewise, avoid bargaining with your child to take one more bite. They will quickly learn how to negotiate bites of food if the reward is dessert. That is a losing proposition for you both. Also avoid unhealthy options for the sake of getting them to eat as this can cause them to not develop a taste for healthier options.

Accept that your child will eat when they are hungry and they will decide how much is enough.  This may be easier said than done. However, if you can stay the course rather than following your toddler around, hoping he will take a bite of something (or anything) you will find yourself in a better place.

Food ideas for a picky eater

Texture and flavor variety

As you’re introducing your baby to solids, they may still prefer purees or liquids alongside or entirely at times. It can be useful to find what soft solid food textures your baby prefers such as banana versus sweet potato or a soft crisp.
It can be useful to introduce your baby to one-ingredient solids for 3-5 days. This can help them get familiar with the new foods and allow enough time for them to try it and see if it’s a flavor they really do not like. If they don’t eat enough of the new food, be sure to supplement their meal with their favorite food puree pouch or other meal you’ll know they’ll eat.

Some food flavors and textures to try:

  • Banana cut into small pieces
  • Chicken chopped finely
  • Pasta well-cooked beyond requiring chewing
  • Potato cooked and cut into small pieces
  • Scrambled eggs cut into bite-size pieces

Test food temperatures

Sometimes babies prefer certain flavors warm and others cold. Your baby may also take to overall warmer foods more than cold or vice versa. It can also depend on their environment temperature. For example, you may want to cool them down on a hot day.

As you’re introducing new flavors and textures, be sure to experiment with food temperature as well to feel out their preferences. This can help you with the success of them taking to current and future foods you try out.

Get your baby’s preferred food staples delivered to your door

Picky eaters will often have a handful of consistent foods that they will eat regularly with no qualms. You just have to discover which ones those are and then keep them on hand to ensure they are eating enough while you help them explore new foods to expand their palette.

You can skip the grocery line and get a wide variety of flavors and textures in convenient baby food pouches sent to your home.

From fruits and veggies to protein-packed foods and dairy-free options, you can find flavors baby will love. And you’ll know that you’re feeding them high-quality ingredients as all Sprout’s foods are organic & non-GMO with no concentrates or preservatives. Discover your little one’s new favorite foods today!

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What to cook for children, menu from 1 to 7 years old: 350 recipes with photos

Recipes for meals that can be prepared for a child with step by step photos. Breakfasts, lunches, dinners, afternoon snacks. Dishes like in kindergarten. Proven recipes with cooking times

Kindergarten Recipes Dinner Recipes for Kids Breakfast Recipes for Kids Soup recipes for kids Salad Recipes for Kids Recipes for baking and sweets for children side dish recipes for kids How to "hide" vegetables for kids

Thinking out what to cook for a child is another quest, because food should be both tasty and healthy, and meet many more children's whims.

Here you will find many suitable recipes for children to prepare for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Read more

One of the best soup options for children is, of course, with meatballs.

An airy and infinitely delicious cake made from the simplest ingredients, easy and quick to prepare - this is a cake with sour cream and raisins.

Incredibly tender, tasty and healthy chicken liver pancakes are obtained according to this PP recipe.

Donuts according to the classic recipe are cooked on kefir and from the simplest ingredients.

Salad with carrots, apples and dried fruits - a great option for a children's menu from 2 to 6 years old.

Mannik is one of the simplest and most economical types of baking. It is the easiest to prepare.

The recipe for a cake with raisins in milk is very simple. You don't need to beat anything for him.

An excellent low-calorie no-bake dessert for the New Year is panna cotta.

The low-calorie version of the Potato cake will never replace the original.

Quince has a pleasant aroma and delicate fruity taste, and can be used to make a variety of dishes, including delicious desserts.

These fragrant yeast-free dough tarts with juicy apple filling bake very quickly.

Sweet braided yeast dough with cinnamon - soft inside, spectacular, with caramelized crispy edges.

Royal cheesecake, despite its name, is more like a sweet pie with crumbly crispy dough and a delicate cheesecake-like filling.

A wonderful recipe for meatballs for children is hedgehogs, I cook them in a pan.

Cheesecakes with cottage cheese from yeast dough - a wonderful weekend breakfast.

Funny hedgehogs with gravy will surely please your kids. Light sour cream sauce goes well with unusual meatballs.

The recipe for the most delicious cake - this, of course, sounds subjective. But yes, I have it.

This simple and delicious cheesecake recipe uses only available and inexpensive ingredients.

Curd cake with raisins bakes quite quickly in the oven and will become a lifesaver for the arrival of guests and home tea drinking.

Carrot cake according to the classic recipe is prepared quite simply. And the products for him are also simple.

Meringue is a sweet, crunchy dessert made with minimal ingredients.

This grated cottage cheese pie always pleases my family with its aroma and taste, I bake it in the oven.

Many people remember from childhood the taste of tender cake Mishka in the north. Thin shortbreads soaked in fragrant sour cream with vanilla and a light crunch of walnuts.

Grated shortcrust pastry pie with apple from childhood. Now more and more people are looking for recipes for fashionable macaroons and canelli, and earlier our mothers and grandmothers baked the simplest pies that were and remain insanely delicious.

Thinking out what to cook for a child is another quest, because food should be both tasty and healthy, and meet many more children's whims.

Here you will find many suitable recipes for children to prepare for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

For your convenience, we have divided the recipes into categories: breakfasts for children, soups for children, side dishes for children, dinners for children, desserts for children.

There is also a category of recipes “how to hide vegetables for children in baking” – for those mothers whose children cannot stand everything healthy and prefer to eat only sweets. :)

All recipes are suitable for children's menus, tested by our authors and their children, so feel free to choose what suits you!

You will also be interested in our training “How to teach a child to eat right in 2 weeks”.

Children's recipe - Encyclopedia Baby food

Victoria Levchuk©

What is a children's recipe? I wonder how a children's recipe differs from an adult? A children's recipe is prepared for a baby, up to what age? How to adapt adult table dishes to children's recipes? We will try to answer these questions and even more. First, let's figure out what a recipe and a children's recipe are!

What is a prescription?

Table of contents:

Recipe is a set of instructions or a description of how to prepare a culinary dish. The word is also used in medicine or information technology. A doctor usually writes a prescription for medicines that can be obtained or bought at a pharmacy.

Prescription was originally a medical word. The recipe comes from the Latin "recipere" which means "to take". The word was first used in the 14th century as a verb rather than a noun. Only in the 16th century did the recipe become a noun and signify the recipe itself. Around the 17th century, the word recipe migrated from a medical topic to cooking and began to denote a method / instruction for preparing a dish.

The recipe consists of two main parts: the list of ingredients and the method of preparation. There are different styles of writing recipes, such as the drawn recipe. Ingredients are preceded by the name, number of servings, and serving size, if applicable. Then a list of ingredients and cooking method.

If the recipes are taken from some source and adapted, then you must indicate the source under the text of the recipe. Recipes need to be cooked before they are posted to make sure they work, the ingredients and serving sizes are right, and the food tastes amazing. If cooking is a flight of thought and inspiration, then you definitely need to take notes.

At a minimum the recipe must contain the following information :

  • the name of the dish
  • the list of ingredients with the exact amount of each ingredient
  • a description of how the dish is to be prepared and finished, this is called the cooking method
  • Number of servings and time cooking.

Children's recipe is a way of preparing a dish taking into account the characteristics of the child's age. Therefore, baby food is divided into 9 age stages0080 : 4-6 months, 7-8 months, 8-10 months, 10-12 months, 12-18 months, 18-24 months, 2-3 years, etc. The older the child becomes, the more parents move away in cooking from baby food and children's recipes towards adult cooking. The children's recipe includes dishes that are aimed at improving the child's body, which are balanced, varied and designed specifically for children. This does not mean that now it is necessary to prepare only children's recipes for children, and adults - for adults.

It's just that in baby food there are rules for cooking, which are observed until the child completely switches to an adult diet or his body is sufficiently strong. Moreover, the rules gradually decrease with the age of the child and approach the usual recommendations for proper healthy eating.

Baby Food or Baby Prescription Rules

It is up to the child's parents to follow or not follow these guidelines.

Up to 10 months (age is approximate as parents look at their child and decide whether to follow this recommendation):

  1. Only fresh food is used for cooking, especially vegetables, fruits and dairy products.
  2. Children's prescription must contain foods that benefit the child's body.
  3. Recipe must contain complex carbohydrates.
  4. Children's prescription must be free of processed foods, sugar or salt, and saturated fat.
  5. Main meals are less than 600 calories per serving.
  6. For every meal, a fresh dish, freshly prepared.
  7. Do not store the finished product for more than 24 hours.

    CLICK ON ME!!! We eat delicious. Annabelle Carmel.

  8. The child eats foods that he is familiar with and does not have an allergic reaction.
  9. The new product is introduced into the diet gradually and carefully according to the rule of waiting in 4-7 days.
  10. Children's recipe provides the consistency of the finished dish, based on the age of the child.

    Consistency of food up to a year. Click on me!!!

  11. Children's meals are best cooked by steaming, if this is not possible, then bake, as a last resort, boil in water, and stew the last, should not be fried in oil, at least up to 3 years.
  12. When freezing baby food, indicate the freezing date and freezer shelf life.
  13. Baby food cubes can only be defrosted in the refrigerator.
  14. Use of semi-finished products of industrial production is not desirable until 3-5 years.

Items 6 and 7 can be removed from 10-18 months, as the child's body has already adapted to food intake, is able to digest dishes prepared in the morning or even yesterday. It is already possible to introduce a new product for about 3-5 days, also due to the age of the child and its better adaptation, and the gastrointestinal tract is more ready to digest unfamiliar foods. The consistency is most likely close to adult food, so this item also goes away by about 18 months. Points 8 and 9 remain with the child until the age of 5-7, while he is getting acquainted with new products. And only the rules of healthy eating remain.

I think it's clear what principles a children's recipe is based on, it must comply with the rules of healthy eating with a discount for the child's age. Because while the baby is small, he eats complementary foods of a homogeneous consistency, the products must be super fresh, so as not to burden the gastrointestinal tract with poisoning, serve fresh, freshly prepared foods every time, do not store them. Gradually, the child grows, the consistency of baby food changes, the shelf life of the finished dish also changes. All these nuances should include a children's recipe.

Another important thing to consider are frozen cubes of baby puree, which are often prepared by parents of small children. It is also important to indicate the shelf life of frozen cubes, as well as the methods of defrosting, in what form the thawed baby food will be, how to thicken it if the consistency changes.

Children's recipe consists of various nuances, parents must understand and prepare complementary foods based on these rules.

Recipes for baby puree often state that the dish can be prepared in 3-4 different ways. In order not to confuse parents, we will explain.

In the case of zucchini puree, which can be prepared in different ways, the taste of the finished product will be different, as will the cooking time.

  • Prepare for steam
  • Bake
  • Boil in water
  • Pull out in a pan
  • Thaure the zucchini cubes and touch
  • Open a jar of baby food

Preparation options for children's recipe

It turned out 5 ways to prepare Kabachnoye easy option. Accordingly, there will be 5 children's recipes or one recipe consisting of 5 subgroups of possibilities for cooking zucchini for a child. We also take into account the age of the child and the consistency of the product, which changes. So at the beginning of complementary foods, the baby will receive a uniform consistency, closer to 9-10 months with small pieces, by 12 months the baby will most likely be served zucchini in pieces. And a good children's recipe should include all these nuances that are important for every mother to know.

What is a balanced children's prescription?

To understand what a balanced children's recipe is, it is necessary to answer the question, what is a balanced diet?

Balanced Nutrition is a ratio of the following proportions: a quarter of protein, a quarter of carbohydrates and half of vegetables.

Six types of nutrients are essential for survival: proteins, carbohydrates, lipids (fats), vitamins, minerals, and water. Proteins, carbohydrates and fats are macronutrients. "Macro" means that our body needs these nutrients in large quantities.

Macronutrients provide energy, measured in kilojoules or kilocalories. Vitamins and minerals are considered micronutrients because our bodies only need them in small amounts. Water is another important macronutrient because the volume of water excreted by the body through metabolic processes is much less than the amount of water we lose every day through sweating, urine, stool and breathing.

Balanced children's recipe

A balanced children's recipe should include the principles of a balanced diet. But how do you ensure your baby is balanced at the start of complementary foods? It's very simple, just feed the baby with breast milk or formula; up to a year, it is these liquids that provide the baby's body with all the important elements. Therefore, parents are advised until the child is 12 months old to expand the diet, and not increase the portion.

After 12 months, try to apply the principles of a balanced diet, but without fanaticism, focus more on intuitive eating, when a plate with a variety of food is placed in front of the child, and already the baby chooses what to eat and in what quantity. As I wrote earlier in other articles, children sometimes can overeat some foods with a lack of some elements in the body, and then for a long time these foods are not eaten. It is normal for parents to give their child choices in a varied and balanced diet.

How to adapt adult dishes to children's recipes?

Adult cuisine can be easily adapted to children's recipes. To do this, you need to answer a few questions:

  • What products in the adult recipe are included in the baby's complementary foods?
  • Which ingredients in an adult recipe can be substituted or omitted without changing the taste of the dish?
  • Can I use healthy cooking methods such as roasting or steaming?
  • Is it possible to refuse spices and spices without changing the taste of the dish?
  • Is it possible to change the consistency of a dish without changing the taste?
  • Is the recipe consistent with healthy eating?

How to turn an adult dish into a children's recipe?

Of course, you can ask more questions, but these are the main ones that distinguish an adult recipe from a child's. Recipes for children under 10 months differ from adult cuisine in their one-component and consistency. At this stage of baby food, it is better not to use adult cuisine recipes, but to prepare food according to children's recipes that are recommended for a child of this age. From about 10 months old, you can cook according to family recipes, but taking into account the age of the child and the products that he has tried at the current stage. For example, we cook pilaf, but we take not the usual ingredients, but those with which the baby is familiar. So for children's pilaf we will take meat (rabbit or turkey), onions, carrots and rice, without salt and spices.

For the first pilaf, the meat is not fried, but boiled a little in water, onions and carrots are sautéed a little, rice is soaked. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for about 30 minutes. The perfect first pilaf cooked in a double boiler. Parents can choose the cooking method, if possible. The first pilaf will look more like boiled meat porridge with vegetables. When the body can digest pilaf, namely by about 1-2 years, depending on how the family prepares this dish, then it is given from the common table.

Until what age do we prepare children's recipes?

Until about 5-7 years of age, the child's diet is expanded, i. the child gets acquainted with various products up to about 7 years. For example, mushrooms can be given after 5 years, etc. Therefore, children's recipes are prepared up to 5-7 years. But in practice, children from the age of 2 eat from the general table, taking into account their familiarity with the products. Parents try to adjust their diet in such a way that it matches a healthy diet, which means that children are allowed to eat. Recipes for children are adapted by many parents for themselves, someone starts to eat more properly , someone reviews family meals, makes changes to them, someone cooks separately for a child, separately for adults, this is everyone's choice, no matter what recipes are used to prepare food for a child.

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