Feeding Your One Year Old

Last week, we learned about baby's first foods. Bland and smooth were the keys to those recipes, but today, we'll cover more advanced tastes!

For babies new to foods, freezing portions in ice cube trays works perfectly. Of course, as your baby ages, he or she will eat more and more.  Having readymade meals in the freezer makes things easy when schedules are taxing.

Some tips and ideas for feeding a 1 year old:

MUFFIN TINS: Upgrade frozen portions from ice cube trays to muffin tins! The perfect new portion size.

VEGGIE BABY LASAGNA: Steam a bag of frozen spinach. Puree it. Mix in orzo pasta, small curd cottage cheese and a bit of shredded mozzarella. Freeze portions in muffin tins.

GROUND MEAT: Ground turkey and chicken are fast and easy. Freeze in baby size portions and pull them out to saute quickly for finger food. Serve with frozen peas and carrots. The frozen veggies will thaw in hot water while you cook up the ground turkey. (Did you know that frozen fruits and veggies can be just as healthy- or healthier- than their fresh counterparts? This is because the fruits/veggies are usually flash frozen within hours of picking. Fresh fruits/veggies often sit out for days before being purchased and possibly days more before being prepared. The foods lose their nutrients as the sit!)

MINI PIZZAS: Buy mini whole wheat pita breads. Top with sauce, cheese and ground meat or veggies and put them in the toaster oven or under the broiler. Put extras on a baking sheet and freeze them. Stack the frozen pizzas in a tupperware and take out as needed.

SMOOTHIES: Yogurt and fresh fruit smoothies will teach your little one how to use a straw in no time!

www.wholesometoddlerfood.com recommends feeding your child a rainbow everyday:

Red - Apples, Cherries, Strawberries, Watermelon, Red Potatoes, Tomatoes

Orange - Oranges, Peaches, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots

Yellow - Bananas, Summer Squash, Wax Beans, Pears

Green - Avocado, Green Beans, Zucchini, Mango, Papaya

Blue - Blueberries

Purple - Grapes, Eggplant

 Do you have questions or tips to share on the topic of toddler food? Please post a comment!

What we feed our children today will determine their future tomorrow. A well-stocked pantry is the best form of preventive medicine known to man.

-SuperFoods for Babies 

and Children

Do you or have you considered making your own baby food? Don't be scared! It's surprisingly easy on you, easy on your wallet, and easy on your baby's tummy. Choosing fresh fruits and veggies to cook and puree allows you to serve your baby the healthiest food available. (Keep an eye on the blog for more baby food posts. We'll not only cover first foods, but also recipes for more advanced taste, as well!)

Packed inside tomatoes, oranges, spinach and blueberries are whole sets of plant nutrients that can reduce our risk for heart disease and cancer. In general, the more colorful the food, the more nutrients it contains. The deep orange of a sweet potato rates higher than a white potato, spinach is healthier than lettuce, and pink grapefruit is preferable to ordinary grapefruit.

Before we get to a few recipes, let's cover a couple commonly-encountered issues with homemade baby food:

1. I don't have room in my freezer for so many tiny containers!

Here's the trick: Pour your baby food in ice cube trays, freeze, pop out and store all in a zipper bag. Thaw a few at a time, as needed.

2. I ended up with a quart of sweet potatoes. Unless I want to serve sweet potatoes morning, noon, and night, my baby will never eat all of them!

Organize a baby food swap! It's simple. Just ask each mom to bring one large batch of organic homemade baby food, either fresh or frozen. Just like a cookie swap, each mom will leave with a several servings of each entree. Oh the money you'll save... and the fun you'll have!

Have you encountered any other issues with homemade baby food? Either in preparation, storage, or feeding? Post a comment about it!

On to a few recipes to get you started. 

Remember, the more colorful, the better for baby!

(Recipes from SuperFoods for Babies and Children)

First Vegetable Puree 

(makes 4 portions)

4 medium carrots

Wash, peel and chop or slice the carrots into even-size pieces. Put in a steamer or in a saucepan with just enough boiling water to cover. Cover and simmer until soft (~20 minutes).

Puree until very smooth together with some of the cooking liquid or some of the water in the bottom of the steamer. Add more or less water depending on how your baby swallows the food.

Mixed Root Vegetable Puree

(makes 6 portions)

Mix and match a selection of three of the following root veggies. Use about 1/2 pound of each but less of parsnip (it has a strong taste).

carrot / potato / sweet potato / butternut squash / parsnip

Wash, peel, and chop veggies. Place in a saucepan and just cover with boiling water. Cook over medium heat until tender (~20 min). Blend the veggies to a smooth puree adding as much of the cooking liquid as necessary (or you can use some of your baby's usual milk in place of the water). 

Carrot and Apple Puree

(makes 2 portions)

2 medium carrots

1 small apple

Scrub and peel the carrots and cut into chunks. Place the chunks in a steamer and cook 15 minutes. Peel, core and chop the apple, add to the carrot, and continue cooking another 5 minutes. Drain and puree to a smooth consistency, adding a little water from steamer if necessary.

No Cook Baby Food

(1 to 2 portions)

Papaya

Cut a small papaya in half, remove the black seeds and puree or mash the flesh of one half until smooth.

Avocado

Cut a small avocado in half, remove pit, scoop out the flesh and mash together with a little of baby's usual milk.

Banana

Mash with a fork. Add a little of baby's usual milk if necessary