|
| |
Fostering Healthy Eating Habits In Your Baby
If you're concerned about your baby's health, you want to be certain to start healthy eating habits early. The first year of solid foods is a very important time for establishing your child's eating habits. What your child eats, and more importantly, does ...
It's Almost Spring –Get Back on Track with your Weight Loss Diet
It's right about that time –the shoulder season of dieting. A time when we're no longer obsessed by our New Years resolutions and the looming bathing suit season is still too far off. We're stuck between a rock and hard place because it's hard to ...
Keep Smiling
A happy, healthy smile can be the difference between getting a job and not getting it. Studies suggest that a smile is a major factor in the overall first impression a person makes on the interview. Most people would agree that a smile is an important ...
|
|
|
| |
Making your own baby food also ensures that your baby is exposed to a greater variety of tastes and textures. This will help your baby when making the transition to table foods and also help him or her develop healthy eating habits. See http://www.baby-shop.org.uk/guide/ for a collection of articles on babies and toddlers.
Baby Food Preparation Tips
1. As babies are susceptible to digestive upsets, always work with clean hands and use clean cooking utensils, preparation surfaces, pots and pans etc., when making home made baby food. Prepare foods immediately upon removing them from the refrigerator and freeze immediately after cooking any foods you want to store.
2. Steaming vegetables is the best method of preparation. This softens them, makes them easier to chew, and preserves more of the vitamins and minerals than boiling. A steamer basket is cheap and by cooking fruits and vegetables in it, you'll be sure of keeping the nutrients in the food, instead of in the cooking water.
3. To puree your foods, you can use a fork, a food mill or blender. A blender quickly purees almost anything into the finest consistency. When your baby first starts on solids, you'll be pureeing things to a very fine consistency and, as baby gets a little older, you will make foods a little coarser. You may wish to buy a food mill which comes in large and small sizes. It is very handy and inexpensive. The food mill strains most cooked foods to a very smooth consistency, although meats can be a problem as they will have a coarser texture. Remember all the tools you need to make baby food are probably already in your kitchen.
4. You can prepare large amounts of foods at once and freeze them. Take your prepared foods and plop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Freeze the plops right away and then take them off the sheet when they are frozen and put them into plastic bags. You can also freeze the food in plastic "pop out" ice cube trays. Small tupperware jars with lids serve the same purpose and stack easily. Label and date the packages rotate them putting the most recently frozen foods behind the previously frozen ones. Frozen baby foods can be stored for up to two months.
5. When you take frozen foods out for baby, warm the food in a cup placed in a saucepan of boiling water with a lid on. If you use a microwave to thaw or warm baby food, be sure to stir the food well to avoid hot pockets.
6. Cereals are typically the first foods given to a baby because they contain lots of iron. You can prepare your own, by running oatmeal through your blender. Fruits are generally given next. Except for raw, mashed banana, you will need to cook all other fruits till they are soft.
7. Try making your own apple sauce and pear sauce; don't add any sugar, as these fruits are sweet enough on their own. You can also peel peaches, plums and apricots and boil or steam them.
8. Buy and use organic fruits and vegetables. Use fresh and organic vegetables whenever possible in order to provide the best nutrition and flavor for your baby. Your baby deserves pesticide-free foods. Frozen vegetables are better to use than canned.
9. Yogurt, mashed cottage cheese, mashed pumpkin, baked potato, avocado and tofu (oriental soy bean curd) are all popular with babies. One good idea is to blend together cottage cheese, banana and fresh orange juice - delicious!
10. Meats should be added slowly. They can be boiled or broiled, then put in the blender with a little milk and perhaps banana or cream of rice to get the right consistency. Chicken is generally the first meat baby is introduced to and usually goes down fairly well.
11. There is no rush to start your baby on solid foods. Milk is his most important food. Your doctor's recommendations and your own intuition will help you to know when to begin introducing solids to your baby's diet. Introducing solids prepares the baby for the transition to adult food and offers further vitamins and minerals as the baby grows. Always remember to be patient with your baby and allow at least a few days between newly added foods to make sure the baby doesn't suffer any reactions.
Copyright © 2005, Bridget Mwape writes for the Baby Shop UK: http://www.baby-shop.org.uk/ which features baby information including articles and discounts on baby products, gifts and advice from other parents. This article may be republished as long as all the above links are active and clickable and this author box (byline) is not edited.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Study raises hope for obesity treatment - HealthCentral.com
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. researchers may have found an obesity treatment that unlocks the fat-fighting promise of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone once hailed as the answer to the battle of the bulge. The problem with leptin is that it loses ...
Kitchen Shrink: Eating healthy on the high seas - La Jolla
Sous Chef Jun Geem's halibut ceviche with mango drizzle was served during a recent Caribbean cruise aboard the Mariner of the Seas. Photos courtesy of Catharine Kaufman Fruit sculptures are often part of the buffets on cruises. My clan recently ...
Cultivate healthy eating habits - Times of India
As adolescents grow into young adults, time constraints imposed by school or work can begin to affect their eating habits in an unhealthy way. In a study, researchers observed that while young adults enjoy and value time spent eating with others, 35 ...
Trim some fat from your daily diet - Payson Roundup
Eating healthy is a goal for many people. Regardless of a person’s age, the trend toward adopting a more healthy lifestyle is here to stay, and it often begins with altering our diets. But what are some ways we can tinker with our diets without ...
2009 New Years Resolution - KIMA TV
EATING HEALTHY IN 09 - Jordan Steele is in the studio and talks with Dietitian Nancy Krupin about healthier eating. One of the most common new years resolutions is better eating. This morning we will give you some simple facts and tips on how you can ...
|
