Super Baby Food

Ever thought of raising a super baby? How about dressing him in a blue tight fitting spandex suit with a pair of red underpants on the outside? Ha! I don't think I will do that to my baby. I think I would rather give my baby super baby food. Yes, I am definitely sure it is possible to find, prepare and cook super baby food that makes my baby superly strong and healthy.

What do I consider as super baby food? First and foremost, the food must be made of fresh natural whole food and most preferably not been through any sort of chemical process, if they do fall under this category of baby food, then naturally these food should be packed with natural goodness which then qualifies them to be a true super baby food.

Well, I need to make sure my baby is getting a balanced diet from fresh natural super baby food which comprises of carbohydrates, proteins and all the essential vitamins and minerals. Here are my suggestions of some of the super baby food ( which rarely cause any allergic reactions in babies and can be progressively introduced after the six months ) that you can give to your baby for a well-balanced diet.

1)Vegetable: Spinach, broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, cauliflower, carrot, potato, yam, turnip, pumpkin and sweet potato.

2)Fruit: Avocado, banana, papaya, pear, peach, apricot, apple, plum, watermelon, cherry.

3)Meat: Chicken, Beef, Pork and Lamb.

4) Carbohydrates: Oat, Brown Rice, Corn and Barley.

The "Big Eight" foods responsible for allergic reactions in babies are eggs ( especially egg white ), peanuts, tree nuts, milk, fish, shellfish, wheat and soy. When introducing your baby to any of the food above, do be vigilant and watch out for any allergic reactions. Hence, please do follow the guild lines below when giving your baby these food.

Food which are likely to cause allergic reactions [ Can be introduced after the 9th month ] Egg yolk, Berries, Soy and Legumes.

Food which babies can be highly allergic to [ Best to be introduced after the 12th month ]
Egg white, Peanut, Tree nuts and Seafood.

Food which occasionally can cause oral allergy syndrome [ Can be introduced after the 12th month ]
Kiwi fruit, Orange, Pineapple, Mango and Cantaloupe.

Your baby will be embarking on an exciting food tasting journey as you present her with all the nutritiously delicious super baby food. However, please give your baby some time and space. Rejecting the food which you offered the first time doesn't mean she will dislike it forever. Be joyful and patient and soon your baby will reciprocate by eating heartily all the super baby food.

The most convenient way of preparing all these super baby food if they needed cooking is to steam them using a steamer. In this way, most of the nutrients in these super baby food will be preserved in this cooking method which is vital as you would want your baby to eat food containing lots of nutrients. After steaming, you can either puree or cut up these super baby food into smaller pieces. Please remember never to add any flavorings like salt or sugar as they are absolutely unnecessary and unhealthy for our babies' pure body system. Get your baby used to the natural sweetness and flavors of real natural food since young and they will grow up loving them.

Of course, a huge range of the super baby fruits can be served as it is to your baby and that would means giving your baby all the nutrients that originally comes along with it. You just have to make sure these super baby fruits are pureeed if your baby just began to learn how to chew or they must be cut to the ideal size according to your baby's chewing ability.

The important key when preparing these super food is to do as little to these super baby food so that they will deliver maximum amount of benefit to your baby. I would like to share some of my baby's favorite super baby food recipe with all of you interested in giving your baby the best baby food.

Super Baby Food Recipe 1 [Avocado and Banana]
Cut open the avocado, take out the seed and scoop out the flesh.
Peel and slice up a banana.
Put both the avocado and banana into a baby food blender and blend it into your desired consistency. ( Just my humble suggestion: Blend the mixture longer into a very smooth consistency for younger babies e.g. 6 month old babies; blend it lightly into a mixture with chunks for older babies to chew e.g. 9 month or older babies )

Optional [ Organic Raisins ]
You can also add some organic raisins ( provides good source of iron for your baby ) into the avocado and banana mixture.
Soak 6-8 raisins for a few minutes in a bowl with hot water. The hot water should just covered the raisins. Wait till the raisins have soaked up some of the hot water and have become plump. Then blend the plumped up raisins together with the avocado and banana mixture.

Just for your information, raisins are cited as one of the food with high amounts of pesticides traces. For my baby's sake, I always buy organic raisins for his consumption.

Super Baby Food Recipe 2 [Apple and Sweet Potato]
Peel off the skin of the apple, remove the apple seeds and cut them up into small pieces.
Rinse one medium size sweet potato under water, then place it into a steamer for at least 20 minutes or till it softened and cooked. ( You can check whether the sweet potato is soft and cooked by poking a fork or toothpick through it ) After which, peel off the sweet potato skin and cut it into small pieces.
Put both the apple and sweet potato pieces into a baby food blender and blend it into your desired consistency. ( Likewise, you can follow my humble suggestion above on the desired consistency for babies of different ages when making these super food for your baby. )

Super Baby Food Recipe 3 [Pumpkin and Dried Organic Apricot]
Cut open the pumpkin, take out the seeds and cut it into slices.
Take one medium slice of pumpkin and steam it for at least 15 minutes or till it softens and is cooked. ( Confirm if the pumpkin is soft and cooked by poking a fork or toothpick through it ) After which, cut away the skin of the pumpkin and cut it into small pieces.
Soak 2-3 organic dried apricots for a few minutes in a bowl with hot water. The hot water should just covered the apricots. Wait till the apricots have soaked up some of the hot water and have become plump. Then blend the plumped up apricots together with the pumpkin into a mixture of your desired consistency suitable for your baby's age and chewing ability.

Be adventurous and happy! I highly encourage you to experiment with all the super baby food listed above to create a tantalizing meal ( with love as the main ingredient ) for your baby. This will inevitably make your baby love all the super nutritious baby food you've specially prepare for him . Only you know your baby best, have fun while making all those super healthy food for your precious super baby.

Tags: baby food, baby care, babyhealth, baby food nutrition, motherhood, baby first food, parenting, super baby food, whole foods

Baby Food Processor

Reaching the sixth month mark can be considered a huge milestone for the baby and a great achievement for the mother. There are plenty of vast changes you can see in your baby as compared to six months ago. The sixth month old baby is beginning to learn to sit on her own and might even be cutting her first tooth. These are all signs that the baby is ready to eat a little semi-solids ( by puree-ing with a fork or a baby food processor ) day by day. Sitting upright allows her chin to be up and her neck to be straight which makes chewing and eating semi-solids more possible and much safer. Teething also means she can have the means of chewing the semi-solids well so this will aid digestion and not become a tummy ache issue later on. A baby food processor, baby food grinder or even a baby food blender will come in handy at this stage of a baby's life.

The World Health Organisation ( WHO ) recommends babies to be breastfed exclusively for the first six months of their lives. If for whatsoever reason breastfeeding is not possible, infant formula can be used to complement breastfeeding. After six months, besides drinking milk, semi-solids can be gradually introduced to complement the baby's diet.

There are a variety of natural food suitable for becoming the baby's first food. Let me tell you the top three food on my list, namely Avocado, Banana and Papaya ( For easier remembrance sake, "ABP" ). Why "ABP"? This is because they are packed with a lot of good vitamins and minerals and preparing these three food is as easy as "ABC" ( No baby food processor is required ). They can be easily prepared and served to the baby without cooking or without using any food processor. All you need is your knife and fork. For Avocado and Papaya, first cut open the fruit, remove the seed or seeds, scoop out the flesh of the fruit and finally mash the flesh up with a fork until they become a mushy lump ( without any visible solid fruity parts ). As for the banana, peel off the skin and mash it with a fork until it become a mushy lump. Hence, for these three food, you can save the time and hassle of washing and cleaning the baby food processor later on.

However, we need to let the baby try as many types of food as possible when she is an infant so she will be able to love and enjoy all types of food ( be it vegetables or fruit or meat or carbohydrates ) when she grows up. Therefore, a user friendly and easy to clean up baby food processor will be a very handy tool in your kitchen. You will be able to whip up a meal of fresh natural delicious food for your baby in a whiff if you purchased the right type of baby food processor.

What is an ideal baby food processor? There are many brands of baby food processor and different models of food processors available in the market. How do you come to a decision on which baby food processor to purchase? Don't end up buying a baby food processor with multiple parts which will take you an hour to clean up, most likely this equipment will end up in the store room as you would rather spend the time bonding with your baby. Go to the people you trust and rely on, ask experienced mothers ( your sisters, good friends or your own mom etc ) for valuable recommendations. I believe only those tried and tested ( by experienced mothers ) baby food processors are worth buying. For me, I managed to get a reasonably priced, easy to use and easy to clean baby food processor after searching online and reading numerous rave reviews about that baby food processor used by many mother from forums and blogs.

The advantages of a baby food processor are many provided you get the right one. Instead of wasting time, the ideal baby food processor helps you to save precious time by puree-ing your baby's food into a smooth consistency in a flash ( a few seconds is all it takes ). You don't have to be mashing the food with a fork until your hands are sore and yet the food is not smooth enough for your baby. Sometimes, serving your baby this food( with some hard lumps ) can be dangerous when your baby just begin to learn how to chew. These not properly puree-ed food can become a choking hazard for our baby. As a matter of fact, some good healthy food are just too hard and cannot be easily puree-ed by simply using a fork. Therefore, a good powerful baby food blender will be able to turn those not so soft food into a nice soft texture with just a touch of a button. Easy!

You do not have to shelve off the idea of preparing the harder to chew food for your baby if you own a good baby food processor. For example, you will be able to prepare nutritious brown rice for your baby by using the baby food processor. ( For brown rice, the kernels of the rice grain stay intact; whereas white rice is derived when the kernels of the rice grain have been removed ). I prefer not to give white rice to my baby as the kernels of the rice grain have been removed. As most of the goodness is found on the kernels of the rice grain, brown rice will more nutritious than white rice. I gave my baby organic brown rice as it is a even healthier option.

Preparation wise, there are two methods you can choose from. Firstly, you can rinse the grains of the brown rice with some water, drain away the water and put the rice grains on a tray to dry. After the rice grains are thoroughly dried, just pour them into the baby food processor and conveniently grind them into very fine powder which you can store in air tight containers for future use. You can keep the finely grinded brown rice powder in the refrigerator to make sure it is as fresh as possible for your baby's consumption. Personally, I will only make a small portion of the brown rice powder each time as using the baby food processor is rather convenient and this will ensure my baby will be getting as much fresh food as possible.

Alternatively, you can use the baby food processor to prepare an individual serving. You can wash the required amount of brown rice grains and then place them into the baby food processor container. Simply add a little water into the baby food processor to cover the rice grains and grind them into a mixture of tiny bits of rice grains. Then you can pour the whole rice mixture into your cooking pot. For cooking of brown rice, whether it is the finely blended rice powder or the whole rice mixture, simply throw in your imagination (add in small pieces of carrot, pumpkin or steamed broccoli etc) and your baby will be able to enjoy a nutritiously, naturally tasting meal.

In addition, choosing a baby food processor with a easy to clean function is important too. It means that the baby food processor will be cleaned quickly simply by putting the dirtied part under the tap to rinse and then it is clean again. Please consider all the above pointers before making the purchase of your baby's food processor. Best of luck!

Tags: baby food, baby care, baby health, baby food nutrition, motherhood, baby first food, parenting, baby food processor, whole foods

Best Baby food

Welcome to Baby Food that Babies Love! The sole reason why I'm blogging about this topic stems from my experience from feeding my baby with the food he loves. Feeding times has been a breeze and my baby and I always enjoyed this special bonding time.

Having a baby has been a roller coaster ride for me, I'm fortunate to be blessed with a baby boy eventually. Throughout my pregnancy, I make it a point to eat well( which means more natural whole foods instead of fastfood or processed food ) so that my baby will get all the essential nutrients from the good food I eat. After giving birth, I've decided to continue this philosophy of giving my baby the best food. Giving my baby the best baby food will let him have a good headstart into eating natural food and warrant him a lifetime of good health which money cannot buy. To be able to help my baby grow strong and healthy, I think this will be one of the best gifts I can give to my precious baby.

What's the best food we can give our babies for the first six months? It is none other than our breast milk. From the initial colostrum to the mature breast milk, it provides the baby with all the necessary nutrients. Best of all, it will change accordingly to suit the growing needs of a baby. Where can we ever find such good milk off the shelf? I doubt so. Hence, I'm determined to breast feed even when it means lesser sleep and worse still, interupted sleep throughout the night. Besides the health benefits of breast milk, the mother and her baby will enjoy close intimacy during breastfeeding. Babies loved the smell of their mommies' skin and yearned to be touched, hugged and embraced by their mommies' warm arms, this is why the whole breastfeeding experience is so wonderful.

After the first six months, babies will need other sources of food, other than breast milk. Semi-solids can be gradually introduced and it is important to observe the 3 day wait rule whenever a new food is being introduced to the baby. By observing the baby's reaction to the new food, we can easily spot any food allergies if it does arises. Never under estimate any food allergy symptoms as it can have quite serious consequences. Nevertheless, we just have to exercise caution when giving our baby any new food. We always start with food which can be easily pureed so that our baby's tiny digestive system will not be over burdened. Food like banana( my baby's all time favourite ), sweet potato, pumpkin, avocado make good choices for baby's first food.

When our babies start to show signs of hunger even after the usual full milk feeds, this is a signal for us to let our babies begin their food exploration journey( preferably when the baby is six months or older as the WHO recommends baby to be given only breast milk for the first six months of their life ). Feeding times doesn't need to be a battlefield. It can be a journey of joy if we follow our baby's lead and introduce them to all the best natural food we can find. I'm pleased to have shared a wonderful food exploration journey with my little precious one and would like to share with you too.

First of all, in my opinion, the best form of food to give to a baby will be whole, natural food. For instance, giving baby freshly cut apple in pureed form will be way better than those dried apple fruit snack. Any food that has gone through some sort of processing will have some, if not all of its nutrients stripped off. We will definitely not like the idea of loading our baby's tiny stomach with food of no or little health benefits. As the space in their tummies is limited( after all, its really quite tiny ), we must ensure that only quality baby food gets in.

Secondly, I don't quite like the idea of food that has been fortified with any kind of vitamins or minerals. In the first place, all nutrients are naturally found in whole food, why should we artificially add it in? If its "artificially" added in, do you think the benefits will be as great? We should try as hard as possible to give our babies whole natural food so they can absorb the nutrients naturally. This is why I've chose not to give a single jar of baby food for my darling baby up till now.

Therefore, I will try my best to find whole food for my baby. Even if it meant taking up a bit more time and washing more dishes, I will do the food preparation personally most of the time. This means that I will be the one controlling the quality of food entering my baby's body and I will be the one choosing the ingredients and freshly preparing the food that my baby loves. I'm thankful to be able to be the one to do these for my baby.

Of course, I do understand that given our fast pace of life, sometimes saving time is important too. Most of the food I've prepared for my baby basically won't take up too much time once you've gotten the hang of it. As in the case of my baby favorite food--banana( packed full with nutrients ), you don't even need a minute to prepare it. It is deliciously and nutritiously soft and can be readily cut into small bite sizes. I believe with determination, perseverance and good time management, mothers will aspire to give good natural food that our babies love as we would love to see our baby grow healthy and strong!

tags: baby food, baby care, motherhood,
baby nutrition, baby health, natural food, whole food, parenting, food nutrition