With child and teen obesity reaching epidemic proportions, creating positive eating habits and developing a palate that favors fresh and healthful foods cannot begin too soon. According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the prevalence of being overweight among children ages 6-11 has more than doubled in the last twenty years. Future statistics are equally grim.
Though parenting a baby is demanding, finding time to make food for your baby begins cultivating great eating habits for parents and children alike. Food preparation becomes an important part of the family routine, guarding against future reliance on preservative and chemical laden convenience foods and fatty fast-foods. Perhaps the only thing more important than giving kids good food to nourish them is building the habits to make good choices for a lifetime.
The key to cooking regularly for infants is keeping it simple: choosing easy recipes with simple flavor combinations and minimizing the addition of sugar. If possible, choose organic fruits and vegetables, which can offer peace of mind when it comes to artificial pesticides and fungicides. The Apple and Apricot Puree recipe from The Organic Baby and Toddler Cookbook by Lizzie Vann is a perfect recipe for 4-7 month olds and their parents to try.
Apple and Apricot Purée
makes 2-3 servings for a 4 month-old; 1 serving for a 6 month-old
Ingredients:
2 small apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
2 peeled fresh apricots or 6 dried apricots, finely chopped
Place the apples and apricots in a pan and just cover with water.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Strain the water and set aside.
Purée the fruit mixture by pushing through a sieve or by using a blender. Add a little of the reserved water if a thinner consistency is preferred.
*Fact: Organic apples are often grown from traditional varieties such as Macintoshes and Macouns. They tend to be more resistant to pests so farmers can avoid the use of artificial pesticides and fungicides.
Learn how to prepare tasty and nutritious meals for your kids. In the comment field below, tell us about your child's favorite meal. Gather will randomly select 10 respondents to win a copy of Organic Baby & Toddler Cookbook. Responses must be posted by February 21st .
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Comments: 36
We have more articles coming this month about preparing food for babies and toddlers of all ages. Stay tuned!
The email notification about this article asked about our children's favorite meals - my youngest son's current solid favorite seems to be banana. He's primarily breastfed and only just starting to experiment with solid foods so this book and series of articles is excellent timing for us.
At home, I cook everything from scratch and use all fresh ingredients. I try to buy organic as often as possible, but since we're on a tight budget, that's not always possible.
My son's favorite food at home is probably when I make penne pasta with my home made meat sauce. We use whole wheat penne pasta and I make the sauce from scratch using real fresh tomatoes (nothing from a can). We just had it last nite and he eats an adult size portion because he loves it so much.
This book sounds very interesting and I would love to have it as an addition to our household. Thanks for this opportunity.
What a pain. That is so terrific that you find the time and energy to make your own.
*Hummus (they LOVE it!!) with either Annie's Whole Wheat Bunny crackers or baby carrots for dipping.
*Sliced avocado
*Prunes (I have to hide them or they would OD on these!)
*Fruitabu organic fruit roll ups (any flavor)
*Mom's pizza pinwheels....whole wheat pizza crust, a tad of pizza sauce mixed with fresh garlic, minced roasted red pepper, minced baby spinach, minced artichoke hearts, and ground flax seed, topped with italian cheese. I roll up the dough then slice it before I bake it so they come out to be hand size pinwheels...YUM!
I love it that they like healthy food and will eat almost everything we put in front of them...sushi included. I would be miserable if I had to serve mac and cheese or nuggets every night! Everyone tells us we won't be so lucky when we decide to go for #3!
My son has a few favorite meals that he will enjoy eating, but he is quite stubborn in regards to new foods. His all time favorite is when I make homemade enchiladas with ground beef and veggies with some rice and beans on the side. My son loves everything with cheese, but I have not been successful at all at getting him to eat chicken.
I also have a five-year-old son, and he basically likes everything his brother doesn't want to eat and vice versa. I am always looking out for new ideas, and I love reading articles like this one.