Tasty and healthy food for children is a question that arises in the life of all parents. The period of starting complementary food requires quite close attention. Every mother tries to organize complementary foods for a baby at the highest level.
After all, the task is not only to introduce new products to a child and diversify its diet but also to avoid allergies and negative consequences.
Pay much attention to the method of cooking because it is best to steam food for your little one, boil and bake vegetables, meat and fish. Besides, you need to responsibly check the selection of products, they should always be the first freshness.
This rule also applies to the dishes themselves, you shouldn’t cook in advance (for example, a day before). So if you are wondering what can be cooked for a baby, let’s go through a quick guide of the most healthy selection of recipes.
1. Creamy Vegetable Soup
Creamy vegetable soup is the main dish, which is prepared from grated vegetables, cereals, meat, or fish, often seasoned with milk, butter, and cream. Such a dish is very well absorbed by the kids’ immature organisms. Creamy vegetable soup is a dish having lots of advantages.
Firstly, it has a sufficient amount of vegetables that are rich in vitamins and minerals which are indispensable for the organism. Secondly, eating soups helps speed up digestion and facilitates the process of digesting certain foods.
Thirdly, the benefit of the main dish is that it is digested well when hot, which means that a kid will get the maximum amount of nutrients. Finally, this soup is a treatment for gastritis, enteritis, pancreatitis, and cholecystitis and is extremely useful for metabolic disorders.
Ingredients:
- 2 potatoes
- 400g of pumpkin
- garlic clove
- 0.5 cup of seed olive (butter) oil
Preparation:
- peel and cut potatoes and pumpkin into small cubes
- place the vegetables in a saucepan, cover with water and add a clove of garlic
- transfer the prepared vegetables to a blender bowl (throw away the garlic) add a little broth, in which the potatoes and pumpkin were boiled, and beat until smooth
- heat the oil and gradually add to your puree, beat until smooth
- before serving, you can add croutons or rub the cheese
2. Delicious Oatmeal
Oatmeal is considered the best cereal for baby consumption which ensures that a kid receives complex carbohydrates, providing it with the necessary energy for activity and development.
This cereal contains vegetable proteins and dietary fiber, as well as many vitamins (B9, PP, H, E, and others) and mineral compounds (iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, silicon, chlorine, and others).
The introduction of oatmeal into the children’s menu allows you to diversify it. In addition, such porridge is quite satisfying and eliminates hunger for a long time.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups of finely ground oatmeal
- 600ml of milk
- 1–2 tablespoons of sugar
- salt to taste
Preparation:
- pour milk into a small saucepan, add sugar and salt, place over medium heat and boil
- when the milk boils, pour the oatmeal and stir for 5 minutes
- cover the saucepan with a lid, remove from heat and leave the oatmeal for 5 minutes. Add oil and stir
- pour the oatmeal on a plate, add nut paste and garnish with berries
3. Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken noodle soup is known for being rich in various vitamins and minerals. The soup is prepared using chicken broth, which makes this dish tasty and healthy. In addition, it is soft and easy to digest for kids.
Besides, if a kid gets sick, chicken noodle soup makes a baby feel better. It’s proven that chicken broth helps to cope with the symptoms of flu and colds. The hot broth clears the upper respiratory tract and relieves nasal congestion that occurs with a runny nose.
Ingredients:
- chicken or part of it
- carrots, celery, and onions
- noodles
- salt and pepper
- 500ml of water
Preparation:
- boil water and add chicken
- add salt and pepper
- cook for about an hour until the chicken is soft and tender
- add noodles and vegetables, then cook for another 30 minutes
- turn off the heat and serve the soup in a bowl
4. Semolina Porridge
Thanks to quick cooking, many useful trace elements remain in semolina. Semolina contains the minimum fiber kids need to help support a healthy gut. Semolina envelops the walls of the stomach helping to relieve pain.
Carbohydrates in the content replenish energy reserves. Vegetable proteins and vitamin B stimulate brain activity and have a positive effect on the nervous system. Properly cooked semolina porridge can become the kids’ favorite dish.
Ingredients:
- 5 tablespoons of semolina
- 2 cups of milk
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 – 3 teaspoons of sugar
- 0.5 teaspoons of honey for serving
Preparation:
- pour milk into a bowl
- add a pinch of salt and sugar
- pour the semolina into cold milk and mix thoroughly
- place the container on the stove and stir the porridge for about 4-5 minutes until it thickens
- put it on a plate and pour honey on top, which can be replaced with caramel, sweet syrup
5. Homemade Applesauce
Apples are the most favorite and affordable delicacy for kids. They are widely used in dietary nutrition for diseases of the kidneys, liver, obesity, and violation of the intestinal bio flora in a child. Apples contain antioxidants that affect the cells of the body, strengthen the immune system and help fight viral infections.
Ingredients:
- 2 apples
- 1 liter of water
Preparation:
- wash the apples, peel, remove the core
- cut into small cubes
- pour in a pot of water and put on fire
- boil and then reduce the heat to medium and simmer the apples for about 10 minutes until soft
- drain the water
- mash the apples with a blender to get the desired consistency
- add the water in which the apples were boiled to the puree
6. Milk Rice Pudding
Gluten contained in rice activates the activity of enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract, which as a result can absorb nutrients from cereals. Besides, a small organism receives a lot of vitamins (niacin, thiamine, carotene, folic acid) and amino acids from it. Moreover, the rules for its preparation are extremely simple.
Ingredients:
- 30g of butter
- 300ml of milk
- 50g of round-grain rice
- 30g of sugar
- 2g of vanilla sugar
- 1 egg
Preparation:
- melt butter
- pour a portion of washed rice, mix and cook for about 1 minute
- pour milk and cook for 15 minutes
- at the same time, separate the yolk from the protein
- add sugar and vanilla sugar to the yolk and beat to a smooth texture beat the protein to an airy foam
- add the yolk to the boiled rice and stir quickly
- then add protein foam
- grease a vessel with butter and fill with creamy rice
- out into a hot oven for the next 15-20 minutes and bake at a temperature of 190°C
