There are so many exciting milestones that you and your baby will share, but their food journey is definitely one of the most special. When you start to introduce solid food to your baby you’re allowing them to experience life through the different textures and flavours that food has. Gone are the days when it is about beige baby food and bland flavours, nowadays parents are much more likely to offer diverse flavours and ingredients – and that is great for your baby!
One thing that many parents worry about is the need to cook separately for their baby. Many believe that things like herbs and spices should not be added to food if a baby is going to be eating it, which leads to anxieties about how you’re going to be able to make all of that work at dinner time. Actually, many herbs and spices have medicinal properties and as such can help with building your baby’s immunity and there are so many baby meal ideas that can incorporate these safely – and tastily!
The Flavour Academy believe that creating tasty and flavourful meals for your baby is not only fun but essential for ensuring that your baby is well-nourished. At this stage in their development, everything is new in terms of textures and flavours, so introducing as many different aspects as possible because that they are less likely to be picky eaters when they are older – because they’ve already been through the stage of trying all these different things, so it seems the norm for them to do so.
Although it is important to talk to your health advisor in advance, we wanted to share with you some tips and tricks for how to add flavour to your meals in a way that is safe for your baby. One thing to avoid is adding salt and sugar to meals because it can cause health risks as well as give them a taste for these flavours. However, here are some tricks on creating delicious, safe meals using the Baby Brezza One Step Food Maker Deluxe.
Spices
Many people assume that they should shy away from adding spice to a baby’s food, but that is not the case at all. Spices add depth to food with their sweet and woody characteristics, which can actually make food more enjoyable for babies. Consider using whole spices such as cloves, cinnamon and/or cardamom when you are steaming food. However, ground spices with their slightly sweet flavour can also be used to level up the taste of food. Just remember that these are strong flavours so less is definitely more when it comes to the quantities that you should be using. Spices such as chilli, paprika and black pepper can start to be introduced in very small amounts once your baby gets to a year old.
Herbs
Herbs are a great way to add flavour to a range of dishes and don’t need to be left out when you’re baby weaning. Instead, things like basil and coriander are a great addition to baby purees, if you’re making these but still want something that is going to tantalise your baby’s taste buds. You can add herbs to things like rice, or blitz them up with water to add to pretty much anything – pesto is often a hit with babies too.
You can also use dried herbs for ease; just remember that they often have a stronger flavour than fresh herbs so use them sparingly, especially when first introducing these flavours to your little one.
Ingredients
When you are meal planning for your baby, using a variety of ingredients is really important – especially if you want to expand your baby’s palate. There are loads of ways to be creative with making meals – for example, this butternut mac and cheese recipe that can be easily made using your Baby Brezza One Step Food Maker Deluxe.
Texture vs. Flavour
When preparing a meal, think about how the ingredients are going to be prepared. This will affect the flavour of your finished product and also the textures that baby will be experiencing. For example, can you grate some of the vegetables you use but also dice them? This gives your baby a chance to try different flavours and textures, with the same ingredients.
Cooking Methods
The same goes for how you cook the meal and what techniques you choose to use – because this will affect the texture and flavour of your finished meal. For example, you could roast some vegetables slowly which will allow you to create a sweet, deep flavour for your dish – the same goes for cooking meat in this way. However, poaching these same ingredients will give you a different, softer texture result – both are great and different in their own ways. You can then think about what herbs and spices you’re going to add to each of these to finish things off perfectly. Steaming is a great way to prepare food for babies because it’s simple to do and gives you ample opportunity to add things like garlic and ginger to mix up favours a bit.
Conclusion
When you start on your baby weaning journey you should think of your baby’s tastes as a blank canvas. You get to leave them through the journey of trying all of these things and empower them to be adventurous with food in the future.
Baby Brezza are keen to ensure that your baby weaning journey is as smooth as possible – which is why they have created a number of designs with fewer moving parts so you can get great food results with less effort and fewer bits that need cleaning at the end.