Baby first food is an important meal when you are starting an extra feed for your baby, apart from milk. These baby first food recipes will give you ideas to start with.
Being a MOM is a feeling that is above the all other emotions in the world. Holding the child first time in your hands, you forget all your worries and your world starts to revolve around your child. It is very important to breastfeed your baby for the first 6 months, but it is equally important what baby first food recipes you are giving to your baby after first 6 months. Let’s discuss about the five nutritious baby first foods you can introduce to your baby.
The baby first foods must be easy to digest and should not cause any allergic reaction. Never add salt or sugar to your baby’s food till he/ she turns 1 year old. Salt may harm your baby’s kidneys and sugar will encourage a sweet tooth. The baby first food should be full of nutrition. It should be full of vitamins, minerals, fats and other nutrients that the growing body of your baby needs.
Bananas for baby first food
Bananas are great for baby first food! Bananas are sweet, which may help baby more readily accept the first food experience. They are considered as complete food. They are rich in Vitamins, iron and minerals.
For making Banana bowl for your baby
- Peel a ripe banana.
- Place banana in a food processor or blender and puree.
- You can also mash the banana in a bowl using a regular fork.
Apple puree for baby first food
After bananas, fruit purees are next in baby first foods that help in new taste sensations. Naturally sweet, apple puree is easy to make and healthy for your baby. Apples are rich in Vitamins: A, C, Folate and Minerals: Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium.
For making Apple puree for your baby,
- Peel, core and cut apple into slices or small pieces.
- In a saucepan, bring apples and water to the boil.
- Simmer for 10 minutes or until the apples are very soft.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
- Puree using a ladle or blender until smooth and pass through a sieve to remove lumps, if any.
Rice water as baby first food
Rice water is the starch that forms on boiling rice. Most mothers prefer feeding the baby rice water before introducing mashed rice in their diet. Rice water contains high levels of carbohydrates that help fulfill your baby’s energy requirement. Also, rice water is easily digestible.
Ingredients required :
- Two tablespoons of rice
- 1 cup of water
Steps to follow-
- Place rice in a saucepan and add water to it.
- Boil until the rice is tender.
- Strain the rice and collect the water. Your rice water is ready.
Lentil soup as baby first food
Yellow Moong Daal is one lentil which is easily digestible and is a good source of proteins and minerals. Make sure that you are mashing cooked daal with daal ka paani (water in which dal is cooked) as only lentil water is a poor source of nutrition. Cooked daal has most of the nutrition and that should be fed to the baby.
Ingredients required :
- 2 tbsps cup yellow moong daal
- 1/2 cup water
- Turmeric powder (a pinch)
Steps to follow-
- Wash daal in drinking water for 4-5 times, and soak the daal for about 30 minutes.
- Take a pressure cooker and add the soaked daal and half a cup of water.
- Add to this a pinch of turmeric powder.
- Cook the daal for 4-5 whistles.
- Let the pressure get released on its own.
- When you open the cooker, use a flat spoon or a ladle to mash the daal and sieve it to avoid any lumps.
Ragi porridge – super food baby first food
Ragi is a super food. In terms of nutrition, it is a great substitute to the costly quinoa that is becoming popular! Ragi is a healthy food for babies, rich in calcium & Iron. It is rich in dietary fiber which helps in healthy weight gain. It has proteins and minerals and is easily digestible by babies. This ragi porridge is ideal when you introduce ragi for the first time to baby, as it’s prepared directly from whole ragi seeds by soaking and extracting milk, which is husk free. The consistency of this porridge is similar to the store bought baby first foods like instant cereal powder but it is much better in terms of nutrition! Ragi porridge can also be prepared from Ragi powder, and in this case sprouted organic Ragi flour is better than the regular variety.
Ingredients required :
- Ragi seeds – 1 cup
- Water – to grind
Steps to follow-
- Take ragi in a pan and wash it by rubbing well with your hands. Repeat the process 2 to 3 times unless it is clean.
- Soak the ragi in clean water for 8-10 hours. Keep it covered. The colour of the ragi will be slightly changed after soaking.
- Drain the water completely.
- Transfer the ragi to a blender.
- Add ¼ cup of water to it and blend for 2 minutes.
- Again add ¼ cup of water and grind it till smooth.
- Extract the ragi milk by straining using a muslin cloth. Squeeze out the milk completely.
- Discard the ragi and collect the milk in a pan.
- Cook the ragi milk in a saucepan until it becomes thick and like a porridge consistency.
- Switch off the flame once done.
- Serve it warm.
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