Baby food Care

Hi Mommies,
since about 8 months now i‘ve been making veggie creams and soups for my baby. His First Tooth started coming out when he was 12 months, so i had to invent a lot of super food creamy yummy food to keep him satisfied and healthy, from the time we started introducing food to him and still do, since he has only 2 teeth and two more started coming out now in his 15th month!
One of my best friends asked me to keep a diary on the recipes since they are far from conventional baby foods plus they are highly gourmet. A gourmet creamy dream, that’s hard to resist. Other mommies are amazed how this baby eats so much veggies everyday!
The secret is Firstly that the mom or the daddy or both eats it too, and secondly you have to make it tasty for YOUR taste buds, respecting the newly builded digestive system of the youngster.
Here i start a sequence of posts with all the ideas, recipes and information i have to share with all the new mommies.
The idea is to have a menu that offers a baby, his/hers essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, proteins, staples, chlorophyll, carbohydrates, depending on the climate, country, continent and constitution of the child.
For example we happen to be in northern Europe, where the sun is rarely seen, with lots of rain, cold weather and long winters for more than 6 months per year.
We also happen to have a Mediterranean DNA that needs the sun mostly but cold weather...hmmmm not so much.
When it’s cold outside, the body must work harder to maintain its internal temperature (stay warm) and that requires more fuel or energy in the form of food. When we do physically demanding work, like shoveling snow, in cold environments we may use 50% more energy than we would if that work were done in moderate environmental conditions. Wearing heavy clothing and walking in snow or trying to navigate ice-covered areas also increases the demand for energy.
It is critical to consume enough food and liquid to meet these increased demands. The primary sources of energy in foods are the macro nutrients, carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Foods also contain critically important micro nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
Taking these as indicators and after an exclusive 7 month breast feeding, i begun to think and search for the best menu possible and my gut feeling told me to start slowly introducing to him the following (always using organic, seasonal veggies and foods):

 ~ Month to month ~
·      7-8 months: start with fruits that it contains easy digestable enzymes, that‘s the apple, pear, papaya, sweet pineapple, coconut water, banana. Use the fruits that are in season in your continent for better ecology, digestion and health. Preparation : steam the fruit and smash it or blend it for the first 2-3 weeks, depends on the baby‘s appetite. Change fruit every few days.

·      8-9 months: i wouldn‘t recommend yet any animal protein or any of the conventional milk or any dairy. I suppose you keep up the breastfeeding for few more months at least! Start with the salty as lunch and keep up the fruits same as the 7-8 months suggestions, according to baby‘s liking. Salty intro: sweet potatoes, orange carrots, purple potatoes, red carrots, white carrots, broccoli, zucchini, finokio, celery root, manioca/yucca, yams, brown rice, quinoa. Use those as a bases ingredient, start with maximum mixing 2 of the above veggies and change every few days. Use the steamer and when steamed soft put in blend with raw cold pressed (Greek) olive oil, and some parsley or thyme or rosemary or a pinch of sea weeds(nori,wakame etc.) to taste. (full recipes here)

·      9-11 months: In this stage most babies starting to want more and more variety in foods and the best is to give it to them in light seasoning sauces on top of your steamed creams. Start with mixing 3-5 different veggies from the list above(or other seasonal organic veggies in your aerea), now adding a bit of garlic in the steamer, some Spelt bread (or other non-gluten) to chew in anytime during the day(you don‘t want to fill your baby with gluten yet...) Introduce some avocado (when in season), free range eggs soft boiled(put water to boil and when you see the first boilling hapenning throw the egg carefully in the pot, count 5 min. and take out, let it cool and serve in a cup, mix it well so the baby can easily eat it), introduce some dairy, like goat cheese, sheep cheese and if your baby likes, introduce some yogurt(very little it can bring him wet burbs).

·   11-12 months: baby is now ready to eat almost everything. He/she is getting more nd more hungry and is showing interest in your plate, so you better have a clean plate to show him/her! Continue preferably with those steamed veggie creams or finger foods (full recipes here). Breakfast is fresh fruit cream or fruit pieces. Waiting for 20 min, you can give the baby some avocado or egg to add up in breakfast and some Spelt or non-gluten bread. Keep this bread handy during the whole day as babies tend to like to chew on things for teething purposes and non-gluten bread(the hard part is the best you can give them). Lunch can be steamed veggie creams and dinner can be the same as lunch. Here i felt like introducing some almond milk and some organic baby cream as a desert, since i didn‘t like to introduce any other sweet things and my baby didn‘t like fruit as much!)

·      12-15 months: This stage really is everything possible, sometimes the baby demands to eat only your food! what we did is blending any kind of food we‘ve been having at home only (always organic and clean cooking(not much spicy herbs, heavy sauces etc.), we decided to take care of baby‘s needs and make our food as simple as possible so we could all enjoy eating together. He would eat with us and be so happy. After a month or so of him demanding the same food that‘s in our plate, he changed again in liking his blended amazing baby recipes, that i provide for you too

·      Drinks: Meanwhile during his 11 month on, having these as his basic nutrients i supported him with vegan proteins, other vitamins (vita. C, E), chlorophyll (green formulas, green juices) and as much minerals as possible to keep a healthy toddler(with no teeth!) ...WATER was introduced to my baby on the 9th month, that`s okey when they breastfeed if they don`t take it but he was taking some mountain tea and camomile from before which is like drinking water !! some babies from friends LOVE drinking water from the 5th month maybe earlier too, is completely a particularity of how ones system works...
General rule is this: Try everything you want to try, every week and see when baby is ready to take it. Babies knows best and mommies are their best supplier/supporter ! Listen to your intuition, when you reach the 12th month you will chill from all the anxiety of the "do i do this right?" , "is this healthy for baby?"... As a very good friend of mine says, babies are S T R O N G E R than we think, trust them !!

How do we choose the basic foods?
What is the essential nutrients Needed in a sun-less cold country?
A comprehensive list (roughly) of the top 10 vitamins and supplements to help counteract the common (and not-so-common) effects of winter:

10. B vitamins. Brutal winter air can bring hair, skin, and nail problems. Biotin gets to the root (no pun intended) of the problem and rebuilds from beneath the skin, unlike most topical ointments and shampoos. Biotin can also have enormous benefits for pregnant women and diabetics.
9. Vitamin A. This vitamin, like others, has valuable antioxidant qualities. Antioxidants help to prevent the invasive actions of free radicals, substances that can lead to common and uncommon ailments. Vitamin A also helps your eyes adjust to different levels of incoming light, and with unpredictable winter driving weather, top-notch vision could never hurt. (read here more details on vita. A)
8. Magnesium. Cold months and dry air can lead to stress and dehydration, which can lead to headaches and even migraines. Magnesium deficiency has recently been “uncovered” as a possible underlying cause of certain kinds of headaches. The supplement has also been linked to important heart functions, and in return, the cause of certain heart problems.
7. Fish oil. A lack of outdoor exposure can often lead to a lot of brain fog and concentration problems. Depending on what part of the country (or world) you live in, fish may or may not be a substantial part of your everyday diet. According to clinics, fish oil also has many heart health benefits as well.
6. Vitamin B-12. The cold, cloudy winter months can often lead to signs of depression and anxiety, and even the disorders themselves. B12 is one of the first vitamins depleted during times of depression and anxiety.
5. Vitamin D. Needless to stay, for a lot of us, winter brings some pretty dreary weather. Sometimes I won’t see the sun for weeks at a time. Since vitamin D is relayed through (but not limited to) sunlight, northern residents don’t get a lot of it.  (read here more on vita. D)
4. Calcium. Not getting the usual amount of exercise during the winter can lead to muscle weakening. When our muscles aren’t up to par, more pressure is exerted on our bones. Calcium strengthens the bones in preparation for a potential rise in exercise with warmer temperatures.
3. Vitamin C. Although other forms of immunity are emerging as effective, vitamin c is still crucial in the cold/flu season battle. Drink pure fruit juices, many of which contain 100% of your daily vitamin C requirement in a single glass.
2. Water. I know, I know - it’s not technically a vitamin. However, increased time indoors goes hand-in-hand with the arrival of winter, and indoors usually involves turning up the heat. What goes hand-in-hand with “faux” indoor heating? Dry skin and chapped lips, which many times represent dehydration. That pound of lotion and chap stick you’re using everyday may only be covering up the underlying cause.
1. Zinc. The closest you can get to a “magic” vitamin during cold and flu season. Not only does Zinc boost your immunity, but it has been proven to shorten a cold when you already have one.

Natural daily prevention & flu/cold treatments:
After such info(vitamins, minerals) i would add in season, celery head and cellery stalks, spirulina, nori flakes, garlic, red bell pepper, carrots white orange and red, finokio, broccoli, zucchini, more than 3 kinds of different mushrooms, parsley, rosemary, thyme, oregano, coriander, few tomatoes, raw olive oil, free range eggs, spelt bread, cheese from goats or sheep -only, almond milk, apples and fresh apple juice, pears and fresh pear juice, bananas, lemons and very little mandarines, oranges and more.
I would choose to give him natural antibiotics and homeopathy in the colds and flues, such as GSE from the bio shop of the neighborhood in drops, some lemon and garlic to chew on, Good quality Vitamin C powder in juice, few tea spoons of apple cider vinegar antibiotic (put in jar half liter Organic Apple cider vinegar and chop in it 1 head of fresh picked garlic, leave for 2 weeks at least and your antibiotic is ready-you can use that for a year)and few recipes that I’m going to write in these posts on the way.  
           
The selection of veggies that are full of vitamins and minerals is actually so big, that i can’t even remember to write everything that i have been using for the past 8 months, but i will do my best writting most of them.
Thank you,
Anna Korakaki 

Read here the know how and more recipes




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