Spoon Feeding Baby: When and What to Begin With

As parents, when it becomes time to feed our infants it can be intimidating and confusing. When my pediatrician told me it was time to start spoon-feeding my children, I became nervous. Questions about how much do I feed them, how often do I feed them, will they choke, what utensils should I use all came into play.

The truth is, moving slowly it all comes natural and we work it out. Nevertheless, here a few tips to guide you in your journey along the way:

An Easy Meal That Covers All the Bases

It’s gluten-free, dairy-free and nut-free. It’s full of protein and fiber, but low in calories and saturated fat. Introduce your kids to some new flavors and a different grain. Try this easy crockpot recipe tonight.

Indian-Style Apricot Chicken

Ingredients:

6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (approximately 1 cup)
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 can (14 ½ ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup (3.5 ounces) dried apricots
1 pinch saffron threads (optional)
1 cup dry quinoa (Ancient Harvest brand available in organic section of traditional grocery store)

Directions:

1. Coat 5-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken on all sides. Transfer to slow cooker.
2. Add onion to skillet. Cook and stir 3 to 5 minutes or until translucent. Stir in ginger, garlic, cinnamon and allspice. Cook and stir 15 to 30 seconds or until mixture is fragrant. Add tomatoes and broth. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through. Pour into slow cooker. Add apricots and saffron, if desired.
3. Cover; cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours or on HIGH 3 to 3 ½ hours or until chicken is cooked through.
4. Just prior to serving the chicken, make quinoa. Follow package instructions.
5. Serve chicken over quinoa.

Makes 6 servings. Serving size equals 1 chicken thigh with sauce and ½ cup cooked quinoa. Each serving counts as 1 protein, 1 starch, and 2 fat servings.

Nutrition Analysis per serving:
Calories: 340
Fat: 12 grams
Saturated Fat: 2.5 grams
Trans Fat: 0 grams
Cholesterol: 65 milligrams
Sodium: 520 milligrams
Carbohydrates: 36 grams
Fiber: 4 grams
Sugar: 4 grams
Protein: 24 grams

Recipe adapted from “The Gluten-Free Bible” by Publications International, Ltd.

—Mary Ligotti-Hitch, R.D., Registered Dietitian, Weight Control Center

The Big Recipe Fail‏

Don’t let the title confuse you, I do have a great tried and true recipe at the end. However, let me start at the beginning. Our son  has had severe food allergies since birth. It took us the first 4 months and ruined carpet to figure out the dairy part, a trip to the allergist to figure out the egg part and when we went to retest him, we found out that he is also allergic to soy and beef. Poor kid. We can never wear a man’s Lady Gaga outfit…Anyway, I digress.

When well-meaning friends and family members lamented how sad it was that he will never have ice cream or scrambled eggs or chocolate chip cookies, I found alternatives. Beef was a new one to tackle. So I decided to make pork burgers with fresh green beans and watermelon.

I googled a few recipes and decided to make up my own BBQ pork burgers. I love BBQ pork, so it should taste good in a burger, right? Um, no. It was a big fail. My daughter and son both spit it out and I have to say, so did I. Every good cook has a failure before discovering greatness, right?

As promised a great side using fresh green beans.

Warm Soup For The Soul

January is soup month here at our house. It is filling, warms the soul, and makes enough for a few meals. This is a crowd pleaser for everyone and accommodates the allergies in our household too.