Organic Toddler Food : What You Might Want To Know
| It’s the same old grind that Betty Salazar goes through every day. The chopping of fresh fruits and vegetables and the clanging of stainless steel utensils in her kitchen might delude you into thinking that there’s a restaurant tucked away somewhere, catering to an exotic menu. Before your taste buds go on an overdrive, let’s spill the beans on Betty’s rather banal existence. She’s a woman that fits the definition of a harried, exasperated mother of a finicky infant perfectly. Her tireless attempts to create good, extremely wholesome, pleasantly
flavored, completely natural and healthy homemade meals for her bundle of joy have proved rather feckless. His diet seems to be dominated completely by the likes of cheese crackers, crisps and chicken nuggets. |
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The Sweet Taste Of Success
Considering their enormous benefits, the stupendous success of organic baby food products has defied all laws of gravity. No matter what the infant’s age, you have all the leading brands of organic products churning out scintillating treats for vegetarians. Never before have boring, lackluster food items like carrots, avocado and sprouts tasted so heavenly. So while kids treat themselves to copious amounts of nutrition at the breakfast table, organic food producing companies are in the pink of health, throughout the year
Wholesome Goodness, All The Way
The head of Google remarked a few days back that any collaboration between Yahoo and Microsoft would be ‘bad for the Internet’. You could add, ‘just like non-organic food for tiny tots’ to that quotable quote.
Research and statistics have proved beyond a shadow of doubt that pesticides have a detrimental, almost irreversible impact on an infant’s immune system. Similar effects on the reproductive and nervous system have also been noticed. Moreover, since kids’ bodies contain more water than adults, it’s not that hard for water soluble chemicals to gain entry into them.
In a world where video games call the shots, high calorie snacks loaded with processed sugar, salt and saturated fats combined with a complete lack of exercise form the perfect recipe for myriad health related problems very early in life.
Buying from the never ending list of organic foods is the only way to stem the clout of unhealthy eating habits. Bring home the wholesome goodness of a superbly proportioned and remarkably nutritious diet.
An Array Of Benefits To Gladden Your Heart
For most health-conscious parents, organic food may be the only ruse while dealing with a recalcitrant toddler. But there are more that these apparently gratifying benefits. Here’s more:
- Organic foods are completely natural with mostly raw ingredients that come without the
specters of preservatives, additives, colors and genetically engineered procedures.
- They come like a breath of fresh air at a time when turkey, low fat cheese, brown rice and pasta no longer inspire any interest in your kids. The balanced nutritional meal caters to your toddler’s development needs.
- Variety, they say, is the spice of life, and organic baby food producers take this adage rather seriously. How else can you possibly explain the dizzying assortment of organic foods? While organic cereal and instant oatmeal are perfect to jump-start your baby’s day, he can nibble at organic brown rice baby cereal, chicken curry, pasta with vegetables and cheese, sweet potato and lentil soup and cottage pie for lunch. He can then enjoy blissful sleep after a delicious meal made from sweet peas, carrots or even salmon and broccoli pie. Juicy bananas, golden apples and pears will compel him to
practice flavouritism.
- Being so close to nature, they work wonders for the body and the tormented environment. These foods pave way for a refreshingly healthy way of life, and that too at a tender age.
- With a multitude of cartoon characters etched on the package, they become an instant hit with kids at home. But there are more than just these superficial benefits. The packaging ensures that the food remains fresh for longer periods of time.
- They are easy to prepare and reheat- a God send for women that are clock watchers on the move. A far cry from those disastrous milk shakes and German potato salad recipe that you tried last weekend.
- For those Moms that view organic snacks like wholegrain pizzas, organic cookies, fruit and cereal bars, raisins and maize and corn snacks with trepidation, rest assured, limited portions guarantee that your kids will be staring at an empty lunch box faster than they imagined.
Brands Making Inroads Into Your Kitchen
One visit to a grocery store near you, and it doesn’t take long to get bludgeoned by the virtual slugfest among different brands of organic food products. While Earth’s Best organic food is every parent’s numero uno choice, there are others that deserve earnest consideration.
Organic puffets created by Peas of Mind, in a multitude of flavors like banana, carrot, black bean and greens, promise unrivalled nutrition in every bite. Nice Cubes bring the goodness of the juiciest fruits and vegetables in the Pacific North-west in a salubrious array of products that your kids will simply adore. While Nature’s One scores a hit with its range of dairy and non-dairy organic baby formula, Hipp has some very inimitable milk drinks and organic fruit smoothies in fabulous flavors like apple, banana and raspberry. Truuuly Scrumptious too has some truly delightful meals that’ll leave your toddler craving for more.
Organic Food=Yummy, Mouth-Watering Treats
The very mention of organic food is enough to send your toddler scurrying for cover. Hardly a surprise, as such kind of food doesn’t really suffuse your child’s mind with appetizing images. So your biggest challenge may actually lie in getting your child in acquiring a taste for this kind of stuff. Here’s how you could start off:
- For infants over 6 months of age, stage 1 baby food is recommended, which includes fresh and absolutely luscious organic purees made from sweet potato, carrot, pear and apples.
- A few months later, introduce a slightly more layered menu, probably a combination of cereals, fruits and desserts.
- A few days after blowing that much-anticipated first candle with great fanfare, it’s time to make wholesome meals a part of his life. Minced beef with peas and carrot garnished with mashed potato or a combination of lentils and beans in tangy tomato sauce will make him more boisterous than usual.
Try These Quick-Fix Recipes At Home
Considering the rather steep prices that most organic foods boast of, I’m not exactly an ardent votary of these meals. In fact, being a doting mother myself, I’m of the firm opinion that toddlers must be encouraged to develop good eating habits at an early age. Eating with the rest of the family is an extremely positive step in this regard.
Here are some small steps that’ll make a gigantic difference to his eating pattern:
- It’s critical that your toddler develops a healthy attitude towards food. It’s your bounden duty to ensure that his diet consists of fruits, green vegetables and salad. Forcing him to gulp down something he doesn’t really fancy will only create an aversion towards wholesome meals.
- Organic zucchini bread and organic cauliflower crackers are fine, but make sure you include things like banana, tofu, yogurt and peanut butter in his diet.
- In case your toddler does not display any allergies towards organic peanut butter, you can dip a carrot or celery sticks in it and garnish it with a few delightful raisins.
- Use your blender to puree organic fruits and vegetables, and let your creative juices flow with pancakes in a riot of
colors.
In order to get your toddler accustomed to organic food, it’s important that you lead the way. So let’s all make forays into the organic world, and our kids will follow suit.