Mashed potatoes and other broccoli dishes for baby food
Composing a menu for a child often causes difficulties for parents. You can diversify the diet of crumbs through dishes made from broccoli. This article will tell you how to make delicious mashed potatoes and other dishes for baby food from this vegetable.
Benefit, harm and contraindications
Broccoli refers to foods that are great for children's menus. This vegetable is so safe that it can be used even in the diet of infants. However, when broccoli is introduced into the children's menu of a newborn baby, parents should strictly follow the recommendations of the doctors. This will help minimize the risk of adverse clinical manifestations in the child after eating broccoli food.
Broccoli has a range of useful ingredients. This vegetable contains a lot of ascorbic acid - the most important component that ensures the normal functioning of the immune system. Doctors say that babies who regularly consume enough foods that contain vitamin C in their natural form are less susceptible to various infectious pathologies.
Broccoli contains another important component for the children's body - folic acid. The need for this substance in the body is especially high during intensive growth. Babies who are actively growing and developing are required to receive a sufficient amount of products containing this vitamin daily. If for some reason the need for folic acid is not replenished, this can lead to the formation of various pathologies.
The diet of the infant should be made with due attention. A child grows rather intensively during the first year of his life. All his organs and systems gradually change the intensity of their work. In order for the development of the child to meet age standards, he must consume enough protein.
Proteins in significant quantities are contained in breast milk or formula, which feeds the baby in the very first months after its birth. However, the physiological need for proteins as the baby grows begins to increase. To help her fill the lures, which are gradually introduced into the diet of a newborn baby. Broccoli contains proteins of plant origin, which are very necessary for the child's body for its full development. So, 100 grams of this cruciferous vegetable contains 3 grams of protein.
Broccoli does not apply to high-calorie foods. Thus, the caloric content of 100 grams of this vegetable is only 29 kcal. Low calorie content allows using broccoli for cooking various dishes, including those for children who have extra pounds or are obese.
Often, many parents face the problem of an irregular stool in a child. If a child consumes an inadequate amount of fiber containing foods, this can lead to constipation. The regularity of the stool depends largely on the amount of dietary fiber that comes from food. If the food is too refined in composition and contains little plant fiber, this may eventually provoke a delay in stool.
In order to cope with this problem, children's doctors recommend to include in the diet crumbs of broccoli. It is noted that dishes cooked with the addition of this vegetable, weak chair. If at the same time in the children's menu to limit the number of products that are attached, it will contribute to the normalization of the intestinal motor function. As a result, the inclusion of broccoli dishes in the baby’s diet will help make the baby’s stools regular.
If the baby suffers from chronic intestinal pathology, accompanied by a tendency to diarrhea, he should not eat broccoli, as this may aggravate the situation.In this case, before introducing broccoli in the diet, you should always consult with your pediatrician.
Broccoli refers to vegetables that rarely provoke allergic manifestations in babies. That is why these vegetables are allowed as one of the complementary foods in the infants menu. However, every rule has exceptions. So, some babies after eating broccoli may still be allergic. Usually adverse clinical symptoms occur in children who have an individual sensitivity to this vegetable.
How old do you get to feed?
Begin to introduce broccoli in the diet of the infant should be after he turned 4-5 months. Before doing this, parents should definitely discuss the introduction of a new complementary food with a pediatrician who has been observing their child since birth. In some cases, the doctor may advise to postpone the introduction of complementary foods for several weeks.
Initially, broccoli puree is prepared for the child, as the baby cannot yet chew on its own. By the first year, the number of dishes that include this type of cabbage increases significantly. So, the baby in 1 year can already eat casseroles, various soups and vegetable stews cooked with the addition of broccoli.
In what form and in what quantity should the child be given for the first time?
With the introduction of broccoli in the diet of the child, the doctor must recommend to remember the rule of gradualness. Thus, the initial dosage of vegetable puree made from this type of cabbage should not exceed ½ tsp. "Introduce" the baby with a new food should be in the morning. In this case, it will be easier for parents to promptly evaluate the reaction of the baby to the introduction of new foods.
If, after the introduction of new vegetable foods, the child does not have any adverse effects, then the dosage of broccoli puree can be gradually increased. So, in a week the amount of vegetable puree can be increased to 40-50 grams. When adding the amount of mashed potatoes, you should definitely monitor the health of the crumbs. So, if the baby has a strong bloating, or the child becomes restless and tearful, then the dosage should be reduced, and show the crumbs to the doctor.
Doctors say that broccoli infants should be boiled in the diet. Raw cabbage of this variety can not be given to the crumbs, as this can lead to indigestion and "breakdown" of the chair. You can cook broccoli in a slow cooker or a double boiler, and also just boil it in a saucepan. Vegetables after heat treatment should be well boiled soft and become soft. After that they can be crushed and offered to the child.
How to choose for baby food?
Currently, parents have a choice - whether to cook broccoli mash on their own or to buy ready-made. Moms who do not trust the finished products from the jars should choose only high-quality vegetables for preparing vegetable dishes for their children.
The following recommendations will help them in this.
- Preference when buying should be given to vegetables of dark green color, dense consistency. It is not necessary to choose inflorescences with yellow flowers, as they, as a rule, are overripe.
- Choose vegetables with no signs of spoilage or rot. The presence of mold on the inflorescences can trigger symptoms of food poisoning in a child.
- Before cooking broccoli, you need to wash well and hold in lightly salted water for 15 minutes. This is to ensure that all sorts of small insects that may remain between individual buds, died and did not fall into the dish.
Suitable recipes
Children's menu for the baby can be very difficult to make. Many mothers are familiar with the situation when the child flatly refuses to eat cauliflower or broccoli. However, it is necessary to add vegetables to the diet.
Soup
The recipe for making delicious soup for kids is quite simple.
This will require:
- potatoes (small size) - 1 pc .;
- carrot - ½ pcs .;
- broccoli - 3-4 inflorescences;
- water - 600 ml.
During the time that the water boils in the pan, it is necessary to cook the vegetables. To do this, carrots must be grated, and potatoes cut into cubes of medium size. In order to cook broccoli faster, the inflorescences can be cut into several pieces.
After the water boils, it should send potatoes and carrots. Vegetables need to boil for 10 minutes, after which you can throw in the pan and broccoli. After the vegetables are soft, the fire can be turned off. In order to make a cream soup, vegetables must be further chopped using a blender.
Mashed potatoes
The recipe for a tasty mashed potatoes is quite simple.
This will require:
- broccoli - 100 g;
- potatoes - 100 g;
- vegetable oil (optional).
Vegetables are boiled until soft in a saucepan with water and chopped with a blender. If desired, wipe the vegetables through a sieve and dilute the vegetable broth in which they are boiled. Salt cooked dish for babies do not need. If desired, a few drops of vegetable oil can be added to the dish.
This video presents another way to make broccoli for children.
