The trinity for baby – without the peppers

Jan 27, 2010 Friendly Baby Food Advice, New Baby Food Recipes

I always remember my Mom and other cooks I know using the “trinity” in a majority of dishes. The “trinity” to me is onions, red bell peppers and celery. There are many types of trinities to be found in various types of ethnic cuisines; an Italian trinity can be tomato, basil and garlic for example. The trinity can be added to almost any recipe you can think of. I like to use it in soups, meatloaf/meatballs, when sauteeing chicken and so many others.

As babies may have delicate tummies when it comes to peppers and onions (both may make people gassy but peppers more so), you can make a trinity using carrots in the place of red bell peppers!

I saute all the veggies together and then add them to whatever I’m cooking. This trinity consisted of 1 medium onion, 2 stalks of celery and 2 medium sized carrots. My trinity below went into homemade chicken pie. Why yes, it was de-lisch and I’ll probably post it here this week

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Cereal not a good first food – Throw that Box Away!

Jan 21, 2010 Cereals, Friendly Baby Food Advice

First an apology – I thought this had been posted at the end of Dec. but I found it in my Draft folder.  Luckily, there are no other important posts hanging about in that folder!

I learned of an interview done with Frank Greer, MD [American Academy of Pediatrics's Committee on Nutrition] and was so happy to finally be able to see a respected medical authority state that

“Complementary foods introduced to infants should be based on their nutrient requirements and the nutrient density of foods, not on traditional practices that have no scientific basis”

Dr. Greer goes on to say that

“newer thinking is that the emphasis for complementary foods should be on naturally nutrient-rich foods. This includes protein and fiber, along with vitamins A, C, D, and E and the B vitamins.” and he further says that

“In light of this thinking, rice cereal is a less than perfect choice for the first complementary food given to infants”

Hooray!  While skipping cereal and choosing fruits or veggies as first foods had been a growing recommendation, the above statements are the first  I have found that directly give the thumbs up to this practice!

The article [click here] goes on to advocate introducing meat as a first food.  Meat as a first food is already a recommendation in various countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom.  In many countries, meats have always been the first solid foods that baby is introduced to.

At last, science and anecdote come together and will soon produce an AAP publication that revises it’s recommendations for what solid foods baby should be introduced to first.  Hooray!

Next up, changing our Forbidden Baby Foods Chart.  Conservative as always, the new chart will reflect the ever growing body of evidence that suggests holding off on “allergic” foods probably doesn’t work.  Foods will still be included for posterity and for those have allergy prone babies or those who still want to take it slow.