This is one of the first phrases my husband told me soon after we met. We were completely different people back then – he, a care-free spirit, a dreamer, a visionary. I, an analytical computer geek who wanted the world to fit in a symmetrical box. Much has changed since then and much as stayed the same.
Miss Z was just shy of 6 months when I started her on solid foods. I read books from different nutritionists and had a pretty clear idea of what I was aiming at. Basically I wanted my kids to experience as many different foods as possible, as early as possible. It’s apparently a proven fact that if children are exposed to a variety of foods in the first 3 years of their life, they are much more likely to have a varied and healthy diet later (i.e. less likely to be fussy eaters).
And so I set out my own plan. Whilst other Moms were starting with baby rice or soups I started with fruit and vegetables. Within a few weeks I was combining a portion of carbs, a portion of protein and 2 portions of vegetables for main meals and a small portion of carbs and of protein for snacks. Always giving foods separately so that they really learned the taste of each one.
I remember one time we were visiting friends. They have two kids (a little older than mine) and the Mom was the person that suggested the Baby Whisperer book to me when Miss Z was born. What a God send!
So we got talking about food and healthy diets and at one point she asked me “Ok, so but apart from potatoes, rice and pasta what other carbs are there?”
It hit me then that most of us (at least in western culture) have become very narrow in our choices of what foods we buy. It could be because we don’t have time, because they are expensive or because we just don’t know about these other foods. There’s a reason why apples, bananas and pears are shortcuts in the self-service checkouts at Tesco. And why there are loads of broccoli, mushrooms and carrots even in the smallest convenience stores.
I didn’t want to settle for the ordinary. I wanted my kids to have variety. Yes, you may say that some of these foods are too expensive. I get it. But I thought I’d mention them anyway. Maybe you can’t buy them every week, but sometimes is better than no times.
Also I thought maybe you have the money but you’re just not aware of what these foods are and/or how to cook them. Let me tell you about the beauty of internet. You can find recipes online for just about anything these days. And I’m talking healthy recipes.
So I thought it might be useful to share my list (this is not a scientifically verified list, so don’t hold me to the accuracy of the categorisation ;). If it helps anyone try some new foods with their kids, I’m already happy about that. And if not, well then at least I can tell my own kids where to find the list for when they have kids 😛
My kids had tried all of these foods by the time they were one year old…
Carbs
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, pasta/spaghetti, rice, squash, pumpkin, millet, oats, buckwheat, bulgur wheat, bread, rice milk
Complex carbs (means it has carbs and protein)
Quinoa, lentils, beans, chickpeas, avocado, spaghetti with protein, soya beans, hummus
Protein
Sole, plaice, cod, salmon, swordfish, tuna, haddock, sardines, chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, cheese, yogurt, eggs, soya milk, soya cream, tofu
Vegetables
Peas, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, parsnip, sweetcorn, cabbage, leeks, courgette, aubergine, asparagus, green beans, spinach, baby corn, swede, turnip, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, sugar snap peas, mangetout
Fruit
Apples, pears, bananas, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, black berries, melon, cantaloupe melon, water melon, grapes (all colours), apricots, peaches, mango, pineapple, oranges, tangerines, clementines, cherries, plumbs, nectarines
When they turned 4, I started introducing small amounts of nuts and ground seeds (with breakfast)…
Nuts
Pecan nuts, pine nuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashew nuts, almonds, hazelnuts
Seeds
Flax, sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, chia