By Kamakshi Ganesh
The experience of watching your baby have their first taste of solid food is absolutely priceless! Once your baby reaches 6 months of age, and you start introducing different versions of this into their meals is where the real fun begins! There are many questions that mothers have at this stage – how to go about the weaning process for the baby? What is the best food to aid in the development of your baby at this stage and what are the best weight-gain foods? Should the solids you start feeding your baby at this stage be made at home or should you buy readymade baby cereals that are available in the market?
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Started Weaning? Best Baby Food And How Much Should You feed?
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Making your baby’s food at home is the easiest and most rewarding way to feed them. Homemade baby cereals are simple to make, very easy to digest and packed with nutrients and minerals. Most importantly by making the food at home, you know exactly what goes into it.
However, a lot of us struggle with getting that perfectly smooth consistency without any of those pesky lumps that somehow find their way into our homemade cereal mix. Here are some tips that will help you make the perfect, silky smooth baby cereal!
1. Choose the right grain for your baby cereal. Organic whole grains like brown rice, rolled oats, organic Craig, and barley are a great place to start. Also, keep in mind the nature of the grain you use – for example, short-grained brown rice cooks softer than the medium and long-grained rice and sprouted ragi cereal is easier to digest than regular ragi cereal.
2. Blend your choice of grain in a processor till it’s completely powdered. Additionally, for brown rice cereal, be sure to soak the rice for a few hours before powdering it as this removes any excess starch and makes it easier to digest.
3. Store the powder in airtight containers in your refrigerator until you cook it, to ensure that it doesn’t go bad. Milled grains have natural oils that tend to come out of them if they are not refrigerated or stored in a cool and dry place.
4. While you are cooking your baby cereal before mealtime, make sure to bring the water up to a boil before adding in the powder. And on adding the powder – whisk, whisk, whisk! Remember the better you whisk your cereal over simmer, the smoother the mix!
5. If plain whole-grain cereals lack the flavor your baby needs, add in pureed fruits and veggies to their oats or rice cereal. You can also add mild aromatics and spices like cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, nutmeg, and saffron in small quantities to elevate the taste of the cereal mix.
Once you have mastered the art of making the perfect baby cereal at home, you can simplify your life even further! Save on time and avoid the hassle of thinking of new recipes every day by following a baby food chart. This makes your prep work very easy and in turn, helps you plan your baby’s meals better.
Despite all this, if you still do not have the mental bandwidth or the time to make your baby cereal from scratch there are a lot of readymade powders available in the market. Make sure to read the labels carefully and ensure that what you are buying has good clean ingredients and does not have any unnecessary additives like maida and sugar.
SlurrpFarm has you covered with an extensive range of Baby Cereals. They are 100% organic, have no added salt, sugar, additives, or preservatives and by just mixing the powder with hot water, the tasty baby cereal is ready! They come in a number of variants and can be made into multiple recipes. Give it a try!
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