This post is sponsored by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA).
I remember how exciting it was when Immy started on solids. There was lots of talking about what we would serve her and when we would start, both at home and amongst my friends at mothers group, as the six month mark approached.
When we began, it was with bright orange mashed carrot. And despite the look of horror on her face, she ate it. And we are fortunate to have never looked back. To begin with I alternated between a pureed vegetable and fruit for each meal (sometimes combined with a little rice cereal) and before long started to introduce combinations of the two. After she turned seven months, red meat, fish and chicken were slowly added to the daily menu. She even ate liver! (which Dad 101 prepared and cooked as I just went urgh!!).
“The first two years of life is a time of rapid growth and development.
Essential nutrients required for growth and development include:
• Iron and zinc for healthy growth, brain development and the ability to fight infections
• Omega-3 for brain and visual development
• Calcium for strong bones and teeth
• Protein for healthy growth and development”– Taken from themainmeal.com.au, website of the MLA
Whilst I enjoyed the novelty of those early days of cooking up batches of mush and freezing little portions, and experimenting with the introduction of different colours and flavours and textures, I also looked forward to the time when Immy would be able to eat what we were eating, thereby reducing the amount of time I needed to spend on food preparation (as it is no secret that cooking is not my favourite thing to do!)
Which is exactly what the MLA’s Make Every Bite Count brochure helps parents to do – to make one nutrient-rich family meal and then modify the components to suit babies and toddlers in each of the following four stages on the journey from puree to family meals – smooth and silky, lumpy and mushy, finger food and the toddler stage.
The brochure includes four recipes as examples of how family meals can be modified and we decided to test drive the Beef & Sweet Potato Burgers. The burgers were easy to make and tasty and we will definitely make them again. Plus we got to eat them with the first ever cobs of corn from our vegie garden, which were yummy 🙂
Introducing babies and toddlers to a range of nutrient-rich foods is important for their growth and development and Making Every Bite Count helps parents to achieve this with concise, easy to read information, food preparation ideas and recipe suggestions.
Childhood 101’s disclosure statement regarding sponsored posts can be found here.
Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.
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