The Blog
Why Your Baby Should Be Eating Fermented Foods
Offering children a variety of foods helps to broaden their palates, but "sour" is an important flavour that isn't usually given to little ones in western cultures. Traditionally fermented foods are a wonderful way to introduce sour flavours. Many children consume highly processed foods that are overwhelmingly sweet and salty. Giving fermented foods to children from an early age can actually lessen their desire to over consume sweet foods.
Salted Maple Hazelnut Fudgsicles
This week we celebrated the fall equinox. I absolutely love fall, it's my favorite season. The crisp air makes me feel energized and I can't get enough of the golden leaves on trees, wool sweaters, stove fires, hot tea... I adore it all. I should probably be posting about seasonally appropriate things like root vegetables, squash, and warming soups, but I had to get one more summertime treat in! These fudgsicles are dairy-free and use "nice cream" as a base, which is simply blending frozen bananas to make delicious soft-serve ice cream with wonderful consistency.
Mango Ginger Creamsicles
These mango ginger creamsicles are a kid-friendly treat and wonderful on a warm day. The ginger in them is subtle, but it’s a great ingredient to broaden your little one’s palate. Introducing your children to a wide variety of flavours from a young age can help them to be less picky. Using new flavours in their favorite treats is easier on the less adventurous child: like ginger in creamsicles.
What We Ate: Camping
It can be challenging to stay committed to healthy eating when you're out of your daily routine. My family travels often, so I've had some practice and this series "What We Ate" was created to share some of the ways I've managed to keep us eating well when we're away from home.
Garlic Cumin Yam Fries - Great For Baby
This is a great recipe for the whole family. Baby food doesn't have to be bland! After you've introduced your little one to simple and unseasoned foods, you can try adding different herbs and spices to broaden their palate and encourage them to be more adventurous eaters. This recipe for yam fries is a great example of this because it includes garlic & cumin.
Homemade Almond Milk
Guest post by Eve from www.underthebigfirtree.com
I recently met with Carley for a nutrition consultation. I’ve been feeling like I need to switch things up. As a new mama I’ve not been feeling like myself very much lately. She was wonderful and so incredibly knowledgeable. After everything she said, I responded with “That’s interesting.” “That’s really interesting.” “Hmm interesting.” Nutrition is so cool!
Labor-Aid: An Energizing Lemon-Lime Electrolyte Drink
During early labor it’s beneficial to continue eating light and nourishing foods to keep energy up, but as sensations start to intensify food often becomes the last thing on a laboring woman’s mind.
Just like any other intense physical activity, staying hydrated throughout labor is also crucial. It’s especially important to ensure that the liquid you consume contains electrolytes. Electrolytes are required for muscle contractions and without them muscles become weak and contractions of the uterus can be less effective.
Naturally Relieving Constipation in Babies
Before babies begin on solid foods, their elimination patterns can vary greatly. Some breastfed babies will have 5 bowel movements a day, while other healthy babies only have one every 5 days. Infrequent bowel movements in a breasted baby isn’t a cause for concern, as long as they have sufficient wet diapers, continue to gain weight well, seem content and comfortable, and their stool isn’t hard and dry.
Egg Yolks For Babies
While I believe in eating whole foods, I prefer to feed younger babies egg yolks only. Their stomachs are small, so whatever food they eat should be as nutrient-dense as possible. Egg white omelets were the rage for a while, but the truth is: nutritionally speaking, egg yolks trump whites. The whites have mostly protein, sodium, and potassium, but the yolk is where the most beneficial nutrients are found. They are stocked with B vitamins, healthy fats, choline, and the harder to obtain fat-soluble vitamins A & D. Also, allergies and sensitivities to the proteins found in egg white are much more common.
Blueberry Banana Chia Seed Pudding
I've already shared my Chocolate Cherry Chia Seed Pudding. Here's another variation of this balanced breakfast favorite of mine.
During early pregnancy, many women notice strong cravings for starchy foods. The body is smart because food born illness is much less likely to come from sources of carbohydrate-rich foods. Unfortunately, large amounts of starchy food can throw off blood sugar, and unbalanced blood sugar is one of the main causes of nausea or "morning sickness" in pregnancy. Chia seed pudding contains more healthy fat and protein than cereal grains and oatmeal, to help keep blood sugar and nausea in check.
Nourishing Bone Broth for Pregnancy
Homemade bone broth is nutrient dense and inexpensive to make. Traditional cultures placed a special emphasis on using the whole animal, and therefore consumed this flavorful and health giving substance often. Unfortunately the practice of using bones to make broth in this traditional way is no longer as popular.
Unlike store bought broth or stock, which is cooked for only 45 minuets to 4 hours, bone broth is simmered for quite a long time. As the broth simmers, minerals and other nutrients leach from the bones into the water, leaving you with an incredibly nourishing liquid. This is a wonderful thing for anyone to consume, but it can be especially beneficial for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
I Heart Hemp Heart Pesto
I love using this to top spiralized zucchini pasta, with sautéed onion, mushrooms, and an extra sprinkle of hemp hearts. I also enjoy eating it with a spoon straight out of the bowl. It's that good. You might not think of pesto as baby food, but this recipe is a nutrient-dense way to introduce babies to leafy greens and add a more complex flavor to their foods. This pesto is also great to eat during pregnancy because the 3 cups of dark leafy’s that go into it are an excellent source of the important prenatal nutrient, folate.