Grandmothers stubbornly lament that young parents do not want to feed the baby “normal” food, because the child is thin and urgently needs a meatball fried in butter and soup in meat broth. If this story is about you, then we hasten to reassure you - you are doing everything right, preparing separate meals for your crumbs. Contrary to popular belief, it is extremely undesirable for young children to eat food from a common “adult” table. The crumb stomach is not fully formed - it simply can not cope with heavy food. There will be various problems, disorders in the gastrointestinal tract of the child. Nevertheless, the baby’s diet should be full and rich in nutrients. We offer you simple and quick to prepare, tasty and healthy dishes for children. We bring to your attention recipes for soups for children from six months.
First baby soup: when to enter the diet?
In Russian cuisine, the first liquid dishes are an integral and important component of the diet. It is unlikely that any of us has not heard from mothers and grandmothers that "soup is good for the stomach." Is this really so - a controversial and debatable question, because in many countries of the world people do not consume soups at all or very rarely. In addition, first courses contain less nutrients and are more likely to be an appetite-warming dish.
One way or another, but children's soup is indisputably an important and necessary dish. When can you give a taste of crumbs hot soup? The recommendations of pediatricians in this regard are as follows:
- Soups can be introduced into the diet after the child has met boiled vegetables, that is, at 7-8 months. At this age, the baby can be offered vegetable first courses. You need to start using the minimum number of varieties of vegetables in the recipe, gradually adding new ingredients. At the first stage, vegetable puree soups are suitable. They are easily absorbed by a fragile stomach. In addition, such a consistency product is safe for the child, as it does not have pieces to choke on. But from 10 months, on the contrary, you should leave small pieces of boiled vegetables so that the baby learns to chew.
- Children's milk soup and dishes with cereals, pasta, as well as fish products, pediatricians recommend offering the child no earlier than a year.
- But regarding meat soups, opinions are mixed. Some talk about the benefits of lean meats and the protein it contains, while others say that such foods are too heavy for the baby. In any case, it is recommended to choose lean meats: chicken, veal, rabbit or turkey.
- Children's soup is not recommended to salt. Doctors are discussing the need for salt in the child’s diet. The choice is up to the parents.
- Greens are considered a storehouse of vitamins and other beneficial substances. But such a product can be offered to children no earlier than a year and a half.
Vegetable soup
Children's menu must include vegetable soups. They are easily absorbed, improve intestinal motility due to the high fiber content. Cooking such a soup is nothing easier. To do this, you must first prepare a variety of vegetables. Depending on the age and preferences of the baby, as well as the season, the components of such a soup can be: potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, beets, zucchini or pumpkin. Choose to taste. For children older than a year, you can add any cereals or small noodles to such a dish, as well as season with milk, add chopped greens.
How to cook?
Peel and chop all the selected vegetables, then place in a pot of boiling water. Cook until cooked. If the dish is intended for a child up to 8 months old, then the prepared vegetables together with the broth can be beaten in a blender or knead with a fork.
Mashed soup
Children's puree soup differs from other types of first courses in its dense texture. When preparing it, it is also important to consider the age of the child. For the smallest, a vegetable soup is suitable, for the eldest - you can offer a dish on meat broth with the addition of various interesting ingredients.
Recipe
How to make mashed soup for children:
- To prepare the soup puree, prepare the vegetables: potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, zucchini. Boil in boiling water or meat broth (for older children).
- Pour the liquid into a separate bowl (we still need it).
- Put the boiled vegetables, and if you wish, and meat (chicken, veal, turkey) in a blender. Add a little broth left over from the vegetables. Beat until smooth.
- Put the resulting mashed vegetables back into the pan. Add milk to taste and boil a little.
- If desired, you can add pre-cooked crackers (they will soften in the soup) or sprinkle with herbs.
Ear for baby
Children's soup can also be prepared on fish stock. Children need to choose a low-fat fish, for example, species such as hake, zander, perch. To prepare a fish soup, it is necessary to clean the main component - fish, pour it with cold water and boil over low heat. In the same broth immediately after boiling water, add spices, cut into large pieces: carrots, onions, herbs. Removing the foam, cook until the fish is ready.
After the fish has boiled, strain the broth. And put it on fire again. Add the diced potatoes. Beat the boiled carrots, onions and greens with a blender or remember well with a fork. After the potatoes are ready, add the resulting mashed potatoes to the broth and carefully transfer everything.
The children's menu should contain fish products, they should be given at least once a week, since they have essential substances necessary for the health and full growth of crumbs.
Meatball Soup
Many kids like meat soup with meatballs . Meatballs can be chicken, duck or beef. For their preparation, you need to grind the selected meat variety twice in a meat grinder. In the minced meat you need to add a raw egg (one half, and the second half will need to be added directly to the soup) and a little flour. Shape the meatballs. Balls should be easily formed and not crumble, be small in size.
Throw the resulting meatballs into boiling water and cook until half cooked. In the meantime, prepare the vegetables: peel and chop the carrots, potatoes, bell peppers. Add to boiling broth. Place the small noodles in a pan. Shortly before cooking, pour in, stirring the soup with a fork, the remaining half of the raw egg.
In this soup, you can add milk, grated cheese, herbs, crackers.
Serving meals for children
Serving dishes for children is a whole art that requires imagination. A properly served baby soup will appeal to the baby, and he will gladly eat it. Children's soups from a year can be decorated, for example, in this way:
- the pattern can be made from whipped milk foam;
- using food stencils, the soup can be decorated with drawings of chopped herbs, sour cream, grated cheese;
- vegetables or cheese can be cut in the form of stars, triangles and other shapes;
- pasta is better to choose an unusual shape: bows, rings, shells.
It’s not so difficult to make soup for a child, but it’s important to treat the process with soul, love and imagination. Recipes for soups for children can be invented independently, taking into account the age characteristics and needs of the child. It is recommended to change the appearance of the first dish daily. But new components should be introduced gradually, monitoring the baby’s reaction to the product. Bon appetit for the baby!