Baby Led Weaning: 17 fresh and nutritious foods for the summer, and how to offer them to your baby

Summer arrives and with it many changes: higher temperatures, vacations, open swimming pools, we go to the beach ... and these changes also affect meals. On the one hand, many children (and not so children) lose their appetite and eat less.

On the other, we make many meals away from home (on the beach, in the pool, on excursion ...) and we have to look for food that can be easily transported and eaten by hand. In addition, hydration is essential in summer, so we must choose fresh and nutritious foods.

What foods do we include in the menu of our baby who practices Baby Led Weaning (BLW) at this time of the year? Then I leave you 17 ideas fit for them.

1. Watermelon and melon

The fruit should not be missing in any season, but in summer it is especially appetizing. Watermelon and melon, with its high water content, are an excellent source of hydration. When our little ones are starting in BLW we can offer it in canes (I like to leave the skin, well washed, to facilitate the grip) or slices that grip with both hands. Of course, remove the seeds.

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2. Healthy pate

In summer you fancy pecking. Sit on the terrace for a snack or improvise a picnic by the pool. A good pate and toast is something easy and appetizing. They can be made at home with the help of a blender or chopper. Pate vegetables from olives, dried tomatoes or eggplant; We can also make mussels (an excellent source of iron) or salmon.

3. Cucumber

This food is also rich in water (96% is water!) And provides numerous vitamins, highlighting those of group B. We can offer it in sticks, alone or accompanied by some spreadable sauce, for example hummus or yogurt sauce (for those older than 9-10 months).

4. Chicken Nuggets or "fingers" (homemade)

Easy to carry and rich both hot and cold. The ideal is to make them homemade. They do not need to be fried (although there is no problem if it is occasionally and you use a good oil); there are great recipes to cook them in the oven and they are crispy or in Thermomix.

We can present them in form nugget or finger (stick) depending on our baby's abilities to grab them.

5. Hummus

Legumes are an excellent source of vegetable protein. They provide iron from the nonheme group, difficult to absorb, so it is recommended combine them with foods rich in vitamin C, citric acid and / or fructose. We can prepare it with a few drops of lemon (here we leave you a basic recipe) and if you are creative, you can do it with beets or avocado.

You can accompany it with whole-wheat or fruit or vegetable sticks: zucchini, eggplant, cucumber, carrot ... (in the latter case we must offer the cooked carrot to avoid choking).

6. Gazpacho or Salmorejo

But, the BLW was not a method without mashes? Not necessarily. In BLW the baby decides what he eats and it is he who takes the food and takes it to the mouth. So we can offer you the gazpacho in a glass to drink (around 9-10 months they begin to be able to drink from a glass with handles) or we can prepare salmorejo for "dipear", for example with eggplant sticks in tempura or spread on a toast.

7. Ice cream (homemade)

If there is a typical summer meal they are ice cream. And can babies eat them? Clear! And you will see that they love them. We can make them with crushed frozen fruit (ideal that you put some ripe banana). If you want them to be more creamy you can add some yogurt (for children over 9-10 months). And there are families that even make breast milk ice cream. We leave you the key to success making homemade ice cream and 11 recipes for ice cream easy and fast and without a refrigerator.

8. Pasta

Cereal should be a quarter of the meals according to the Harvard Dish and preferably wholemeal.

Pasta is another one of those foods that is good both cold and hot. For younger children starting BLW choose spirals, bow ties or grated macaroni that are easier to grab. We can prepare them in salad, with vegetables in strips and seasoned with olive oil.

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9. Baked dumplings

Ideal if we make homemade dough. We can fill them with a multitude of foods, depending on what our baby has already tried: the classic tuna and tomato, vegetables, ham, chicken and mushrooms ... Nor is it necessary to fry them, made in the oven they are really delicious.

10. Avocado and tomato toast

It is convenient to choose a healthy whole wheat bread and we can prepare it in bars or in larger portions so that they hold with both hands. On top of that, we can add a dash of olive oil and add crushed avocado and tomato.

Avocado is rich in monounsaturated fats (healthy fats, essential for the proper development of our babies), highlighting in particular the high content of oleic acid. It is also an important source of vitamin E (antioxidant).

11. Fish Burgers

Fish is a staple in the diet for its contribution of Omega-3 fatty acids; However, offering it in the first months can be complicated, because they are not yet able to make the clamp and crumble it in their hands.

A good solution is hamburgers (which are not always meat, as you see). We leave you a basic fish burger recipe. Traditionally fish was delayed until nine months; More recent studies do not find evidence that delaying it prevents the development of allergies so it can be offered from the start of complementary feeding both white (in general it is digested better) and blue.

Only very large fish (such as tuna, emperor, shark or pike) should be avoided because of their high mercury content.

12. Vegetable tempura

The fried ones cooked at home with a healthy oil can be offered from time to time. The tempura of vegetable sticks can be attractive for the little ones. We can also accompany it with some homemade sauce: tomato, salmorejo, hummus ...

13. Homemade Pizza

Pizza is sometimes associated with fast and unhealthy food; However, well posed can be very nutritious. We can use whole wheat flour and homemade tomato sauce; as toppings, those ingredients that we have already introduced: mushrooms, zucchini, squash, tomato slices and healthy proteins (egg, chicken, turkey, tuna ...).

Here you have 31 variants of pizza recipes. We can offer the cheese in small quantities from 9-10 months of age (like other cow's milk derivatives)

14. Oatmeal and banana cookies

Cookies are a regular snack and it is common to see mothers with cookies in the bag to offer them between meals if the children are hungry. There are even "my first cookies" for the most babies (which like so many "my first" are not recommended).

However, industrial biscuits, even the Maria ones, have a composition similar to other bakery products and are not healthy. We can then bake them at home; There are many recipes but one of the most basic is with crushed plantain (which brings a touch of sweetness) and oat flakes; we make balls, crush and bake until golden brown.

15. Potato omelette

The latest studies do not find evidence that delaying allergenic foods decreases the appearance of allergies, so the egg can be offered, always well cooked, after 6 months. Who doesn't fancy a tortilla skewer? Well curdled and shaped like a bar so that the little ones can hold it.

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16. Croquettes

The croquettes fancy at any time of the year and are relatively easy to eat for the little ones. Those made with bechamel can be offered from 9-10 months (as we have mentioned as other cow's milk derivatives) but you can find different recipes of croquettes without bechamel suitable from the beginning of the complementary feeding.

17. Pancakes

The pancakes (Pancakes) or Crepes They are a food that is offered a lot in BLW. There are countless recipes, some as simple as whipping a couple of eggs with a ripe banana and some oatmeal flakes, we can add cinnamon and back and forth to the pan. We can take them alone or accompany them with fruits or homemade peanut butter, for example. We must avoid whole or chopped nuts up to five years of age, but we can offer them crushed (example in biscuits or creams) from the beginning of the complementary feeding.

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