The 10 Month and Up Crowd

By: Denise Henderson

Founder and Mom

Square One® Organics

I hope the food introduction is going well. For those of you who have a child 10 month or older here are some quick things to keep in mind. At this point purees are still a large part of your child’s routine. Continue to use the SQ1 Superfood Guide for guidelines on what foods are good for this age group. Soft finger foods will become a bigger part of your routine at this point. Remember our job right now is to get them ready for a seat at the kitchen table and to get them eating like the family does. So when you pick your finger foods here are some things to keep in mind:

Add the SQ1 purees you have been using to other foods and cutting them into finger foods. For example: Organic Pumpkin pancakes pieces are a great finger food. Make pumpkin pancakes for everyone else in the morning and cut some up into small pieces for the baby. Freeze some in zip lock bags for later. Spinach and egg mini muffins again make these for the family but cut them into small pieces for the baby and freeze the pieces for later. For these recipes and other recipes ideas go to http://www.squareoneorganics.com/cooking_recipes.php. Batch cook any of these recipes and freeze the leftover. That way at meal time you are not always doing this from scratch. This is an excellent way to keep the organic superfoods tastes you have been introducing incorporated into the baby’s daily routine and getting them use to the foods of the family.

Organic Spinach is a key food for this age group. This power multi-tasker brings so much to the party and can play such a large role in your child’s future wellness.

Check out what is in just 2oz. of SQ1 organic spinach puree:

330% of your child’s RDI of Vitamin A

30% of your child’s RDI of Vitamin C

35% of your child’s RDI of Vitamin E

50% of your child’s RDI of Folate

45% of your child’s RDI of Magnesium

Spinach is also a superfood for the brain, bones, skin, eyes and immunity.

Check out the Dole Nutrition Institute for more superfood information http://www.dole.com/NutritionInstituteLanding/SuperFoods/NI_Skin_Landing/tabid/880/Default.aspx As you can see teaching your child to eat spinach now, can be so beneficial to them as they get older and willingly incorporate this amazing food into their diet on a regular basis.

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Dippen Sauces and Spreads are Key! Remember your child’s favorite organic superfood puree is also an excellent dippen sauce when introducing finger foods into their routine. For example, our papaya or mango puree is a great dippen sauce when introducing fish sticks, salmon burgers pieces or tuna burgers pieces. Mix some ripe mashed avocado with our drained broccoli puree and use it as a spread on cheerios or as a dippen sauce for grass-feed beef burger dogs. Roll the grass-fed beef into a hotdog shape then cook. Your child will be able to grip the burger dog and even get a little his or her mouth. What is important here is to really start working into your child’s routine the foods your family usually eats. Dippen sauces and spreads can help. Mission is to not have to make a special separate meal for the baby at meal time once they are ready to sit at the big table.

For more information and where to buy Square One Organics visit their website! www.squareoneorganics.com

Food Introduction for Babies 8 Months Old

By: Denise Henderson

Founder and Mom

Square One® Organics

At this point your child’s digestive system is maturing and a bigger variety of foods are good to be introduced. Continue to use the Square One® Organics Superfood Guide for suggestions on what new foods to introduce. In addition to continuing the daily avocado routine, here my top 3 things to keep in mind during for this age group.

1. Two more SQ1 resource materials can be helpful: The Square One Organics Food Family Awareness Chart http://www.squareoneorganics.com/awareness.php. This chart shows you which foods are members of the same food families. As you introduce foods, try to work inside a handful of food families. Dr. Nimmagadda recently wrote an article for Square One® Organics about how children may react similarly to foods inside the same food family. To read Dr. Nimmagadda’s complete article, click here. Second, download The Square One® Organics Daily 8 Month and Up Journal by clicking on the image below!

2. Pincer practice and spoon grabbing! Yes, these two things are part of the age territory. Here are some tips. As part of my feeding gear, Iwould always have a number of plastic table spoons on the twins’ highchair trays so they could practice their spoon grabbing skills. They see us feeding them with a spoon and they just want to try too. It can get messy but that’s how they learn! For Pincer practice try some ripe avocado pieces and/or soft tofu pieces on the highchair tray.

3. My favorite foods for this age group are - Mango, Quinoa and Broccoli – Mango because it is an excellent source of Vitamin A and C. Mango is also a superfood for immunity and the heart. This is an important food for your baby to learn to love that way as they get older and start school it will be part of your “stay healthy” food routine.

Quinoa makes its way onto my favorite list because it is Gluten-Free, has

the highest protein count of any other grain on the planet and posses all of the essential amino acids. Again, thinking ahead to the school cafeteria which is often times a nut-free zone, makes the choice of Quinoa a smart one. Some cooked Quinoa in a thermos with organic butter and sea salt makes for a wonderful protein serving for lunch. To really boast the protein count of the meal, add some organic peas to the mix.

Finally, Broccoli, is one of my favorite supergreens because is such a multi-tasker.

Broccoli is a superfood for bone, heart, brain, immunity and antioxidant. It is an excellent source of Vitamin A, C and Folate. Imagine getting all of those vitamins and minerals in one food. This makes it a great food for your baby to learn to love early so that it can continue to be part of the “stay healthy” food routine for a lifetime. For more food facts check out http://www.squareoneorganics.com/superfoods.php

Food introduction for babies 6 months and up

By: Denise Henderson

Founder and Mom

Square One® Organics

Up until now, it has been mostly breast milk or formula and possible some cereal depending on what your pediatrician suggests. Now it’s time to venture into the land of what foods to introduce first and why. I am a big believer that the every time children eat it is an opportunity to make a positive impact their growth, development and future food choices. Organic superfoods are a smart way to go. Here are a couple of helpful hints to get things started!

1. Download the Square One Organics Superfood Guide and tape it to your refrigerator door. http://www.squareoneorganics.com/superfoodguide.php. We developed this with a Pediatric Nutritionist and a Pediatric Allergist, from Children’s Memorial Hospital. This is a helpful tool that takes the guesswork out of what food introduction. Across the top, we breakdown superfoods into 4 categories

, Vitamin A’s, Vitamin C’s, Supergreens and Supergrains. The left column, shows at what age your child’s digestive system is mature enough to have the foods listed introduced.

2. Download the Square One Organics Daily 6 Month and Up Journal http://www.squareoneorganics.com/6monthguide.php. Also developed with our medical team, these daily journals were designed to give guidelines on appropriate portion size, meal/snack frequency, liquid intake, sleep, wet diaper, dirty diaper and any sort of food reactions. These are great tools for a few reasons: First, they are excellent daily guidelines and record keepers for families who use childcare inside and outside of the home. Second, record any questions or concerns that come up around your daily routine on them and bring them to your Pediatrician visits. Finally, for those of you list lovers, like myself, these were developed for you. These days if I don’t write it down I just don’t remember.

3. We strongly encourage a 5 day food trial. This simply means, please only introduce one new food to your child at a time for 5 days in a row. This is done in case there is any reaction to the new food being introduced. The number of days may vary depending on your Pediatrician. Our medical teams encourages 5 days.

4. Here are some of my most favorite foods for this age group. Avocados, Millet and Papaya, are such important first food for babies. First, Avocados which are nature’s source of unsaturated fatty acids that babies need for brain development. Avocados are ripe when they yield to gentle pressure and feel soft to a 5 finger gentle squeeze. Try to mash and incorporate this amazing vegetable into your child’s routine every day. It is an important food for them to learn to love so that it will continue to be part of their “good fat” food routine.

Millet is another one of my favorite foods for babies this age. It cooks up nicely into a cereal and is one of the most hypo-allergenic grains you can find. Buy it organic in bulk at any Whole Foods Market. To cook millet simmer 1/2 cup in 11/2 cups of water. If you leave it alone as it cooks, you'll get fluffy grains like rice; if you stir frequently and add a little extra liquid during cooking, you'll get a dish that resembles mashed potatoes. It takes about 25 minutes to cook millet by simmering. Make it every Sunday and Wednesday and keep your batch in the refrigerator. At mealtime scoop out what you need dilute it with what your baby is drinking, pop it into a mini processer and infant cereal it is! Store the leftover uncooked millet in tightly sealed jars on the pantry shelf, except during very hot, humid weather when it may be best to keep them in the refrigerator.

Finally, Papaya, I love this food because it is an above excellent, low-acid source of Vitamin C. It contains the enzyme Papin, which ads in digestion. Think about it, happiness is a baby that sleeps, which is what you are working on at this age. Baby can’t sleep if baby can’t poop so feed Papaya to keep those digestive juices working smoothly. Organic Papaya is one of the foods Square One Organics offers. Click here to see where Square One Organics is available near you.

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