Gourmet food for your baby or toddler

When I started preparing the first foods for my son, I thought that unsalty, boiled, or steamed veggies, can be a bit boring to eat! Even if he didn't know better at the time, I wanted him to have amazing food experiences.

We did Baby Led Weaning, and of course the first few weeks I would give him plain steamed veggies or fruits. Later on, I would add herbs, spices, or lemon. For instance, steamed broccoli with a bit of fresh lemon juice became his favorite veggie. Or some oregano in his ''Greek salad'' with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and Kalamata olives. I also cooked foods for him like green peas with dill, chickpeas with tomato sauce and cumin, pasta with broccoli pesto, vegetable soups, baked fish with thyme, and more.

In my opinion, baby food should not be boring, but it takes a lot of effort to prepare freshly cooked meals daily.

In this post, I have prepared some combinations between herbs, spices, and vegetables, meat & fish. This is the way I cook our food and for a few months, I stopped cooking separately for my son. Now we all eat the same food, or at least most of the time.

But first, let's talk about herbs! Did you know that fresh herbs are packed with vitamins and minerals? They also contain more antioxidants than a lot of vegetables or fruits they can help in the digestion process and in the elimination of toxins too. So it is not just about adding flavor to our food but as I like to say, they can turn your food into a superfood! Some of my favorite herbs are oregano, dill, thyme, parsley, mint, basil, and rosemary.

Secondly, let's talk about combinations of fresh or dried herbs with foods. Have you ever tried to add some oregano and sweet paprika to a simple cheese toast? So much flavor and much tastier!

Below, I will give you some examples of my favorite herbs and I am sure that if you try them while cooking your food, you will be happily surprised - in case you are not aware of them already.

Oregano

Can you imagine pasta tomato sauces without oregano? I can't! It goes well also with eggs, roasted vegetables, Greek salad, grilled meat, potato puree, and pizza.

Dill

Green peas and dill is a must, and here is an easy and fast recipe for you and your little ones.

In a pot, add 500 g green peas, 1 L water, some sliced onion, half a carrot, two potatoes, salt, pepper, olive oil, and one tbsp dill. Boil it for 30 - 40 minutes in medium to low heat and serve it with feta cheese. I promise you are going to love it!

Mint

Mint is another favorite herb for me, and I like it both with vegetables and meat. I use it when I make mainly Greek dishes, like spinach with basmati rice, zucchini & carrot balls, beef meatballs, and also I often marinate lamb with it. The classic combos are yogurt, baked potatoes, and also with fruits.

Other combinations you could try are the following: Thyme with chicken or fish, bay leaves with green lentils, rosemary with chicken, meat, oily fish, potatoes, and mushrooms.

In our home, we love spices too, and here is how you can use them for preparing baby food, toddler food, or family & friends' food. Did you know that herbs and spices fight inflammation and reduce damage to your body's cells? Well, if not, now you know :) Below, you will find some of the best possible combinations of spices with foods.

Cinnamon

The Goddess of spices! Try it with baked apple, banana and honey, rice pudding, muffins, porridge, and stews. The tomato sauce I make for pasta has a tiny bit of cinnamon, and believe me, it makes such a difference. Our favorite tomato sauce is with cherry tomatoes, onion, garlic, sweet paprika, a little bit of smoked paprika, a little bit of cumin, cinnamon, and oregano. So yummy!! My son loved it from the first time he tried it.

Smoked paprika

Here is the secret, you need just a little bit otherwise your food will taste only like smoked paprika. So use it in moderation with sweet potato, lentils, eggs, chicken, and fish.

Cumin

Cumin is great in stews, chickpeas with tomato sauce, and hummus.

Nutmeg

Nutmeg is a must for pasta bakes, bechamel sauce, and muffins.

Cardamon

The Middle East loves cardamon and we too! It's great to add in porridge, muffins, and banana bread. It adds such a unique flavor. I use it also when I bake cookies or when I make a type of Greek sweet bread for my son. Soon I will be posting more recipes, so stay tuned!

Concluding, don't be afraid to use fresh or dried herbs and spices in your kids' foods, even when they are babies. They have so many health benefits, they make food so tasty and it will be such an experience for your little one to have this explosion of flavors in his mouth.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and see you soon!

All the best,

Clio