Brown Sugar Banana Oatmeal Baby Food Recipe

BROWN SUGAR BANANA OATMEAL BABY FOOD RECIPE: FACTSBrown Sugar Banana Oatmeal Baby Food Recipe

OATMEAL FACTS

Oatmeal makes a warm, tasty and highly nutritious food for baby!

There are few foods that are more warming and delightfully filling than a piping bowl of oatmeal on a cold morning. Don’t keep this yummy dish all to yourself, share it with your baby! While the recommended age for introducing solid foods is generally 6 months of age, most pediatricians say that introducing oats/oatmeal to your baby is fine between 4-6 months of age. Oats are a wonderfully healthy grain and they may be one of baby’s first foods. Easy to digest and less binding than rice, oatmeal brings fiber, calcium, protein and even some B vitamins to your baby’s growing body!

For babies, another wonderful thing about oats is that they are not considered an allergy risk. Oats are not known to be highly allergenic Brown Sugar Banana Oatmeal Baby Food Recipehowever they may contain traces of gluten. Oats do not contain the same gluten as wheat however they may become contaminated with the gluten from other grains such as wheat. Oats are commonly processed together with grains that do contain gluten. If your family has a history of celiac disease, it would be prudent for you to ask your pediatrician about the introduction of oats to your baby.

When you decide to introduce oats into your baby’s diet, try to purchase steel cut oats rather than rolled, quick cook or instant oat(meal)s. Steel cut oats are minimally processed; they are simply cut into small bits so they retain their natural levels of fiber, protein, calcium and more! The only negative with steel cut oats is that they are more difficult to grind into a powdery texture. We find using a small food processor works best but not perfectly! And now you’re wondering, “why would I grind the oats in a food processor?” aren’t you?

If your baby is just starting solid foods and is getting used to new textures, grinding oats into a powdery texture will help you make a smooth cooked cereal. To grind the oats, take 1 cup of oats, put them into your food processor or blender and then whizz until they have been reduced to a powder. Don’t worry if a few bits remain, you can always cook the oats and then puree them into baby cereal. It’s important to know that homemade oatmeal baby cereal will have more little lumps and bumps than commercial baby cereal. There are many babies who enjoy foods with a hearty texture and not all babies need to have thin, runny and pasty cereals. You should let your baby decide if she’s ready for the texture and not let the lumps and bumps discourage you. Your baby will let you know if she likes it or not!

BROWN SUGAR BANANA OATMEAL BABY FOOD RECIPE: INGREDIENTSBrown Sugar Banana Oatmeal Baby Food Recipe

  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 3 tbs instant oatmeal
  • 1 banana
  • 1 tsp of brown sugar

BROWN SUGAR BANANA OATMEAL BABY FOOD RECIPE: STEPS

  1. Boil the milk in a small saucepan.
  2. Stir in the oatmeal and cook over low heat until it is thickened.
  3. Mash the banana and combine.
  4. Finish by stirring in brown sugar.
  5. Serve, once cooled.