What is Nutrient-rich food?
In simple language nutrient-dense, is a food that is rich in nutrients as per the number of calories it has in it. So even if a little amount is consumed by the baby, as babies eat less quantity, it’s still impactful to the body.
What should a toddler eat in a day?
You might be searching on the internet about what to offer for a 1-year-old baby or what to offer toddlers, this article helps you understand how to make healthy food for a child.
Here’s a rough chart that helps you understand what all you are supposed to offer in a day (24hour)
🛑Note: Every child has a different appetite, our job as a caregiver is to offer a balanced meal, trust them and encourage all the good practices.
📌Carbohydrates/ grains 3 portions (examples Roti, rice, millets, oats, quinoa, etc)
📌Protein 2 portion (egg, chicken, nuts, nut butter, meat, legumes: chickpea, moong, etc)
📌Fruit 1 portion (banana, apple, mango, plum, etc)
📌Vegetables 1 portion (Seasonal vegetables, beans, carrots, ladies finger, etc)
📌Milk 2 cups (Should not be more than 500ml, this includes curd, paneer, cheese, and other dairy products) If breastfeeding, first offer food then feed.
📌Fats Healthy sources (ghee, butter, olive oil, mustard oil, nut butter, etc)
Here’s how they will make a huge difference in making food more nutritious
1. Nuts: Packed with protein, fiber, and essential fats
2. Soaking & sprouting: this process increases nutrition and also increases amino acids and vitamins
3. Vitamin c: consumption of vitamin c helps the body with the absorption of iron, helps the immune system, and maintenance of cartilage, bones, and teeth.
4. Seeds: They are great sources of fiber. They also contain healthy monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and many important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
5. Ghee: is rich in fat, it contains high concentrations of monounsaturated Omega-3s. These healthful fatty acids support a healthy heart and cardiovascular system
6. Dips: acts as a great moistening agent to make babies food softer, and makes food nutritious and flavourful.
Nutrition dense snacks for toddlers
Apple with peanut butter
Caramelized foxnut with nut powder
Sweet potato fries
Besan laddu
Murmura with tempering
Crushed Peanut chikki
Baked Mathri ( suji, aata )
Hummus + cucumber
Veg Mayo +carrots
Veg Omelette
Boiled egg
Yogurt with chia seeds
Rice cake with cheese
Boiled chaana or moong
Lunch leftover Tikki
Fry fruit mix
Makkana tossed in ghee
Pear slices with Almond butter
Ragi laddu
Aata dry fruit barfi
🧡these options are great for the little ones as well as adults
💙small quantity may be accepted but it should be nutrition-dense
💜these snacks have good fats, protein, and carbohydrates which helps in babies growth
💚these take 5-10 min to assemble, some can be made and stored too.
❤️all dips/butter can be made at home in no time
* no sugar to be added, use jaggery/dates post 12 m of age
Nutrition-dense Dips
Finger food is a great option for kids, it’s messy free, and easy for self-feeding
But at times, for some babies it may feel a little dry so dips come into the picture, they are a great way for how to make food healthy and easy to serve.
If your question is how to make your child eat healthily these are a few of my healthy yet super yummy dips that go perfect with dosa, chilla, savory pancake, roti, cutlets, Tikki, paratha, and saute steam vegetables.
Beetroot dip
Veg Mayo
Hummus
Coconut chutney
Peanut butter
Almond butter
Hung curd dip
Pesto dip
Peanut Chutney
It’s a great way, to make nutrition sense food for babies, these dips help your child eat healthily.
Side note: I use it as my salad dressing too
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