Rostaa

These are a few of Zanu’s favorite things… Do you feel like your baby’s taste buds are constantly evolving?

Last week it was only peas, the week before only smoothies, the week before that, only oranges. It is an incredibly exciting journey, watching this whole new world through the baby’s eyes. Also totally confusing and a nice reality check for parents who try and whip up fancy, exotic items, only to have said baby just reject them all.

Assembled here is a collection of afternoon snacks that have made it through the test of time and have been Zanu approved.

1. Nariyal Pani and (only patla) Malai

Anytime, anywhere. Not only is it conveniently available anywhere on the coast but also have a hygienic and eco-friendly packaging!

 

2. Passion Fruit

There are some fruits that just look so interesting and are so much fun to eat that I think with passion fruit, its more fun over flavor. Unfortunately, these are not so easily available so we usually carry them back from Goa to the city.

 

3. Smoothie

We have been making smoothies for Zanu since she was 7 months old. At first she was a little skeptical. Suddenly, she discovered that they were delicious! We use whatever is in season and available and used to alternate between dahi and almond milk until we were told by her homeopath to avoid dahi because of her allergies. The smoothies usually work although sometimes preferred the timings change, she drinks them either in the mornings and other times in the afternoon

 

4. Rice Cakes

Universal favorite and no I don’t make them and no I don’t have the recipe as everyone on social media has asked. A good alternative is to take kurmura and mix some peanut butter in them (or any nut butter/ jiggery/ honey) and make kurmura cakes!

 

5. Dried Berries

She is officially a squirrel and will eat these anywhere. Blueberries & Goji Berries are the winners followed closely by cranberries. We carry these in a little snack box that all other kids love as well.

We recently bought some “healthy” bars from the shop and one look at the ingredients and I was like hey, I have everything in my cupboard (and the Rostaa stash!) Rostaa Medjool dates are amazinggg, once you use them, there is no going back. Usually I would soak them in water to make a paste, but we want these bars to keep for a couple of weeks and any kind of water encourages fungus! Goji berries & cranberries are my Chia’s favorites but feel free to add any nuts and dry fruits and seeds you have on hand! We try and ensure that our baby has something healthy to snack on every day but we also let her experiment with new flavours and textures (she tried gelato for the first time yesterday). Its important to understand the difference between home-made and processed, refined and unrefined as well as how much fertilisers, pesticides and preservatives affect even the healthy food we eat like fruits & veggies. Its not about “no sugar” or “no maida”. Its about building up a varied diet of interesting, seasonal items and developing your baby’s palate without an overload of strong tastes of overly- sweet & overly- salt. Most importantly, eat with your baby, lead by example and do a total re-think of everything that goes into your body as well!