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Friday, May 27, 2011

Everything about Avocados for Infants, Babies and Toddler

Avocados are a great first food for your baby. They are excellent source of unsaturated fatty acids and have a higher proportion of this 'good' fat than any other fruit except the olive. Yes they are actually fruits, even though they are commonly thought of as vegetables. Try using mashed avocado as a "vegetable butter', a replacement for butter that can be spread on crackers and sandwiches.
Image source: msn.com
Info drafted from the book:"Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron



Equivalents: 1 medium avocado=1 C/1 cup.
Baby must be at least 4 months old.
Season: Available year round; peak December through May.

Choosing
: When selecting avocados, look carefully for damage, which shows up as soft dark spots in the skin. Tan-colored patches are OK. When picked up, an avocado should feel heavy for its size. If you're not going to eat the avocado for a few days, select an avocado that is firm but not rock hard, and ripen it at home. if you plan on eating it immediately, select a ripe avocado as described next.

Ripening: Firm avocados will never ripen in the refrigerator - let them sit at room temperature for up to 6 days. Place them in a brown bag to speed ripening. Avocados are ripe when they yield to gentle pressure and feel soft all over. Another way to test for ripeness is to gently squeeze the whole avocado with all five fingers. (using all five fingers prevents bruises.) If the flesh feels like it is separating from the seed, the avocado is ripe. As avocado ripen, the skin becomes a darker green. Still another way to test for ripeness is to insert a toothpick in the stem end. If it moves easily, the avocado is ripe. Avocados are easy to peel when they are ripe; the peel is hard to remove when avocados are underripe.

Storing: After ripened, store the whole avocado in the refrigerator in the vegetable crisper for up to two weeks. Your very young baby will certainly leave you with avocado leftovers. Store cut avocados by leaving the skins on and keeping the pit in the uneaten portion. You can brush the fruit part with lemon juice (if baby is old enough for citrus) to keep it from turning brown. It's OK to eat the brown part, but you can scrape it off with a knife. Wrap tightly in a plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Freezing using the Food Cube Method: The easiest way I've found to freeze avocado in food cubes is this:

  • Take a sharp knife and cut avocado in half crosswise so that you have tow 'cups'.
  • remove the huge seed. Use a spoon to scoop out flesh from peel and place on a flat dish.
  • Use a fork to mash flesh on dish. Spoon into ice cube trays and pat flat with your clean fingers.
  • Freeze for up to 3 months. I suggest that you give your baby 1-2 tablespoons or 1/2 to 1 food cube every day for some of the fatty acids she needs for brain development.
Feeding Avocado to an infant: Mashed ripe avocado is an excellent first food for baby. They are so nutritious that some claim humans can live on them exclusively. Fork mash the avocado flesh and feed it directly to your infant /baby. Avocados are also an excellent source of unsaturated fatty acids that your baby needs for brain development

Grow an avocado plant? check the video link



My next post is Mashed Avocado with cottage cheese for babies and tots, stay tuned!!

5 comments:

Priya Suresh said...

Very informative and useful post,bookmarking to share with my family members..

Lakshmi ...Rasoi ki Malkin..northern and southern spices said...

It was a good informative post about avocados padma,thanx for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Thanx for the post, it was well written and really helpful, please keep up the great work.

Anonymous said...

May I know can a 6 months old consumed the refrigerated leftover avocados?

Padma said...

Dear Anony,

It is always better to give the fresh avocado to your baby. If there are any leftovers you can freeze to lock the freshness of it. Later you can thaw to room temperature and feed. But I do not recommend to feed the cut fruit/leftover to the baby. Fresh is always best when it comes to feeding babies.

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