When you read the title of this recipe, you might question my use of black pepper in a recipe for little foodies as young as 6 months. So, here’s my thinking on that: introducing your baby to solids is your time to expose him to a variety of flavors and textures through various fruits, vegetables, proteins, herbs and spices. You are setting up your baby’s palette for what he will want to eat for the rest of his life. I’m not suggesting you load up your baby’s food with tons of spicy ingredients and make the poor thing gag, but a little pinch of pepper or even a little pinch of cayenne pepper is just another flavor for him to try and another context you can give him of how food can taste.
Thinking about the early days of introducing my own teeny tiny foodie to purées and solid foods reminds me a lot about my experiences as a elementary school classroom teacher and literacy coach. During that time, my colleagues and I talked often about our students’ “prior knowledge” that comes from having life experiences and how this prior knowledge helped them to understand the stories they were reading. Conversely, we talked about how a lack of this prior knowledge could inhibit a reader from fully understanding a story. To give you an example, I taught in urban schools where most students’ families did not have a car. An assessment book we used was all about going to a car wash. Many of our kids were baffled by this concept because they didn’t have any first hand experiences with a car or ways to take care of a car such as keeping it clean, so this book was sometimes confusing to them. Why am I telling you this? I think of introducing food to babies and toddlers as giving them a form of “prior {food} knowledge” that will lay a foundation of experiences from which to draw on as they go forth into their lives as young eaters and consumers. So, introducing your baby to different flavors, flavor combinations, various healthy foods and spices is just giving him experiences with food that he can draw on for the rest of his life.
As with any new taste experience, it may not be a huge success at first. Introducing a new “palette sensation” may take a few tries. Don’t give up on a food. Try it again at another time or even in another form. Research has shown that it can take around 40 tries for a baby or toddler to get used to a new food. I went through this with my own little lady when she went on strike against potatoes.
I’m sharing this recipe as part of the #FirstBites campaign with OXO Tot. They sent me some great baby food related goodies to test out when creating baby food recipes. Did you know that there is a GIVEAWAY of some awesome food-related OXO and OXO Tot products happening right now? Click here to enter! Hurry up because the giveaway ends this Friday, July 25!
- Peppery Peach Purée
- 6-9 months
- 9-12 months
Ingredients:
- -2 peaches
- -1 teeny tiny pinch of black pepper
Preparation:
Wash, dry and roughly chop the peaches.
Purée in a food mill or in a mini food processor and transfer to a bowl.
Mix in the black pepper and serve to baby.
Yields 5-6 ounces
Variations for Foodies 6+ months:
- -Mix with oatmeal, couscous or quinoa for texture
- -Mix with yogurt, soy milk or ricotta cheese for protein
Variations for Foodies 9+ months:
- -Mix with brown rice, orzo pasta, farro or Israeli couscous for texture
- -Mix with yogurt, soy milk, cottage cheese or ricotta cheese for protein
Happy Cooking!
Tags: 6-9 months, 9-12 months, baby food, peaches, pepper, purée
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