Any mother knows how difficult it can be to feeda little gourmet. And he won't have this, and that's not to his taste - who among us hasn't come across such statements? But you still need to feed the baby something, because solar energy is definitely not the most suitable food for a growing body, although the baby himself, it seems, is not at all against it. And many mothers try to "shove" at least something into the baby, sometimes reducing the entire diet of baby food to sweets and yogurts. However, this is far from the best option - the risk of developing vitamin deficiency is very high. So how to break this vicious circle? Try to find a compromise. The baby wants something sweet? So let this sweet be healthy too. For example, offer your child a banana. In our time, it is unlikely that anyone can be surprised by a banana - people are accustomed to this fruit and have accepted it, just like potatoes once did. But such popularity of bananas is largely due to their relatively low cost. The low price of bananas is largely due to the conditions in which the fruit is grown and subsequently transported. Bananas grow on their own and do not require any material costs for their processing, except for the process of collection. And during transportation to the places of sale, bananas do not spoil, since they are picked slightly unripe and the bananas ripen later. That is why bananas are very profitable and convenient for sellers. Due to the fact that bananas are cheap, a family with any material wealth can buy them, which is undoubtedly a big plus. Most often, bananas are used by people as a "snack" and very fat who knows that a banana can be prepared in such a way that you get a full-fledged dish. And if you consider that today's conversation is about how to feed a baby - a picky eater, then we will talk specifically about children's dishes.
Useful properties of bananas
The fact that the products consumed by childrenshould be not only tasty, but also healthy, no one doubts. Let's try to figure out whether bananas are healthy. Bananas contain such substances necessary for a growing organism as:
- Cellulose
Although fiber is nota nutrient that provides the body with energy, it plays a huge role in human life. And the most important role of fiber is to regulate the normal, full functioning of the intestines.
- Starch.
Starch is very easily and quickly absorbed by childrenbody. Under the influence of certain enzymes, starch is broken down and converted into glucose, which is vital for both children and adults.
- Carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates are the main supplier of energy, and in addition, the normal functioning of the liver depends on them. And, in addition, the absorption of proteins and fats is impossible without the presence of carbohydrates.
- Proteins.
As is known, all proteins containamino acids, which determine the type of protein. It is from amino acids that the body builds new cells, which are so necessary for the baby for harmonious development and growth. In addition to the above components, bananas also contain vitamins B2, B6, B1, PP, provitamin A, pectin substances, aromatic and tannins, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, iron, calcium, malic acid. Bananas are also very valuable for their increased content of potassium, which is necessary for the proper functioning of the heart muscle and vitamin C, which is no less than in citrus fruits. Bananas have the property of improving mood and concentration, which is indispensable for schoolchildren, and will only benefit "kindergarten" children. Have you noticed that your baby has become lethargic and quickly gets tired? Just one or two bananas a day is enough for the baby's vitality to quickly rise up. The effect of bananas on a child's body is indispensable if the baby suffers from diseases such as:
- Violation of the urinary system.
- Violation of the normal functioning of the liver.
- Disruption of the gastrointestinal tract, especially gastritis and dysbiosis.
- Enteritis and colitis of various origins.
- Gastrointestinal infections - a banana is a wonderful absorbent.
- Stomatitis and bleeding gums.
- Allergic reactions of food origin.
And this is far from a complete list of the benefits of bananas.
Contraindications to the use of bananas
However, despite the fact that bananas are healthyproperties are very diverse, there are also a number of contraindications to their use. When giving your baby bananas, be sure to remember that bananas themselves are quite heavy food. They are digested very slowly, while the outflow of bile is difficult and gas formation increases. Therefore, if the baby is prone to colic and flatulence, you should not feed him bananas too often. By the way, all bananas without exception should be eaten very slowly, chewing them thoroughly. And in no case should you allow your child to wash down bananas and any dishes made from them with cold water. It is much wiser to offer your child hot tea. And if your baby has gastritis with high acidity, it is better not to give him bananas at all. Unfortunately, recently there have been more and more cases of diabetes in children. And such babies need to be especially careful with the use of bananas - a ripe banana is remarkably capable of increasing a sharply dropped blood sugar level, but they cannot be eaten every day. But at the same time, slightly unripe fruits are very, very useful. By the way, ripe bananas that have undergone heat treatment, for example, baked in the oven, have a good therapeutic effect in cases where the baby begins to cough. Of course, a banana will not be able to cope with pneumonia, but a slight cough will very quickly disappear without a trace. In baby food, banana is one of the most indispensable products. Banana, due to its low content of plant fibers, is ideal for its use as the first complementary food. Banana puree simply perfectly meets the requirements for baby food: it has a delicate consistency and a pleasant smell, and all children without exception like its taste. Banana is a very high-calorie product, so for babies with low weight it is just a godsend - a very small amount of food will fully satisfy all the details of the child in energy substances. But if the baby is overweight, you need to be extremely careful with bananas and not get carried away with too many of them. It was already mentioned above that bananas are contraindicated for children who suffer from gastritis caused by high acidity. But if the acidity with gastritis is low, a banana can be the best medicine. Bananas stimulate increased secretion of a special mucus that protects the inner walls of the stomach from irritation and stimulates the healing of the epithelium. Many children are faced with the regular occurrence of such an unpleasant phenomenon as stomatitis. In order to alleviate the baby's condition and speed up the recovery process, nutritionists recommend that parents give the child a piece of banana and make sure that he does not swallow it immediately, but slowly chews it and holds it in the mouth for several minutes. This procedure must be repeated at least every two hours, and as a result, the disease will subside in a day.
Banana menu
However, no matter how healthy bananas are, mothers should notIt is worth forgetting that children do not like monotony. And a regular banana, or one mashed to a puree state, will quickly bore your baby. Therefore, do not be lazy and show a little imagination - you can prepare quite interesting and varied dishes from bananas. And we hope that our article will become a source of inspiration for you to create, albeit small, but still culinary masterpieces. So, what can be made from bananas?
Banana puree
For the littlest sweet tooths, mom canmake cottage cheese with banana. It is prepared very, very simply. You will need 100 grams of cottage cheese and one ripe banana. For preparation it is desirable to use low-fat cottage cheese. Remember that banana itself is a very high-calorie product? That is why you should not buy fatty cottage cheese as well - otherwise the dish will turn out to be too heavy and high in calories. Also prepare a few spoons of pasteurized milk. So, banana, cottage cheese, milk, mix thoroughly with a blender. As a result, you should get a plastic homogeneous mass. In principle, the banana dessert for little gourmets is ready. If your baby willingly eats fruit puree, you can pour one or two spoons of any ready-made baby puree on top of the dish. If you are preparing banana puree for older children, you can sprinkle it with grated walnuts or even chocolate chips. However, keep in mind that cottage cheese with banana is a very, very filling and nutritious dish, so do not hope that after it the child will agree to eat something else - soup or a cutlet with puree, for example. As a rule, the feeling of hunger in a child does not arise earlier than 4 - 5 hours after he eats such puree.
Banana split
If your little one is already confident enoughindependently wields a fork, prepare him an interesting and very tasty dish - banana split. This dish is another bright example of what to do with bananas. To prepare two portions you will need:
- One banana is of medium size.
- One hundred grams of fat-free cottage cheese.
- One hundred gram of any cut fruit. Do not use citrus fruits, as they can lead to the development of an allergic reaction in crumbs.
- Whipped cream - great fit already ready, sold in the store.
Despite the rather exotic name,Banana split is quite easy to prepare. Pour a small amount of flour into a plate, cut the banana into slices about one centimeter thick, dip them in flour and place them on a preheated frying pan. Note that the frying pan should only be lightly greased with oil - there is no need for excess. Fry the banana slices for about one and a half to two minutes, periodically turning them from one side to the other. Add a small amount of milk to the cottage cheese and mix thoroughly with a fork or blender. Take a beautiful baby plate and place the fried banana slices in its center in a pyramid. Place the cottage cheese around the banana hill, decorate the entire structure with whipped cream and pieces of pre-cut fruit. The dessert is ready!
Banana — cottage cheese casserole
Another delicious banana dessert for kids is banana and cottage cheese casserole. To make it, you will need:
- One pack of low-fat cottage cheese (200 grams).
- One banana is of medium size.
- One hundred gram of wheat flour of the highest grade.
- One hundred grams of milk.
- One chicken egg.
Take a deep container and place the pack in it.cottage cheese and mash it with a fork. Beat an egg into the cottage cheese and sift flour into it. Mix thoroughly, then add milk and knead the dough. Cut the banana into small cubes, mix it with the dough and put the dough into a baking pan. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, place the pan in the oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the pan from the oven, place it in a container with cold water on steam so that the water does not reach the edges - thanks to this measure, you can easily remove the casserole from the pan, it will not stick to its walls. Before cutting the casserole into portions, sprinkle it with powdered sugar on top.
Banana Boats
Banana boats will please any sweet toothage - both very young children and their parents. This dish is not only very tasty and nutritious, but also very original. To prepare it, you will need:
- Two bananas are of medium size.
- Two tablespoons of wheat flour of the highest grade.
- One teaspoon of powdered sugar.
- One chicken egg.
- A pinch of table salt.
- Two tablespoons of butter.
Peel the bananas and mash them with a forkpuree. Next, you need to make a white sauce. To do this, melt the butter in a water bath and add flour. After that, dissolve a pinch of salt and powdered sugar in milk. Using a mixer, mix the flour, milk and butter, place in an enamel bowl and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. While the sauce is cooling, beat the egg whites with a mixer and combine all the ingredients. Place the banana peel on a pre-greased baking sheet, put the resulting cream in them. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and place the baking sheet there for about 5 minutes. Before serving, you can pour caramel syrup over the boats.
Salads with bananas
Almost all children, both very young and older, eat banana fruit salad with great pleasure. There are several types of this salad:
- Banana - yoghurt salad
To prepare it you will need two bananas.medium-sized and one small glass of any yogurt. Bananas need to be peeled and cut into small cubes of the same size. Pour yogurt over the cut bananas and mix them. Put the salad on the baby's plate and garnish with a piece of apple.
- Fruit salad with banana.
The next type of banana salad is simplya real storehouse of vitamins. To prepare it, you will need apples, pears, kiwi and grapes. Take as much fruit as the child can eat at one time, or be prepared to finish the salad after the baby - chopped vegetables very quickly lose all their beneficial properties. Cut the fruit into small cubes of the same size, pour yogurt over them and mix. Please note that citrus fruits cannot be added to the salad, in order to avoid the development of allergic reactions in the child. And only if you are absolutely sure that the child is not prone to food allergies, you can include oranges or tangerines in the salad.
Fried bananas
Fried bananas are also a hit, as arefor both toddlers and older children. They are prepared very, very simply - almost the same as fried potatoes. Peel the bananas, cut them into slices or strips, pour a small amount of vegetable oil into the frying pan (it is preferable to use olive oil, but if you don’t have it, regular sunflower oil will do), and fry the bananas until golden brown. The only thing that mom should pay attention to is the amount of bananas. It has already been repeatedly said above that bananas are very nutritious, so your child will not be able to eat a large amount. And fried bananas are stored for a very, very short time - no more than a few hours.
Fried bananas in creamy caramel sauce
I would like to offer you one moreFried banana recipe. It is perfect for schoolchildren as a dessert. To prepare 4 servings of bananas, you will need:
- Four bananas are medium in size.
- Two tablespoons of butter.
- 200 grams cream 20% fat.
- Five oatmeal cookies.
- Five tablespoons of sugar.
Peel and slice the bananas.into fairly large cubes. If you cut the banana too finely, you risk getting the most ordinary banana puree at the end of the dish. Pre-crumb the oatmeal cookies into some container. Melt the prepared butter in a frying pan over low heat, pour in sugar and stir constantly until the mass resembles caramel - taffy. After that, you need to put the sliced bananas in the frying pan, mix them with caramel syrup and fry for several minutes. After that, pour the bananas with cream and simmer over very low heat for at least a few minutes. Put the finished dessert on plates, sprinkle with crumbled oatmeal cookies and you can serve. The best drink for this dessert for a child will be ordinary milk.
Milkshakes with bananas
Another great recipe for a dish that can be made from bananas is a banana milkshake. To make 2 servings, you will need:
- Two bananas.
- Two glasses of milk.
- A few cubes of milk chocolate.
- Cinnamon.
Mash the banana with a fork and then add it tomilk. Using a blender or mixer, bring the mixture to a homogeneous mass, then add cinnamon (a small amount, about the tip of a knife). Pour the resulting cocktail into the baby's glass, grate the chocolate bar and sprinkle the resulting chocolate chips on top of the drink. The drink is ready. Banana with milk is very well absorbed and has practically no contraindications, unless, of course, your baby suffers from a food allergy to lactose. In this case, replace regular milk with lactose-free milk, which can be found in any supermarket. The milk and banana cocktail is ready. You can also make a cocktail of ice cream and banana. To prepare two servings, you will need 400 grams of any creamy ice cream without any filler, 200 grams of milk, and two medium-sized bananas. Peel the bananas and mash them with a fork. By the way, please note that it is much more reasonable to use ripe soft fruits for making banana cocktails. After that, mix the bananas with ice cream, add milk and beat thoroughly using a mixer or blender. Grate a couple of cubes of milk chocolate and sprinkle the cocktail on top. The banana and milk drink is ready, but remember that it contains ice cream, and accordingly, the banana cocktail turns out very cold.
Baked banana
Baked bananas are also very tasty.and a completely independent dish. It is not difficult to prepare it at all, even a mother who is not experienced in cooking can easily cope with this task. To prepare baked banana you will need:
- A foil designed for baking food in the oven.
- One or two bananas (depending on the portions, at the rate of one banana of medium size per serving).
- A spoonful of sugar or honey, if the childover five years old and does not suffer from attacks of food allergy, since honey is a fairly strong allergen. If you doubt it - it will be much wiser to stop using honey.
- Half a lemon of medium size.
Turn on the oven and preheat it to 250 degreesCelsius. While the oven is heating up, peel the bananas, wrap them carefully in baking foil and place them in the oven. The bananas need to be baked for about 15 minutes. While the bananas are in the oven, prepare the sweet syrup. If you are using honey to prepare the syrup, place it in a small heat-resistant container, which, in turn, is placed in a pan with water. Bring the water to a boil, stirring the honey constantly, preferably with a wooden stick or spoon. After the honey has completely melted to a liquid state, add the juice of half a lemon. If your child is not old enough for honey, you will need to prepare the syrup in a different way. Mix five tablespoons of sugar and five tablespoons of water. Melt the sugar in a water bath until you get a homogeneous caramel-like mass. Remove from heat, add the juice of half a lemon. Remove the bananas from the oven, let them cool slightly and unfold the foil. Take out the banana and put it on the baby's plate. Pour the resulting syrup over the banana, decorate the plate with a few slices of apple or any other fruit. The dessert is ready.
Pancakes with bananas
Pancakes with banana and chocolate will becomea full, and most importantly, incredibly tasty breakfast or afternoon snack not only for kids, but for the whole family. To prepare 4 servings of pancakes, you will need:
- Three bananas are of medium size.
- Fresh peel of one orange.
- One tablespoon of banana syrup. If you can not find a syrup in the store, prepare it yourself: grind a quarter of the banana and rub it with sugar until a uniform mass is formed.
- One tablespoon of cocoa powder.
- Two teaspoons of starch.
- 40 grams of milk chocolate.
- 20 grams of butter.
To prepare the dough you will need:
- One hundred gram of wheat flour of the highest grade.
- One tablespoon of cocoa.
- One chicken egg.
- Two hundred grams of milk.
Peel the bananas and cut themsmall cubes. Mince the lemon zest, mix it with the banana syrup and chopped bananas. Place them in a cool place, preferably on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, for about 20 minutes. Mix the cocoa powder with milk in a clean small enamel container. Grate the milk chocolate and add to the milk. Heat the container over low heat, stirring the milk continuously all the time. After a few minutes, remove the mixture from the heat. To prepare the dough, mix the flour and cocoa powder, then sift them through a sieve into a fairly deep bowl. Make a small depression in the middle of the resulting mound, place the butter and eggs in it. Gradually add milk, stirring the dough so that there are no lumps. After the dough has acquired a uniform structure, you can start baking pancakes. Place the finished pancake on a clean surface, put the prepared bananas on it in a thin, even layer, and roll the pancake into an envelope or roll. Place the pancakes on portioned plates. One serving usually includes three pancakes. Pour chocolate sauce over them and serve the pancakes with banana and chocolate.
Rice porridge with banana
However, no matter how good they are in themselves,bananas, the child, of course, needs to eat something more substantial. Try to cook such an unusual dish for your child as rice with bananas. It is not that difficult to do. To prepare the porridge you will need:
- One hundred grams of peeled rice.
- Two hundred grams of milk.
- Fifty grams of butter.
- One banana is of medium size.
Boil one liter of water, place the rice inenamel bowl and pour boiling water over it. After about a minute, drain the water and pour milk over the rice. Cook over low heat until fully cooked, like regular rice porridge. While the rice is cooking, peel the banana and cut it into small slices. Fry the slices over low heat. After the rice porridge is ready, mix the rice with fried bananas and put it on the baby's plate. Decorate the edges of the plate with pieces of fruit or whipped cream - the dish will become even more attractive to the baby. Rice with bananas is most often eaten even by the most picky children.
Banana icicles
Another banana dish that your child will love is the so-called banana icicles. To prepare two servings, you will need:
- Two bananas small in size - the smaller, the better. It is desirable that the bananas are slightly undersized.
- One tile of milk chocolate.
- 100 grams of milk.
- Several peeled walnuts.
- Wooden skewers, designed for cooking.
Peel the bananas and cut into thick slices.rings and put them on wooden sticks. Grind walnut kernels to crumbs. Grate a bar of chocolate, place in an enamel bowl. Then add milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. When the chocolate has completely melted, dip the sticks with pieces of bananas into it, then sprinkle with chopped walnuts. So, now you know what to do with bananas, and your choice is limited only by your imagination. However, you should not forget that in addition to bananas, there are quite a large number of other, no less useful products, from which you can also prepare a fairly large number of different dishes. But we will tell you about them next time. Enjoy your meal! We recommend reading:
