Although nutritionists recommend introducing the child to sauces after 3 years, in real life, their tasting takes place earlier: mothers and grandmothers can’t wait to introduce the crumbs to «adult» food, and at the same time diversify the taste of familiar and managed to annoy the little fussy dishes. But it should be borne in mind that the baby’s enzymatic system more or less matures only by the age of 3. Up to this age, she is not able to process food consisting of many components (sauces are exactly such products).
Why are they needed?
If you pour them on your unloved meat, you see, the toddler will eat it. In addition, such additives accelerate the metabolism in the body, so that the product is absorbed faster, and stimulate appetite. Therefore, they are appropriate in the menu of those with little teeth and recovering. And sauces train the gastrointestinal tract of a child, making it easier to get used to adult food.
Only homemade
Industrial products contain preservatives, artificial or identical to natural flavors and dyes, the presence of which in the baby’s diet is undesirable. So mayonnaise (because of its high fat content, it also overloads the liver) and ketchup will not benefit the child.
Sauces are conventionally divided into white and red. White is prepared on the basis of flour, which is pre-fried until golden brown. Then it is diluted with milk and butter is added, as well as onions and vegetables, which are also pre-pasted. Red sauces are prepared on the basis of tomato paste. By the way, it contains a unique substance — lycopene, which has an anti-carcinogenic effect (it is inactive in raw tomatoes). In such sauces in small quantities, you can add chopped herbs, ground white pepper, salt, eggs.
Tomato sauce
This paste will be a good base for homemade tomato sauce. You will need: 200 g of tomato paste, 3 carrots, 1 red and 1 green bell pepper, 3 tomatoes, 2 onion heads, 1 tsp ground pepper, 1 liter of water, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
Chop all the vegetables finely, grate the peeled carrots on a coarse grater. Peppers are pre—peeled from seeds, tomatoes – from the skin. Grease the frying pan with vegetable oil and fry the onion until golden brown. Transfer the onion to a saucepan. Add chopped vegetables to it. Add salt and pepper. Pour tomato paste and 1 liter of water. Simmer, stirring, for 25 minutes.
Of all the sauces in the store, it is recommended to buy only tomato paste, consisting only of heat-treated tomatoes in industrial conditions.
