It is not always easy to find recipes suitable for baby intolerances or allergies. There is constantly a food posing problem in the preparation of meals or to taste for your little one. Baby may also really not like a particular food. Find out how to replace one food with another in recipes!
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Foods to offer instead of allergens present in a recipe
Even by offering baby allergens as soon as possible, your little one may be allergic to certain foods. How can you do to adapt the recipe according to baby allergy? Simply by replacing the allergenic food with another!
Imagine that baby is allergic to eggs, an essential food for the preparation of many recipes for muffin, pancakes, cakes, etc. During the BLW . It would be a shame not to make him discover these recipes whereas it is enough to replace the egg in the recipes with apple compote or with a crushed banana.
Forward, for alternatives to allergens:
- Gluten : buckwheat flours, chickpeas, rice, coconut, chestnut, etc.
- Crustaceans : fish, molluscs or transform the recipe into a vegetarian meal.
- Eggs : a crushed banana, 50 grams of apple compote, 30 grams of yogurt, 50 grams of tofu, 3 tsp. to s. D'Aquafaba, 1 tsp. to s. of linen seeds mixed with 1 tsp. to s. water.
- Awards : grilled sunflower seeds, coconut in shavings (for the crunchy aspect). Sunflower or soy butter and chestnut flour (for flavor).
- Fish : eggs, molluscs, crustaceans or transform the recipe into a vegetarian meal.
- Milk : infantile milk without POS, breast milk or vegetable milk enriched with calcium.
- Case fruits : sunflower or squash seeds.
- Celery : fennel, cabbage, carrot, cucumber, green pepper, broccoli, chard.
- Sesame : poppy, linen or sunflower seeds.
- Molluscs : crustaceans, fish or transform the recipe into a vegetarian meal.
Do not forget to introduce an allergen at the same time for several days in a row and to remain attentive to the baby's reaction. Find all the information on allergens in our dedicated article.
This table takes up the alternatives for simplest allergens For others, we advise you to find out to a doctor.
How to replace the foods of the 5 food groups?
During the food diversification led by the child, your little one will be able to develop his taste palette by discovering new flavors on a daily basis. Foods from the five food groups will be able to arouse baby's taste buds with each meal. From day to day, you can observe your little one feast on meals while offering it increasingly balanced plates made up of protein, starchy foods, fats, products, fruits and vegetables.
Replace a fruit in a recipe
Fruits are the simplest foods to replace in a recipe. These are classified as 6 different families:
- Nucleus fruits
- Pisk fruits
- Red fruits and berries
- Exotic fruits
- Citrus fruits
- Case fruits
Inside each family, fruits can replace each other in baby recipes. For example, in the family of nucleus fruit, apricots can be replaced by plums while in the family of citrus the grapefruit will take the place of orange or clementine.
In recipes, it is not uncommon for apple compote to be replaced by a crushed banana during preparation and vice versa.
Do not forget to always offer baby recipes prepared with seasonal fruits for more flavors!
Replace a vegetable in a recipe
In general, vegetables belonging to the same family can replace each other in a baby recipe. The different families of vegetables are:
- Leaf vegetables: spinach, cabbage, etc.
- Steged vegetables: celery, asparagus, etc.
- Flower vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
- Root vegetables: carrot, parsnip, beet, etc.
- Bulbian vegetables: fennel, onion, garlic, etc.
- Fruit vegetables: tomato, cucumber, zucchini, pepper, etc.
However, vegetables with a similar texture can replace in recipes. Here is a small list to help you replace the vegetables without breaking your head!
- The Jerusalem artichoke, the sweet potato, the squash (and the whole family of the pumpkins): similar texture after cooking, only the taste varies
- Carrot, parsnip, squash and pumpkin: for cooked dishes since they have the same texture after cooking
- Carrot and pumpkin: for raw meals
- Leek, shallot and onion of all colors
- Asparagus and green bean: they don't have the same taste, but it works!
- Fennel and celery: Same texture after cooking: half-land, half-proof
- Cauliflower and broccoli
- White cabbage and red cabbage: for a raw or cooked salad, it works very well
- The peppers: the same vegetable with more or less sweet flavors
- Spinach and chard: for cooked dishes
- Mushrooms
Replace a starchy food in a recipe
There is nothing easier than replacing one starch with another in a meal.
Indeed, legumes are perfectly replaced between them in any recipes. Lentils, chickpeas, white or red beans, etc. You have the choice.
For cereals, it's exactly the same. You can replace the pasta with a recipe with rice, quinoa, boulgour, etc. Make baby happy with a starch he loves!
The different flours can be careful, do not hesitate to vary them in the recipes. However, a point of attention is to be kept in mind: the type of flour (T80, T65, T110, etc.). The higher the type, the more the flour is rich in fiber. When choosing the flour, it may be necessary to add a little water to the preparation to avoid obtaining too dry pastries.
Replace a protein in a recipe
Fish and meat
Some meats and fish may have a rather special flavor that does not please everyone. Fortunately, it is easily possible to replace animal proteins in the baby plate.
Animal proteins are classified according to their "color". We find there:
- White meats: chicken, turkey, pork, etc.
- Red meats: beef, duck, sheep, etc.
- Fatty fish: salmon, mackerel, etc.
- White fish: cod, monkfish, etc.
Inside the different classes, food can easily be replaced with each other.
It is also possible to remove the animal protein from the baby plate in order to offer it a vegetarian meal or even replace it with legumes or certain vegetables such as cauliflower.
Do not forget, before the age of 4, animal proteins will always be offered well cooked to baby!
The egg
For the egg, it's a little different. There are several alternatives to eggs that can be used in recipes to ensure adequate nutrition. It will be important to choose the food replacing the egg according to the recipe you are going to prepare.
An egg is also:
- 1 crushed banana: for snack preparations
- 50 g apple compote: for cake, muffin or pancake recipes
- 30 g of yogurt: to replace beaten eggs in a recipe
- 3 tsp. to s. D'Aquafaba (chickpea juice): for recipes requiring whites mounted in snow.
- 50 g of tofu: for recipes needing a rising or binding agent
- 1 tsp. to s. of linen seeds mixed with 1 tsp. to s. water: for recipes needing a rising agent. This alternative can only be used for recipes containing 1 or 2 eggs maximum.
Egg white can also be replaced by:
- 2 tsp. to s. of aquafaba
PSST, legume juice does not taste the preparation!
Replace a fat in a recipe
From the start of the BLW , fats like oils and butter will be part of baby meals. To vary the flavors, you can easily change the oils between them by choosing olive, sunflower, coconut, sesame oil, etc. In some cases, butter and oil will be able to replace each other.
Replace a dairy product in a recipe
Milk, yogurt, butter, cream or cheeses are all of the dairy products . How can you replace them in recipes?
Milk can be substituted by breast milk, infantile milk or plant milks .
It will be possible to use vegetable milk yogurts without added sugars and enriched with calcium instead of standard natural yogurts.
Depending on the recipes, you can replace the butter with vegetable oils or oilseed purees.
Fresh cream can easily be replaced by vegetable creams based on rice, oat and coconut or by white cheese, ricotta or yogurt. All of these foods have the same qualities as the fresh cream.
There are two families of cheeses that can be offered to baby during the BLW : pasteurized cheeses or cooked pressed cheeses. In these two families, cheeses can easily be inserted between them. For example, ricotta can take the place of mozzarella or spread in recipes. But that's not all! In all recipes, cheese can simply be removed.
Baby does not appreciate the cheese at all? It can be replaced by yogurts, milk or fresh cream.
