A carton/bottle can only be labeled “Juice” if it is 100% fruit juice. This means that the only ingredients in this product are whole fruits that have been processed down into what becomes the juice concentrate which is then combined with filtered water if needed  (there are a few exceptions of course like freshly squeezed juices, where water isn’t added). Occasionally, there may be additives like ascorbic acid (vitamin C) or beta-carotene (vitamin A) but nothing else to dilute the whole fruit juice. Next we have “Juice drink” which can have no less than 50% fruit juice to earn this distinction. Next in line we have “Nectar” which can have no less than 30-40% fruit juice, “Ade” (think lemonade, limeade, grapeade) which can have no less than 25% fruit juice, and lastly we have “drink” which can have no less than 10% fruit juice (reminds me of the “Orange Drink” they used to give us at elementary school cook-outs).

So as we stray from the 100% fruit juice distinction that’s where we can start to see other things in our juice besides real fruit juices such as high fructose corn syrup,  added sugar, dyes, the list goes on!

As one might be able to see from this information, 100% fruit juice is your best bet. In fact, ½ cup of 100% fruit juice counts as one serving of fruit. While serving your kiddos 100% fruit juice can be a tasty way of making sure they get adequate amounts of fruit in their diet, you want to make sure not to over do it and that juice isn’t overly replacing whole fruit. It’s recommended that 1-6 year olds have 4-6 oz of juice per day, and children 7 and up limit their juice consumption to 8-12 oz. simply because although these juices tend to be great sources of vitamin C, they are also high in natural sugars. It’s a good idea to encourage kids to drink mostly water when they are thirsty so as to prevent them from only finding satisfaction in sweet drinks.

So, as if you didn’t know where this was going…here it is:  moderation is key!

At our Baby Food Making Workshop last week at Whole Foods in Cranston we all sampled Apple Chicken Balls.  What a big hit! Here is the recipe, as promised:

Makes 20 balls

Suitable for freezing

You will need

1 tbsp light olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated

2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

Half tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme or sage, chopped or a pinch mixed herbs

1 chicken stock cube, crumbled (from one year)

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Salt and freshly ground pepper (from one year)

Plain flour for coating

Vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1 Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté half the onion for about 5 minutes.

2 Using your hands, squeeze out a little excess liquid from the grated apple.

3 Mix the apple with the chicken, cooked and remaining raw onion, herbs, stock cube (from one year) and breadcrumbs, and roughly chop in a food processor for a few seconds.

4 Season with a little salt and pepper (from one year).

5 With your hands, form into about 20 little balls, roll in flour and fry in shallow oil for about 5 minutes until lightly golden and cooked through.

Recipe is from New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner by Annabel Karmel published by Ebury Press

Enjoy! -Kelly

At Bellani we took out the guesswork to help you get started. One of the greatest inventions in the history of baby-food making would have to be the Beaba 4-in-1 steam cooker-blender. The Beaba functions in 4 ways: It steams, blends, reheats, and even defrosts. Can you imagine only having to clean 1 container? We think it’s amazing. Aside from consolidating all of the steps for baby food making, you can be assured that by preparing the food via this method you are preserving as many vitamins and minerals as possible as opposed to microwaving or other preparatory methods.

If an all-in-one appliance sounds a little too intimidating, there is also the KidCo Food Mill available in electric as well as manual.
KidCo also has a great selection of other baby food preparing gadgets like the Healthy Snack multi-slicer that will stand to be useful even after your “baby” is a baby (I use my multi-slicer at home to make baked sweet potatoes fries…so delicious!)

Eating healthy isn’t always easy. But now there are tools to make it easier, faster and less expensive (I still can’t believe how much those little jars cost, not to mention the frozen ones at Whole Foods). The decision to make your own baby food is a personal choice and you might find that not only is your baby is eating healthier, but you are too! What a great resolution.