Ancient Foods For a Modern Mom

People are always asking me what I fed my little guy when he was younger. Specifically, they often want to know what I fed him when he had a few or no teeth.

Let me tell you, it was a challenge because I had a kid who was over a year old, eating veraciously and 35 pounds before he got one tooth. What can I say, he was freak. Pureed foods were not sustaining that child, needless to say, I had to be creative about what I fed him.

It was important to me that he was getting good food; I wanted it to be mostly organic and if not organic, at least local. I also wanted him to be exposed to a wide variety of foods and eat the same if not similar foods to what we were eating. The family table has always been important to me; I believe sitting around and eating a healthy meal, all together, is one of the most important steps in a good relationship with food.

So, the first hurdle was finding foods that he could eat with a few or no teeth that were nutritious, tasty, affordable and could be incorporated into a family meal. I found two specific foods that were a staple for Oskar and were normally incorporated into each and every meal: Quinoa and Kamut, two ancient grains that pack a serious nutritional punch.

Kamut is an ancient relative of wheat that has a pleasant, sweet and buttery flavor. It has up to 20-40% more protein than wheat, up to 65 percent more amino acids, contains more healthy fatty acids, and is rich in magnesium, zinc, and vitamin E.

Quinoa, Pronounced "KEEN-wa, is a powerhouse of nutrition. It is a complete source of protein, with all eight essential amino acids, and is high in calcium, iron, and phosphorous.

Both Quinoa and Kamut are affordable, easy to prepare, tasty and, best of all, my little guy loved them! Even without teeth, he could eat soft, cooked, quinoa with his hands or be spoon fed. And later, when he was able to use a spoon, he would happily shovel it into his little mouth.

Kamut is available in many forms. Oskar's two favourites: puffed Kamut from Nature's Path Organics and Kamut pasta. He loved to eat Kamut puffs when he was just starting to get into finger foods and, as a toddler in his snack trap. Kamut pasta was an easy to prepare meal that, when paired with steamed carrots or broccoli, was ultra nutritious.

Quinoa is also available in a flour which is perfect to add to pancakes, pizza dough or cookies. It is a very dense flour, so a little goes a long way, and it adds some much needed protein to those foods.

I have several recipes for Quinoa that I can send or post if anyone is interested; Quinoa Pizza Dough, Grilled Quinoa Chicken Patties and Quinoa Salad are just a few.

Let me know if you want them. Happy baby and kid feeding!