How To Make A Baby Foodie

You can turn your little mini me into the next Marcel Proust if you give them wonderful and healthy food memories. Everyone has good and bad childhood experiences with food. Why not take it a step further with your child and give only good memories - and in the meantime bring another foodie into this world.

The first step involves their first real food. There's a reason why the little one hates all those jars of processed fruits, vegetables and mystery meats. You can make your own and there are some wonderful websites such as www.wholesomebabyfoods.com that have tasty and nutritious recipes. You can introduce your baby to organic produce. Have him or her get used to the taste of "good" veggies such as spinach , broccoli and squash, putting then in the same category as treats or candy. As your child grows older, you can add butter, margarine or garlic to make the vegetables more palatable (as my Mom did with us. I was the only six year old who passionately loved spinach and I still do thanks to her). Also make fruits a part of their desserts and snacks. Yes, it's fun to eat cookies and candy after school, but it's also fun to dip sliced apples in caramel or spear banana and strawberry kabobs into chocolate sauce.

As your mini-mes evolve into teenagers, introduce them to different cuisines. Luckily this is easy today with the world becoming one big village. They'll probably have a wide range of friends all coming from different backgrounds. Invite them over and tell them to bring recipes.You can have a cooking party where everyone pitches in and helps. This not only livens up any get together and/or sleepover but widens your child's culinary experiences. It also turns teens into foodies who can walk into any restaurant and know everything about the cuisine.

Remember foodies are made, not born. They can be born into a family of gourmets but they won't automatically pick up the finer or more exciting points of dining. That's up to you. Teach them young about not only the value of food but the pleasure of it as well.