Suggested nutritious sweet dishes for pregnant women

If women do not take good care of their health during pregnancy, it will easily affect the postpartum recovery process. The food issue is always emphasized because we must limit eating too salty, too hard, or cold food. Postpartum mothers also need to supplement plenty of warm water to stimulate lactation. Therefore, besides salty stews, sweet porridge to change dishes is also a useful meal change for mothers.

Red bean and red apple porridge

The porridge dish is very simple because you just need to put the ingredients in the rice cooker and simmer for about 2 hours before you can use it. Before cooking, wash and soak red beans, peanuts, rice, brown sugar, red apples... for 40 minutes.

If you don't want to use a rice cooker, you can cook in a regular pot, but note that after the water boils, you should cover the pot halfway to avoid overflowing. After cooking for about an hour, adjust the heat to low. Leave on low heat for about half an hour. After the porridge is cooked, add brown sugar and serve.

Millet porridge

This porridge dish includes rice and millet. First, put the rice in cold water, wait for it to boil, then add the millet and reduce the heat to low. This way the porridge not only cooks faster, but the bottom of the pot also won't stick.

You can also add oatmeal to millet porridge to enhance the flavor of the porridge. However, because oatmeal cooks quickly, you have to wait for the rice to cook before adding the oatmeal. This will avoid overcooking which will give it a bad taste. It's best not to use a pressure cooker to cook millet porridge, because millet grains are relatively fragile and can easily clog the pressure cooker's valve, which can cause some safety hazards.

Longan and red apple porridge

Wash the rice, red apples, and ginger, then put them in the pot and cook for about 1.5 hours, then add the meat of the longan fruit. Boil for about 30 minutes, then turn off the heat, add a moderate amount of brown sugar, stir well, then scoop into a bowl and serve.

These ingredients have the effect of nourishing blood, enhancing circulation, beautifying the skin, and adding energy. In particular, longan stimulates relaxation of the nerves, treats insomnia, reduces depression, and increases the body's resistance when it is weak. This is very useful for mothers who have just given birth and gone through the process of recovering their bodies and taking care of their young children.

1. PRINCIPLES OF DIET

- Weaning at the right time, when you have enough skills shows your child is ready.

- Provide enough energy according to needs, balance groups of substances, micronutrients, minerals and vitamins.

- Eat from little to much, from liquid to solid.

- Respect your child's feelings of fullness and hunger, absolutely do not force him to eat.

- Create a fun dining environment.

- The goal is to introduce a variety of foods and flavors, so after 12 months you can eat the same food as the whole family.

2. WHEN SHOULD YOU EAT?

Shouldn't you feed your baby early?

- When children do not have oral motor skills, it is easy to choke when swallowing.

- Incomplete absorption of substances.

- Increased risk of obesity.

- Eating cereal before 3 months of age has a high risk of type 1 diabetes.

You should not feed your child late

- Reduced growth (weight, height).

- Iron deficiency in breastfed infants.

- Delayed development of oral motor function.

- Aversion to solid foods.

- Development of allergic diseases (asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema, food allergies...).

- Delaying giving children cereal until after 7 months also increases the risk of type 1 diabetes.

The most appropriate time is from 5.5 - 6 months. When we evaluate the following development skills:

- Your child can roll over, sit, and control his head and neck.

- The ability of the tongue to push food into or out of the mouth, to put any object in the mouth: Hands, toys, pulling food into the mouth...

- Ability to express appetite (open mouth and lean forward).

- Ability to express feelings of fullness (lean back or turn away).

3. HOW TO START EATING?

- When starting: Milk continues to be 800-1000ml/day.

- Introduce 1 food at a time: The AAP Committee on Nutrition suggests:

Feed cereals and pureed meat first (iron, zinc).

Grains and meat are accepted, followed by pureed fruits and vegetables.

No added sugar or salt.

1 food should be introduced one at a time over a period of 3 to 5 days to allow identification of food intolerance.

4. FOOD SAFETY

- Leftover food in the bowl should be thrown away after eating.

- Eat cooked food and drink boiled food to ensure you do not ingest pathogens.

- There should be separate food preservation tools.

5. FOODS TO AVOID AND NOTE

Some types should be avoided for children < 1 year old:

- Canned foods: Sugar, salt.

- Dashi water cooked from carrots and pumpkins can be used up to 3 times a week.

- Fruits cannot replace vegetables.

- Hard, round foods: Nuts, raw carrots, round candy.

- Honey causes poisoning.

- Whole cow's milk: Low energy, low protein, low iron.

- Plant-based milk: For example, soy milk, nut milk.

- Fruit juice: May cause diarrhea, flatulence, and bloating.

- Sugary drinks: Increases the risk of obesity.

6. HOW TO COOK POOR

Food quantity: 1 meal/day ~ 80-100ml of porridge.

- Cereal: 10g.

- Meat/fish: 10g.

- Vegetables/tubers: 10g.

- Oil/fat: 10g.

- Add 1 piece of apple/pear for sweetness.

- Add breast milk/formula milk: 5g for a rich flavor (optional).

Process:

- Step 1: Cook 1:10 ratio porridge + meat + 1 piece of apple + water/dashi in the slow cooker. You can cook porridge overnight (if it is fish, it will be boiled/steamed separately and not put together like meat).

- Step 2: Steam/boil/blanch vegetables.

- Step 3: When the porridge is cooked, add the porridge + meat + vegetables/root and puree (remember to remove the apple pieces and not blend together).

- Step 4: Put the ground porridge mixture into the pot, boil and add 5ml of oil/fat and stir well.

- Step 5: Pour the porridge into a bowl, let it cool to about 60 degrees, add breast milk/formula milk to make the porridge taste more delicious and easier for your baby to accept.

Remember 70% animal fat, 30% vegetable oil when feeding your baby.