Spice It Up!

We were very excited for Belle to turn eight months old so we could start introducing her to spices. We had done the same for Jack and to this day he prefers strongly flavored foods including garlic, raw onion and blue cheese. We don't believe in kid food or in making special meals for the children so it is very important that they develop a taste for bold food. For Belle's first taste of real spice Bruce and I decided that garlic would be a good choice. We were so wrong. She did great with the first two or three bites and then sobbed and sucked down her water. We ended up giving her some plain fruit and she glared at me the whole time. Undeterred we mixed some cinnamon into her breakfast the next morning... It was a great success! She loved it and we proceeded to work our way through the sweeter spices like nutmeg and ginger before going back to the more savory ones. We jumped into Herbes de Provence and Italian blend which were both received very well. Tonight I decided to try garlic again, I mixed in some Italian seasoning and a little garlic powder and watched Belle's reactions as I fed her her dinner... Success! Belle is developing nicely into a great little eater just like her big brother.