Is Raw Chili Recipe toddler friendly . . .

[Nature Mom]

or too spicy?

I know I've had lots of questions already. Thanks for all the responses, it all helps.

Many thanks,
Shawna :)

[Ginger]

Use very little if any cayenne, make sure the veggies don't dry too long & get chewy/hard. :D

[juliebove]

I suppose that depends on the toddler. My daughter got her teeth early and was eating raw veggies before she was a year old. Never choked on them at all. And her best friend's mom was from Thailand so she learned to love spicy foods right away. As a toddler she would try anything and everything edible. She's 8 now and still better at trying new foods than some kids are but will also refuse to eat some foods for no apparent reason.

[Nature Mom]

Thank you for the replies. That was great information.

I also should have been more specific. My son is 2-1/2 and doesn't really like spicy, so I was curious about the spiciness of it (thanks for the tip on the cayenne Raw Vegan Mom). :) I wish I had introduced him to spicy foods earlier, I often separate out a portion of food for him before putting the spices in the rest of it.

My son loves raw vegetables fortunately -- he woke up this morning asking for carrots and ate them off on all day. :)

Many thanks,
Shawna

[Tirza]

My son and his wife have never given their (so far 4) children any "baby food" or Pablum-type things. They nurse until they start taking a cup. Whenever they start to reach for the food on the parents' plates, they give them whatever is there, fed by hand and maybe squished up in the fingers a little bit. I don't think that they have disliked much of anything that the parents had, no matter how spicy. Wish I had done that.

[juliebove]

My son and his wife have never given their (so far 4) children any "baby food" or Pablum-type things. They nurse until they start taking a cup. Whenever they start to reach for the food on the parents' plates, they give them whatever is there, fed by hand and maybe squished up in the fingers a little bit. I don't think that they have disliked much of anything that the parents had, no matter how spicy. Wish I had done that.

This is how my daughter ate. I wanted to put her straight onto a regular cup. No bottle at all. I was breast feeding but not producing enough milk so I had to supplement. Relatives freaked and told me she would choke. She put herself straight onto sippy cups at about 4 months of age and was also grabbing food off of plates at about that age. I did try the jarred baby food. She hated the stuff and wouldn't eat it. I also bought a food mill, intending to use that to make her food. I never did. I didn't need to. She got her teeth early and had no problems at all with any food she wanted to eat.

[Bobbie]

The chillie is far far too hot for me or for my mother. It was inedible to us.
So I replace the 2tbs chillie powder with 1 small teaspoon of chillie powder, a teaspoon of oregano, a clove of garlic and some extra cumin (my chillie powder ingredients were chillie, oregano, garlic and cumin). I don't use any cayenne.

[mschele]

I was eating the raw chili and my 21 month old (who eats anything) was begging for a taste. She loved it. The only thing she didn't like were the crunchy vegatables (I didn't dehydrate). Next time I will lightly puree the veggies and she can eat that way.

[Nature Mom]

Hi all,

My son never ate jarred baby food or "pablum" either. :p I made all his baby food before he had many teeth but even then he liked a chunky texture. The only thing I was ever careful to keep out were the spices and now I wish I hadn't done that because he eats the same meals as my husband and I -- and we like spicy! (Especially in these cold Alaska winters!)

I suppose the good thing is that he likes simple food, he doesn't need his veggies dressed up to love them.

Bobbie -- I like your suggestion about the spices (chili powder, oregano, garlic and extra cumin), this is exactly the combination of spices in the cooked white chili I used to make.

I'll give the chili a try, it has too many raves to resist!

Thanks all,
Shawna