Why Food Powders?

We should first highlight to you that food powders are not meant to replace the traditional stock cooking method (in terms of flavour) - they are supplements to what you are giving your child at the moment. Sometimes due to time constraints, dining out, travelling, or a desire to give your child a balanced or more flavourful meal without using additives, we use stock powders.

No Preservatives nor Additives

SG Homemade stock powders are made from the ingredients themselves - we do not add in any other ingredients in the process of creating them. Store-bought stock powders are laden with salt, MSG and other additives (long chemical names) that may not be beneficial to your family members. If you don't believe me, try looking at the ingredients list; there are sure to be some chemical names which you can't even pronounce!

Ingredients are Consumed Entirely

A good example here would be the Ikan Bilis (or Anchovy) stock powder. When we make soup with Ikan Bilis, the fish is usually not consumed and thrown away, however most of the calcium is in the fish bones. By using food powders, we can get the most out of the nutrition in the fish itself since the whole fish is included in the creation process.

Aromatic & Flavourful

As most of the food powders we create are baked then dehydrated, they tend to have a roasted aroma when added to foods. This gives a very nice fragrance that helps to whet up one's appetite. There is also a very natural and mild sweetness that comes along on the taste buds and creates a very familiar taste for weaning babies as breastmilk and formula milk also taste mildly sweet.

Balanced Meal

Does your child avoid any particular type of food?

Most common aversions are vegetables, and as parents we know that vegetables are a vital source for vitamins and fibre. Many parents I know fret over their child's reluctance to consume vegetables, and it can be a headache to convince the child to open their mouths to something green. Using food powders we can make vegetables easy to consume and also mask their presence in foods.
Dining out can also be a hassle sometimes because the vegetables served outside may not be cooked to your child's desired softness, hence bringing a bottle of vegetable powder along with you can solve this problem!

Another issue with eating is the consumption of meat. Some children (even the elderly or someone nursing an illness) may find it difficult to chew. Hence the fish/meat powders will come in handy in this instance.

Convenience

Are you travelling? Shuttling between your house and your parents/parents-in-law's place? It can be quite challenging to bring along fresh produce when transporting a child along with diapers, clothes, and other stuff. Powders are compact, can withstand being transported, and will not crush in your diaper bag. Moreover, if yourself/helper/caregiver struggles with preparing meals for your child without additional help, this may also be a a good solution to help you to save time once in a while.

Having said these, traditional meat and bone broths are still a very good source of calcium and nutrition for children that cannot be matched by most food powders. A prolonged period of extracting the minerals from bones still produce a higher nutritional content, and flavour. However, not many working parents can afford the time taken to make broths because the time to break down big bones can be as long as 48 hours!
Nevertheless, food powders can still come in handy in times of emergency or if you just want to slack a little! :)