Adventures in Baby Cuisine

I can't open any wider.....feed me!

Pediatricians may say to keep babies on a liquid diet until at least 6 months for health reasons.  In this house, we needed the extra time to figure out what in the heck we were doing :)  Here is a scattered, non-research-based, unofficial account of Eli's adventures in baby cuisine.

- Eli started rice cereal right around 6 months.  The recommended ratio of milk to cereal (4 parts milk to 1 part cereal) essentially makes...milk.  We were basically feeding his bottle off of a spoon.  It didn't take long before we ditched all measuring utensils and slowly thickened the texture until it was like cream of wheat.  Followed baby's lead on this one.

- After about a week or two of cereal (I told you this was going to be precise), we started introducing vegetables.  Luckily (in my opinion) we have the most laid back pediatrician (S.O. Dr. G!!)  His direct quote at Eli's 4 month appointment was 'Don't make it harder than it needs to be.'  I had heard and read about what order to introduce foods, how to alternate foods, how to mix foods, etc.  Can you say overwhelming?  Yikes!  Eli began with squash and moved his way through green beans and sweet potatoes.  This solid food thing wasn't so hard after all.  We did follow the 'three day rule' (waiting three days before introducing each new food) to watch for any allergic reactions.  So far, so good.

Who's this pretty girl feeding me??  I like her!

I had originally thought that I wanted to feed Eli homemade baby food.  For some reason, when the rubber hit the road that was also overwhelming.  Thankfully a neighbor had given us some jarred food her son was not going to eat (don't worry, it wasn't expired).  When I looked at the ingredients they read 'squash, water.'  Um, what about all the preservatives and unpronounceable ingredients I assumed were in jarred baby food?  Not there.  And these jars (which Eli will eat half of) cost 50 cents.  Thus my mind was changed and Eli and I trucked it to Dillons to load up on jarred baby food.  

- Then it was time for fruit.  I decided it couldn't be that hard to mash up a banana and thus began our adventures in homemade baby food.  We went from bananas to avadados to sweet potatoes (these I could mash with a fork....still had no idea how to buy a food processor without spending a fortune).

- After researching Cuisineart food processors as well as Baby Beaba and Baby Breza, I decided I didn't want to invest a fortune.  A quick trip to Target and a shiny new Magic Bullet ($35) was ours!

- Fast forward 2 months and Eli is eating a wide variety of fruits and veggies.  Some jarred, some homemade.  The number one advantage to making his food is the variety.  I tend to buy the foods that are inconvenient to make and make the foods that aren't sold in jars.  I introduced him to foods in this order...kind of...I think.  Squash, green beans, banana, avacado, sweet potato, peas, applesauce, carrots, pineapple, blueberries, zucchini, broccoli, peaches, potato.  Next on the list are strawberries and edamame!!

So, if you're still here after all of this rambling.  This, folks, is how I cook.  (Note:  I cook like my father.  If the kitchen isn't a mess when we're done, then the meal's not any good).

The remains of my first attempt at squash

1.  I use a mixture of fresh and frozen fruits and veggies - organic and non-organic. 
2. After giving them a toss in the MB I either pour them in ice cube trays (3/4 oz per cube) or into (previously used and washed) baby food jars (4 oz when full). 

Blueberries and peaches - like a tropical vacay.

3.  Each morning I grab an empty jar and throw 2 fruit cubes in to eat with his oatmeal at daycare.  I also grab him a frozen veggie jar and he's good to go.

4.  At home I just throw cubes into a glass ramekin and thaw for 20 seconds to make his dinner.  This makes it super easy to mix and match foods. 

At first I was just making cubes and putting them in the jars to send to daycare.  However, the jars only hold 2 cubes which is not enough food anymore.  By freezing it in the jars I can get 3-4 ounces in there.

I guess there's not a whole lot else to tell.  I hope you've enjoyed this riveting post or maybe even found it helpful.  At the very least I'm hoping it will help me not feel so lost the next time I do this (hopefully).