Friday, June 29, 2012

Baby Food

LB has been on solids since 4 months... a little rice cereal at first, then some avocado.  Since then, a typical day consists of oatmeal in the morning and a veggie/fruit at both lunch and dinner.  He gets between 15-20 ounces of breastmilk and/or formula total.  The pedi said that is a little on the low side but it sounds like we have a "snacker" who is more content getting a little bit throughout the day.  I try to give him milk before the solids and after but when he knocks it out of my hand I get the point. But that's not where I want to go with this post.  I am looking for input about what "real" things to give LB.  I have given him sweet potato and avocado and the rest is baby food.  Baby food is real, but you know what I mean... "fresh" I guess is the better word. 

Beyond sweet potato and avocado, I'm out of ideas.  No bananas because of the constipation issues.  I should say here that baby led weaning makes sense to me but it just doesn't work out for our lifestyle right now (aka not enough time to clean afterwards & eating mostly junk!) 

Today, I embarked on cooking and freezing some squash.  If you think that I will show "pretty" pictures and say this was easy and fun, you will be disappointed.  My pics will not make it to p.interest lol.  This was hard, messy work and kudos to those that get this done with a little one!
 Basically, I washed the squash, cut it in halves, scooped out the insides, put in the oven face down in some water for 40 minutes, then scooped out the meat and put it in some small freezer containers.  I left out the puree step because it came out really mashed up anyway but that was included in the directions I used.  Whew!  I am looking for some easy ways to whip up some fresh fruit/veggies!

Washed, sliced and scooped out

In the pan before I added water

Done, scooped out the insides and placed in the containers for freezing

Well?  Maybe I like it... maybe not, let me think about it!


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Mrs. Loquacious said...

I'm wondering about "real" foods as well. Steamed cauliflower gets mushy? Also eggplant really mushes when it's cooked.

We are going to attempt baby-led weaning though (despite having a diet similar to yours, it sounds). ;)

Anonymous said...

I just went to a class on making your own baby food. I'm not sure if making these are any easier as my little one hasn't started solids yet, but they recomended apricot, guava, peach, pumpkin, sweet potato, papaya, peach apricot, guava, peas and avocado in addition to the grain cereal (they were really talking up millet) for babies under 8 months.

Jos said...

I'm going to work on a page on my blog about this... so far we've done avocado (raw), sweet potato (tossed in oil and baked for 30 min), banana (raw), blueberries (whole/raw), applesauce (no added sugar kind), cucumber (raw, cold strips - great for teething!), broccoli (steamed - it's easy for her to hold the stem and gnaw on the florets), bell pepper strips (raw), rib and wing bones (we eat most of the meat off first and sucked the sauce off [b/c of the salt,etc] and she gnawed on the bones forever - LOVED them)... um....I know there's more, but I'm already forgetting, hence why I need to start a running list.

Good luck!!! I love the BLW cookbook that i bought on amazon - give you good idea of super easy stuff to buy and barely prepare - keeps it simple, without lots of pureeing/freezing/etc.

Jos said...

Also, there was no huge rhyme or reason to this once we got going...just whatever we had in our fridge / what I had remembered to buy / how I felt like cooking or not that night.

Jos said...

Asparagus & carrots...

Check out this website - it might have some easy ideas for you!
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/

Fiona said...

We have just started feeding Alidia solids (so far just banana) so I have been researching loads of homemade baby food recipes as we hope to do a mixture of homemade stuff and baby led wearing. As I was researching I found out my friend who has a baby the same age was putting together a list of simple recipes which she emailed me today and I am going to email to you now. I hope it helps!! :)

annie said...

I steam (if necessary) and puree everything and he loves it. We've done sweet potatoes, avocado, green beans, carrots, mango, apple, nectarine, apricot, pears, and plums. I gave him a taste of greek yogurt and he promptly spit it up so he's not quite ready. He also goes nutty for puffs. I buy organic puffs bc there is so much gunk in the non-organic ones. When he sees the container he comes close to leaping out of his high chair. I started by breaking the pieces in quarters but now he easily eats them whole. It's super entertaining to watch him try to get them in his little mouth, too. I highly recommend.

Marianne said...

I am using the baby beaba - it steams food easily then u can purée - which I am doing now but once she gets older I like the idea of a little baby led weaning and will give her the soft steamed chunks. We have done sweet potatoes and peas so far. The recipe book that comes with it has fancy (easy) recipes for things like eggplant/chicken/asparagus and it all gets steamed and puréed together. I'm so excited to try the more exotic combos in a month or so!

Bridget said...

This is hard for me because Emily gets bad gas/reflux with certain foods so I have to be careful with what I give her. I would love to hear how it goes and what you give him!

Anonymous said...

This is D from myjourneythruinfertility- I changed my username and blog address :)

I am curious to see if you come up with any really great recipes. SOmeone bought me the Baby Brezza and I am really nervous about recipes to try- not to mention just nervous about the world of solids anyway!!!

Baby Hopes said...

Great question/post! It's something that's on my mind already, so I'm loving the comments and ideas!

Thank you so much for your sweet encouragement and support! We absolutely *love* your sweet gift! I'm working on a post with it... as soon as I can find my camera cord to upload my pics, it will be up! :) She looks absolutely adorable with it!!! <3

Unknown said...

Best baby food site. I loved this site for all things baby food related. When to start new foods, when to change consistency, what foods to stay away from and what ages you can introduce those foods.

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/solids.htm

I only fed my three kids homemade baby food up until they were eating table food. I would make up big batches on the weekend and freeze it, usually enough for a months worth of food. Ice cube trays are great or you can get BPA freezer safe Glad 4oz ware at your local store.

Stephanie said...

Yes, wholesomebabyfood.com is a great resource! We also do strawberries at almost every meal and she loves them. Since JJ has the restaurant he brings home home sliced ham and turkey that he's smoked and we give that to Chloe. Luckily she isn't a picky eater and will eat anything, but I do feel like we've already gotten in a rut. We've given her pancakes before, and b/c I still have some baby food left, I dipped the pancakes in some fruit baby food and she loved it. Kill two birds with one stone, right? :)