Baby Food 101: More veggies!

Welcome back! I've taken a hiatus on the fun food stuff because Mr. C is literally eating me out of house and home. All of my free time has been spent making baby food, so it's been hard to write about it! But here we are.

Last time, we talked about sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Weren't they yummy? Today I'll show you how I like to prepare carrots, peas and the (dreaded) green beans, which are additional great first foods for baby.

Carrots

Babies just love sweet carrots. My favorite way to prepare them is in the oven. After peeling, cut carrots (try to use whole carrots vs. pre-cut "baby" carrots) into 2-3 inch chunks. If they're thicker, like closer to the stem, cut them in half long ways. Put them in a baking dish, fill with water to the half way point, and cover with tin foil. Put in the oven at 375, and bake for 30-45 minutes, until a fork can easily go through them.

Once they're placed in the container for your blending pleasures, they will likely need additional liquid to thin them about a bit. I love to use the water from the baking dish... It contains some of the nutrients from cooking. Sweet!

Place in your freezing container (I use these), and voila! Carrots for baby! Minus the cooking time, it takes no more than 15 minutes to prepare. One pound of carrots yields about 19-20 ounces of puree (due to added liquid). For Mr. C, that's 6-7 meals. Ya hoo!

Here's what I do with the frozen cubes after they're frozen.

Look at that beautiful orange color!

Peas & Green Beans

Of course, go fresh if you want to go fresh. There are so many great organic frozen veggies, and in the case of peas and green beans, I just feel like it's easier. I am all about easy! Our BJs sells organic frozen peas, so when I need a batch, I don't have to run to the store... I have a gazillion pounds of peas in my freezer. Easy-peasy! Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Anywho, I just throw however much of either the peas or green beans in a microwave safe bowl with water covering them, and pop them in the microwave for a few minutes. Drain them (but keep the water!!!), and place them in your blending container.

Peas are a bit starchy when blended, so you'll definitely need some liquid to thin it out. Use that cooking water!

Look at that gorgeous color. Can't get that in a jar.

Do the same for green beans, but a disclaimer on consistency. It is difficult to get a smooth consistency. I have tried all different sorts, from fresh to frozen, different cuts, etc. And I can NOT get it smooth.

It's a little watery, but then also chunky.
Not good for earlier eaters.

Miss E didn't really care, but without adding anything (other than water), Mr. C gags on it. But he LOVES green beans. I resort to one of two things: I add a fruit puree to it, or I just give in and give him the store bought stuff. It's not as pretty, but so much smoother. And to be honest, it must just be difficult to puree because even the (organic) store bought pouches still have the occasional bits and pieces in it.

With the addition of a fruit puree (2:1 veg to fruit ratio).
So much better!

And there you have it! Mr. C is a champion eater. He LOVES his purees! He even starts fussing if sister has started to eat and I haven't gotten his to him yet. Cracks me up.

So far I've covered the best veggies for early eaters. Next, I'll show you how I do my fruit purees. Fun stuff!

Until next time,

Mrs. Kuda

Baby Food 101: I've got the tools. Now what?

There are a lot of opinions of what to give your baby first, especially if he's younger than 6 months. I trust my doctor, and paired with my momma instincts, I started both of my kiddos on solids at 4 months old. My kids were READY. What does that look like?

I think I like it! May I have another?

Both kiddos were supported sitters, and watched me eat jealously. They would drool, put their hands in their mouths, reach for my spoon, etc. AND, there was never that messy (other than the above), food all over the face/body/floors/walls type thing going on. If you gave a child of mine food, it would end up in their bellies, no doubt about it. If your baby isn't doing some of these things, talk to your pediatrician. She and you know whats best for your baby.

How do I start?

It's best to start giving solids earlier in the day. That way if baby's tummy gets upset, you won't be up all night dealing with the consequences. I started Mr. C with a small bit in the morning. Because he's a beast in the eating department, I quickly moved to another meal as "dinner," then added the third meal in the middle of the day. 

Typically you want to keep at least 3 days between new foods. That way, if there's something that upsets his belly, or has some sort of reaction to it, you will know who the culprit is.

Which foods do I go for?

There's some debate of whether or not to start with cereals. For Mr. C, he just needed bulk. He was eating 40 ounces of formula per day by the time he was 4 months old, and I thought rice cereal would help fill his belly a bit. I was right. It's fine to start with other foods, though. Here are some good starters:

* Avocado

* Squash

* Peas

* Green Beans

* Pears

* Prunes

* Carrots

* Sweet Potato

* Apples

The best part of making food at home for your baby is buying all the beautiful produce! Because I'm saving money, I don't mind spending a few more pennies on organic food from Whole Foods...

Yum-O!

Which one's first?

As you can imagine, there's more debate here on the order in which you introduce things. Some say do green veggies first because you don't want baby to get used to the sweeter veg and fruits. Eh. I don't know. Depends on the kid. We still give Miss E her veggies first (when she's the most hungry) so she'll eat them, followed by her protein, then carbs/fruits. I plan on doing the same with Mr. C. Right now, all he cares is that there is food on a spoon, going into his belly.

First up?

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potatoes!

They're just easy to throw in the oven together. Scrub the potatoes and poke some holes in them to let steam escape. Cut the butternut squash in half (acorn squash is also a fun alternative, though it's a bit harder to cut through), scoop out the seeds, put face down in a cooking dish, and cover about 1/3 of the way up with water.

Might as well do double duty. Putting them in the oven at the same time
allows for less time cooking, and your house will smell oh-so-delicious!

Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes. You'll know they're done when you can poke through the potatoes easily with a fork, and the squash will start to brown and get a little bubbly. I've done this with the convection oven on, and without. Either will do, but I get better results on the squash without it.

Can you smell it from here? So good.

Let them cool, then scrape each veg into the container in which you'll be blending. I like to add the water from the pan I cook the squash in to help it into a smoother consistency. You can also add breastmilk, formula or water to get the desired consistency.

The sweet potatoes are a bit more starchy, so they definitely need more liquid.

Ta da!

You've done it! Blend till the desired consistency is achieved, then store in the containers of your choice. Here's what my freezer looks like right now:

Nice and tidy. Kind of.

The medium sized squash yielded about 26 ounces, and the 3 potatoes gave me about 30 ounces (due to more added liquid). For less than $10, that's almost 20 meals for Mr. C! Had we gone the organic food-in-a-pouch route, that would have costed us almost $30. My kind of savings. And for the time commitment? It took about an hour of actual work, plus the cooking time (in which I played with the kiddos). Totally worth it.

I know this was a bit long-winded, but hopefully it helped you out! Next time on my Baby Food 101 series, I'll be covering some more veggies (including my thoughts on green beans), and then on to fruits!

Until next time,

Mrs. Kuda

Baby Food 101: Where to start?

When I had Miss E, the thought of making my own baby food for her was kind of daunting. But in the end, I was staying at home, and having only one paycheck coming in was the kick in the rear I needed to follow it through. The best part about it was that it was SO easy! Not only that, it was by far the cheapest way to ensure I was giving her the best foods out there while saving a ton of cash. It only takes a couple of hours per week, and you're done.

Mr. C is the second child, and there are a LOT of things I've done differently (read: skimped on) this time around. One thing I've promised myself, though, is to stick with making his food just as I did with his big sister. The way this kid eats, there is no way we could afford the awesome organic food pouches. At five months old, he's already eating close to 18 ounces of solid food a day... it would be costing us close to $10/day! That's just way too much.

Materials

I know they sell fancy cookers/blenders in one, which may help cut down the time it takes, but seriously. Use your food processor. Or better yet, use a hand emulsion blender if you have one lying around. SO EASY. And no need to spend an extra $100-200 when you already have something handy in your kitchen!

I'm drinking Dunkin'. Helps me get through the day...

Other helpful things?

I bought silicone ice cube trays with one ounce squares. If you're Type A like me, they're perfect for measuring how much kiddo is taking in.

The nice part about these is that you don't have to be neat about it.
Just dump in the pureed food, then smooth it out in to all of the
squares until they're relatively full. Wipe with a paper towel and toss in the freezer!

I also picked up these Tupperware Midgets, which are two ounces, and can go in the freezer. Be sure to leave a little space at the top for expansion, but they're PERFECT for throwing into your purse in the morning so kiddo can have a nicely thawed snack come lunch time.

Mmmmm... Freshly baked squash. Such a pretty color!

Next time, I'll discuss the perfect first foods, and how to go about getting them to the right consistency for your little guy or girl to munch on.

Happy eating!

Until next time,

Mrs. Kuda