New Take on Classic Food

So one of my favorite new discoveries is a "baby chicken salad" of sorts. Now I'm completely opposed to mayonnaise (despite my mother's insistence that it is just eggs, oil, and spices), and I really don't want to see, touch, or handle that white stuff... unless it is in the form of ranch dressing. Then I forgive, forget, and eat. Anyway, my point is that this is a mayonnaise free dish :)

All I do is take about a third of an avocado, add some finely shredded cooked chicken, and mix. I put it on top of a half piece of toast (you can decide on how much toast based on how large your bread is), cut up, and serve! Messy? sure, but not really any more messy than feeding avocado usually is. The concoction sticks together surprisingly well.

One of my favorite things about it? My girl actually eats the chicken and toast, instead of just picking out the avocado. Success!

Finger foods, finger foods...

SO BORED WITH FINGER FOODS. I need serious help. I'm even thinking about buying a book. I'm such an internet girl, but I'm so bored... starting to want a good ole fashioned cookbook. Do they make those for finger foods? Don't get me wrong, I am not looking to spend my entire day cooking baby meals... that's not the point. I am, however, bored of the same ole same ole. I'm pretty sure my girl is, too.

I struggle because I'm trying to avoid processed foods, but my girl doesn't really like ground beef (so far), and chicken just gets so. so. old. I'm also struggling because though my girl does love to feed herself, she is very selective about the fruits and vegetables that she will actually put in her mouth. I end up feeding her purees (which I'm totally fine with for now) and hoping that someday she will actually feed them to herself. Perhaps I'm just beginning the "you can't leave the table until you finish your vegetables" stage. Ugh. I mean, it's so much fun to make your child happy! But can I let myself give my girl ice cream when she won't eat green beans? Of course not. I have to make her trudge through the vegetables.

And who am I kidding? It's not like every time I give her ice cream, she's going to think I'm the most amazing mother ever. In reality, she's probably be thinking, "it's about time woman!"

Well, here's to new recipes (suggestions needed), more veggies, and helping my girl overcome her "Eve tendencies!"

A Note on First Foods

Whenever we start feeding our children non-cereal solids, the question of what to start with inevitably follows. Some say to start with something green - get them to like the taste of veggies before they know the sweetness of fruits, and others say to introduce them to something sweet (i.e. bananas) to acclimate them to eating solids. However, there is no way to guarantee that your child will or will not like certain foods. I started my girl with bananas (which I'll probably do with subsequent children - I mixed some breast milk and rice cereal in there too to get her started), and I think she's more naturally inclined to eat carrots and peas. I've heard people say that they started with green beans and then had a hard time getting their child to eat anything green later on. There is no fool proof way to go. My recommendation? Go with something that makes a good "first food" (get some ideas here), but don't overanalyze it. This is one thing that is hard to mess up.

Update on Peas

So I tried peas again... and it was about time as my sweet girl has been eating lots of bananas, pears, and sweet potatoes... not exactly the most balanced diet!

This time I was DETERMINED not to try to get the peels out - if I keep doing that, I'll never make them. I have to be realistic with myself, and I know that if something is too much trouble, I won't repeat it very often. For example, I'm almost always happy to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch - I have it down to a science: I have all the ingredients on hand, I can keep the mess to a minimum, and they're very good for my marriage :) I don't, however, make cheesecake every day... too.much.trouble. I don't want peas to be my new cheesecake, ya know?

Anyway, I tried the blender today, and I think it was a good fit. I just cooked the bag of frozen peas (according to package directions), drained (regret that part - more on that later), and stuck them in the blender. I ended up with a pretty good puree - especially for a child who is almost 8 months, but I would feed these to any child over 6 months who has some experience with solids.

The package only told me to steam the peas in 1/4 c. of water, so I didn't have much water to drain off after cooking. I do wish I had just dumped this water in with the peas because it had some flavor and nutrients after the cooking, and I ended up adding probably the same amount of water to get an easier puree. I found that short spurts of blending coupled with some stirring got me the puree I'd been looking for. With the food processor, I was ending up with what were basically chopped peas... with the blender, I got more of what I had hoped for all along.

At last, I had enough to fill my ice tray - and a little more to stick in the fridge for tomorrow!

Sweet Potatoes

I think what I like best about sweet potatoes is that the process of making sweet potatoes for my girl is quite similar to the process of making them for myself... and they've become such of a favorite that I recently made 40 oz of sweet potatoes at one time.

So how did I do it?

1. Wash and dry sweet potatoes

2. Prick several times with fork

3. Wrap in foil

4. Bake at 350 until tender (probably an hour - depends on size of potato)

After that, I allowed the potatoes to cool, peeled the peel off (comes off very easily), stuck them in the food processor and pureed away. They puree very well and can be frozen with no added liquid.

One note on the consistency of the sweet potato: I do not thin before freezing for a couple of reasons. First, I like to mix sweet potatoes with apples - deeeelish, and the apples are liquidy enough to make the sweet potatoes less pasty. Second, if I decide to just feed sweet potatoes, it is easy to thin them right before feeding. Just a little bit of water, breast milk, or formula does the trick.

As Easy As No Bake Cookies

Or perhaps easier.

One of my favorite baby food options is "bananacado." Why do I like it? Because it is soooo easy - and delicious. Typically I'll take half an avocado and half a banana and mash those together. That ends up making more food than my girl usually eats, but let me assure you she eats every bite. With most of her baby food residing in the freezer, it's nice to have some options that don't require any sort of preparation, esp. when the freezer stock is low...

I told my mom that my girl eats avocado, and she said she'd never heard of a baby who eats avocado. I said, "well, she loves it." Mom's response? "What's not to love!" Agreed. I love avocado - and it's even better with banana.

The Wonderful World of Pears

Yummmmmm. My girl might not get any of her pears because I might eat them first! It's like applesauce but maybe even better...

Let me first say that apparently you do NOT have to cook pears. They tend to be soft when ripe (think Harry and David around Christmastime - those are my favorite). I cooked mine on this first attempt for a few reasons: 1. I'm really not all that familiar with pears - they're not on my everyday shopping list 2. Some of the pears I got seemed more ripe than others 3. I didn't want to wait while they ripened more in my kitchen - I was ready to give it a try. Another reason to cook would be if this is one of your baby's first foods; Cooking helps to break down the sugars and gives your baby's tummy a little break in that way.

I pealed and cored the pears (I core by cutting into quarters and basically scooping the seeds out) and stuck them in my steamer. I let them steam for probably 30-45 minutes so that they'd be really nice and tender. I pealed, cored, and cooked, and then my daughter went to bed, so I didn't puree them until this morning (my house is small, my food processor is loud... you get the picture).

First of all, when I was transferring the pears from the bowl to the processor, I discovered some sort of delicious syrup they had formed (again, yum), and I made sure to put that in with the pears. I mean, why should I deprive my child that fruity deliciousness? (insert anti-sugar argument here).

I had saved the water from steaming in case I needed to thin, but I didn't need to thin at all. They pureed perfectly and easily, and I can't wait to make them again. My girl hasn't tried them yet, but if she doesn't like them, I know someone who does :)

Ok, off to try to resist the temptation of baby food... which is probably why I like making my own. The stuff in the jar has never really tempted me...

P.S. I bought 5 fairly small pears, and they made about 20 ounces of baby food. I was impressed. I got more out of 5 pears than 5 apples which surprised me.

Peas and Carrots

I have a love-hate relationship with peas and carrots. I love that the girl loves them, and I love how easy it is to make a carrot puree... peas, on the other hand, are not my favorite.

Carrots are easy.

I just grab a bag of organic carrots (not terribly expensive), cut the stems off, peel them with my vegetable peeler, and stick them in my steamer pot. I like using a steamer rather than just boiling, but I think it'd be fine to boil them. Whenever they're very tender and a fork easily slips in and out, I stick them in my food processor and they puree very nicely.

One important note on carrots is that if you're going to thin the puree, it is best to use something other than the water you used to steam them. A lot of times (with apples, for instance) it is nice to use that water to thin because it has a bit of the flavor of what you're cooking - almost like a broth. Because carrots have a high nitrate content, it is best to use either breast milk, formula, or plain water.

I don't typically thin - especially before freezing. If you wait to thin, it allows you to customize the food for the particular time you're feeding it. I did thin with the carrots a little though, just to add weight for a better puree.

Peas. Total fail.

I've made two batches of peas and am unhappy with how both worked out. The first part is easy. I take a bag of frozen organic peas (thank you Cascadian Farms for making the cooking portion so easy), and stick them in a pot with about a cup of water and boil for 4-5 minutes. At this point, I always feel good about how things are going... and then they take a turn for the worse.

Peas (like green beans apparently, but I haven't tried yet) have skins that make it hard to get a smooth puree. My girl is old enough that some texture wouldn't hurt her and probably wouldn't bother her, but I'm stubborn and want to find a good way to do this. Both times I have stuck the peas in the food processor and then tried to strain them. At one point I tried using a sifter... don't. It's so not worth it. Anyway, I mashed the peas through a mesh colander. I got some out - I think about 8 oz (last time I managed 10... clearly I'm not improving).

I'm getting closer and closer to just saying forget it to the perfect puree, but I'd love any ideas or suggestions on this one... yikes.

Anyway, my girl has some more of her favorite veggies - she LOVES peas and carrots mixed together. Wish I could say the same for her parents...

Acorn Squash

I typically get all of my ideas for what to cook next from wholesomebabyfood.com. Really, this website is my hero. I know, it's crazy to think that a thing could be a hero, but it has been liberating. I'm a website person - I like quick reference, so it has helped tremendously. I've been wanting to try a "winter squash" with my girl, and I found Acorn Squash at Rosewood Market (my fave, by the way, as I try to be as organic as possible - AOAP - with my baby food).

So here's what I did.

To cook the squash...

I baked the squash. I cut it (with a huge, incredibly awesome knife) in half, put it in a baking pan (my pan of choice was a brownie pan), and put about 1/2 in. of water in the pan. I "scored" - aka cut little lines in - the "meat" of the squash with my awesome knife, and baked it at about 350 for probably close to an hour. The real goal is just tenderness of the squash, so when I could easily get a fork in and out of it, I was satisfied.

To puree...

I really try to stick to my mini-food processor when making baby food. I already have it, and I'm absolutely in the business of buying as little as possible. I used a basic spoon and just scooped the mean from the squash out, trying to avoid getting any skin. I do like to get my money's worth, so I certainly got little flecks of skin in my attempt to get every ounce of the meat. I noticed when I turned the food processor on that the squash was sticking to the sides, so I just started adding filtered water and stirring it. Adding the extra liquid won't hurt the food, and it made it MUCH easier to puree. I added the water slowly because I didn't want it to become too runny or thin - just a little heavier really so that it wouldn't stick to the sides and refuse to get near the blade.

I then transferred the squash into an Oxo ice tray that has a lid, but I could have used any ice tray and just put cling wrap over it to freeze. It filled all 14 cube slots, and I even had a little leftover. I stuck the leftover in the fridge, so I can use that for her first taste - maybe this afternoon. I'll transfer my squash cubes to just a basic Ziploc FREEZER (important to get freezer) bag later today.

I always find myself hoping (and trusting) that she will like whatever food I've prepared. It's not like I just bought a jar that I could easily throw out if she doesn't seem impressed, but then I figure if it takes up to 15 tries for a baby to develop a real like or dislike, my 14 cubes won't be wasted.

'Til the next adventure...