More yummy food

Alessia is just loving "big people" food. We have now introduced protein (meat) into her diet. After her Thanksgiving meal of turkey and sweet potatoes, we have tried chicken and beef. She loves either of them mixed with peas and carrots - which I think taste like chicken soup and beef stew - and chicken with butternut squash. When I first started making her baby food, I didn't think I would do the meats, but now I realize it's just as easy as the fruits and veggies. If we're going to eat chicken, I just make some plain for her. Same with the beef. And since she'll eat her food pretty thick, I don't have to water it down too much or puree it to death. It still manages to look a little appetizing.

chicken with peas and carrots

Chicken with butternut squash

No picture of the beef, sorry. Actually that one didn't look too appealing, but it tasted good! Thanks to my little cuisinart mini chopper thing, it takes no time at all.
Any other suggestions for meals? Other combos?

yum yum yum

it's official, Alessia looooves food. And loves to let you know she loves it. She insists on "singing" while you feed her. Tonight she practiced her "eeee" and "aaayyy" sounds while she chowed down on some butternut squash. Cute, but makes it difficult to feed her. Today she also had avocado for the first time. My mom said she made a funny face at first, but still ate it. So far, she hasn't rejected anything. Soon to come: oatmeal (we've been eating brown rice cereal), peas, green beans, and carrots. I have to get some recipes for some yummy combos for her as well. Any suggestions?

Tomorrow I'm playing hookie from work so I can spend the whole day with her and show her off in her costume. We're driving all over creation to make the rounds to all the "important" people, then back home to do some trick-or-treating with Danielle, Eliza and Pete. Can't wait!

yumm-o

Day 2 of real food for Alessia: organic brown rice cereal again this morning, just thicker. Big success. Most of it actually stayed in her mouth and got to her belly this time. And Mark called it - she's a hummer. Just like sometimes when she nurses, she likes to hum while she eats. Today she kept grabbing the spoon as I put it in her mouth and wouldn't let me take it out. I had to grab another spoon for her to play with just so I could pry the other one out of her clutches. When she finished what was in the bowl, she cried and made her usual panting for more food noises, so I made a smidge more and a bit thicker. She loved it. It's very exciting around here!

So now we start thinking about fruit and veggies. I started looking on the web for some recipes and advice on what should really be organic (the so-called "dirty dozen") and what doesn't really matter, and what to start with. Danielle led me to wholesomebabyfood, which I found very useful. Got a few basic recipes and went off to the store to get provisions.

Day 1: Applesauce. I used the apples we picked last weekend. Believe it or not, this is the first time I've ever made it! It's not a typical dish you'd find in an Italian household, so I actually needed a recipe for it. Boy did I feel dumb when I realized all you had to do was peel, core, chop and boil/steam them. But it was fun. Alessia was very interested in the whole process.



I didn't buy enough trays to make more than one kind of food in a day, so I'll have to do a little at a time. What's to come: Butternut and acorn squash, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, and pears. As we introduce them, I'll let you know what she likes.

You know, I never imagined I would be the kind of mom I am: breastfeeding, babywearing, green (as much as I can be), and making my own babyfood. But I'm loving it. Except for the part where I have to go to work everyday. I could live without that for now. And I think that surprises me the most.

My little baby is growing up!

My little girl is growing up! We made the decision to start her on cereal this weekend (which I know my family thinks we should've done like 2 months ago). Alessia has been super interested in food for about the past month, drooling like crazy and "chewing" when she sees us eating. If she's on my lap, she reaches for my food and stares at me as I put it in my mouth, following the fork with her eyes. I was very adamant about waiting until she was 6 months, keeping her diet exclusively breastmilk. We almost made it - she'll be 6 months in about 2 weeks. This past week, her usual bottles just weren't cutting it for her, and even on my days off, she was eating like a fiend. There is no way I can get more milk for her, so rather than trying to increase the quantity, I decided it was time to introduce cereal. Why not just supplement with formula you may ask? We've made it this far without it, it doesn't make sense to start for two weeks.

So how'd it go? Take a look:

At first she didn't know what to do with it, but after a while, she was real excited and doing a pretty good job getting it down. So over the next few days we'll experiment with the thickness of it (it was very soupy today), then I guess we'll start to add some fruit. We're using HappyBaby organic brown rice cereal to start with, then I want to try the oatmeal and multigrain. I haven't been able to get their frozen food yet - none of the stores near me carry it, so I got someEarth's Best stage 1 pears to start. I've also hear good things about Tasty Baby from Danielle, so am thinking about trying that out. I really want to try making my own food, I just have to find the time and get some appropriate size (and safe) containers to freeze it in. I was planning on making apple sauce with the apples we picked, but have not gotten around to it yet and we've already eaten most of them. So it's off to the store or maybe the farm next door. I also got some yummy squashes from the farm that I figured I would roast and puree.


I would gladly welcome any yummy recipes you have that your babies enjoyed or any suggestions of products.