Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Feed and Water Three Times Daily

My boy likes to eat. He enjoys his food a lot...in large amounts at times.
And baby food is expensive. Especially when you take into consideration that you have to feed and water children at least three times daily, usually more.
And like our doctor randomly, unsolicited-ly soap-boxed: "You are paying (insert baby food company here) to water it down for you. By the time the baby eats it he's consumed more water than fruit or veggie. So you pay them to cut down on the nutrients and it doesn't even taste that great."
Thanks, doc.
So we make our own most of the time. It's super fun, super easy, and Noah hasn't complained about my cooking yet! For the most part it goes like this: peel. heat. mash. freeze. Not all things freeze, but most will and it keeps for three months. We freeze them in OXO ice trays with lids that are perfect...four cubes is one meal for little dude right now. I usually make a big batch that will last us a few weeks but I plan to go nuts this summer and make a whole bunch of yummy goodness that I score from the Farmers' Market.

Anyway. So far we've made butternut squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, blueberries, parsnip, broccoli, and a combination of several of these together. He likes them all, so I keep making them and trying new things. It's very rewarding I tell you...to know that he is eating my cooking, that he likes my cooking, that he will hopefully have a diverse pallet, and to know exactly what it is that he's ingesting. And I don't have to study any labels on jars...which would probably take more time to dissect what each thing is, means, and does than to just mash up a mango.
Now, I am not opposed to food in the jar, please don't hear that. We use it when we are on the go or need a quick fix (read: Noah is flipping his wig with hunger and there ain't no time for mashing or microwaving). I choose this simply because I enjoy it. And I think Noah does, too. It's one more thing that I can do for him and hopefully one day do with him, as in cooking and making yummy creations like this:
Hummus pizza with kiwi & corn
So cute, right?
But for now I have to be creative on my own, in the midst of peeling, heating, and mashing:
Did you know butternut squash looks and smells like a pumpkin on the inside?
Next on the menu: homemade finger cookies for the little teether.
Wish me luck.

3 comments:

  1. Do you use a baby food blender?

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  2. And when did you start him on solids? People ask me all the time is Adam is on them already and I plan to ask his doctor at his four month check up the beginning of May. I've given him a taste of Mott's applesauce and he made the most displeased face. Then again, for his first taste of something that is not boob juice, I didn't really expect anything less from him.

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  3. I use a regular blender and I also have a food mill that you can get at most grocery stores with a crank handle. I love it.
    We started Noah on solids on his four month birthday - happy birthday, kid! Our doctor said he was fine and didn't NEED it until six months, but he started waking an extra time at night and was SUPER interested in what we were eating. We figured it was time... Noah took right to it, which made it very easy. We did cereal/oatmeal once a day for about a week and then started with bananas-sweet potatoes-avocados. We did that for a couple of weeks and then bumped it up to breakfast and dinner. A couple of weeks of that and he was ready for lunch, too.
    I still nurse him either before or after his "meal" depending on how hungry he is... always before in the morning. I nurse him 4-5 times a day now - with all 3 meals, once as a "snack" in the afternoon, and right before bed. He has mostly slept through the night since then...
    The applesauce may have been because it was cold? I don't know...

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