I started Logan on solids at around 6 months. We did the whole rice cereal routine, leading to oatmeal, then mult-grain, introducing fruits and vegetables one at a time. I wanted Logan to try new fruits and veggies every few days, but making my own baby food seemed daunting at the time since I was just getting comfortable with the idea of feeding him solid food. I also didn't want to make a tray of peas and he would be stuck eating it for the entire week. And when would I have time to make food anyway?? I hardly cook for myself anymore. When looking at options, I found myself looking at the organic options. They weren't that much more expensive than the non-organic options. The ingredients label also had fewer ingredients which I liked. Suddenly, I felt very conscientious about what I was about to give Logan. Was I becoming one of those moms?? I swallowed my pride and said "the hell with it, I'm feeding my kid organic jarred food!" If it was going to be jarred, it was going to be organic. I gave him Earth's Best fruits and veggies since they offered a lot of variety and tasted pretty good. I also tried Gerber's organic foods (which often also include DHA). But my favorites were Ella's Kitchen varieties. After Logan became well acquainted with various ingredients, Ella's was great because of their mixed varieties. They would make combinations that I'd never think of! Broccoli, Pears & Peas. Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkins, Apples & Blueberries. Carrots, Apples & Parsnips. And, they tasted DELICIOUS. If Logan ever had any leftovers (which was rare), the husband and I would be sucking the rest of that pouch empty! I liked how they mixed fruits with vegetables so baby can get a serving of both in one meal. The only downside was that they were pretty pricey-- on average, about 2 bones/pouch.
OK, so I gave into the organic thing. But buying Ella's was starting to leave an unsavory taste on my credit card bill. And looking at jarred chicken/turkey varieties kinda grossed me out. If I wanted Logan to continue to broaden his palate, I needed to be in control. My college roomie gave me this book as a baby shower gift:
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| First Meals by Annabel Karmel, $15 @ Barnes & Noble |
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| Food processor-- this is the one I have. I like that it has 2 working bowls-- very useful when making multiple meals. |
or
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| Hand immersion blender. Great for the simple purees. |
and
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| Food storage containers fit for freezing. These are OXO 2 ounce containers. |
I try to make something that the family can also eat and puree/food-process one serving for Logan. When I do, I just don't season it the way I normally would-- I typically cut down on the salt or not use it at all if I don't need to. Also, I used to food-process chicken breast, but Logan doesn't seem to like the texture anymore unless it's really pasty (like with "jook"-- Korean style porridge, but I don't have time to make jook!), so now I'm cooking chicken breast separately and shredding it up for him on the side as finger food. Here is what Logan is eating this week!
Papperdalle Pasta in Tomato Sauce with Broccoli, Mushroom and Onions
Papperdalle is my favorite pasta, but it's also an egg-based pasta so only use it if you know your baby isn't allergic to eggs. You can use any pasta since it's going in the food processor. Logan was a little constipated this past week so I wanted to include a little extra fiber, hence the broccoli. I steamed the broccoli first a bit before cooking it down with the rest of the veggies. I also cut the steamed broccoli into smaller pieces so it would process more evenly w/the others. BTW, I only used half a container of mushrooms and roughly chopped them. This was truly a one-pot meal since mom, dad and baby all ate it tonight!
Sweet Potatoes with Spinach and Cheese
Sweet potatoes are packed with vitamin A and beta-carotene (good for the eyes!). Their sweet flavor is liked by most babies and goes well with pretty much any other veggie. Spinach is like a super-veggie-- iron (very important for babies), vitamins C, K, A to name a few. I used one whole bin of organic baby spinach and 2 medium sized sweet potatoes. While everything is hot, I toss into the food processor and add 2 ripped up slices of cheddar cheese. Let it melt and get incorporated while processing and you just added some calcium and protein to the meal!
Peach and Cantaloupe Puree
I was actually planning on making a peach/blueberry puree since that's what I got at the farmer's market, but today I got a cantaloupe that was so juicy and ripe-- I made a last-minute change. I usually steam or cook the fruit a bit first to help soften the texture a bit (also, the book only designates meals "freezer friendly" if they are cooked first-- I guess it helps kill bacteria and preserve?). The last photo shows all of my meals in their little containers before I stick them in the freezer. I like to keep his menu pretty colorful :)
So yes, I now purchase a few more organic items...I guess I'm sort of one of those moms for now. :-) But my husband and I still eat whatever!
What are some of your favorite baby food recipes?
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/
ReplyDeletei used the above website as my baby food bible until he was about 9 months. i followed step by step as to which ones to give etc. i mostly steamed or boiled depending on the veggies. i wanted to buy jar food at first too. but after seeing my son eat home made food so well, i was encouraged and started cooking more. i got ideas from the above website and used this korean baby cookbook which had a lot of ideas but not practical. it called for too much work. so i made my own version of what i thought was good. i usually made korean soups like moo-gook and miyukgook and pureed or cut them into tiny pieces with rice. he def prefers korean food over american.
i made several pureed veggies and fruits each week and froze them in ice trays (the one with lids). each meal, i would put diff combination of veggies/fruits.
at first it started out with 2 cubes, then 3 etc. i thought jarred fruits were so sweet, so i tried making my own and it was just as sweet. since then i just bought jar fruits until he was able to eat fresh fruits but made meat/poultry/veggies at home. i bought chicken flavor jar food once and it was disgusting.
i'm sure you know, but "P" veggies/fruits are good for constipation. Peas, Peaches, Prunes, Pears... i saved prunes for bad ones. it worked with even few spoonfuls for my son.
Hi SK! Thanks for sharing your feedback. My mom actually recommended that website too! Aside from gooks, what other types of Korean food did you give E? I feel like most Korean foods have too much salt for a baby.
ReplyDeleteI typically incorporate one of the "p's" in his daily meals, but not sure why Logan has been a little un-regular these days. Maybe from just new foods that we are introducing?
Our care provider told me yesterday that by 12 months, she wants to stop purees altogether and only do "real" food. We're sort of in the transition period now. Sometimes he's interested in "real" food, and other times he just makes a big mess and doesn't eat anything. Gah.
i started giving me real food starting 9 month or so which was a bad mistake. he stopped drinking milk. so i was super stressed out. so i think it's good that you are transitioning very slowly with Logan.
ReplyDeletefor korean soups, i put very little salt in the soup for E. and then when dan and i eat, we would put more salt if needed. that way i don't have to cook separately. i used to put them in plastic containers and freeze them in small amounts, so he doesn't have to eat the same soup over and over again that week.
i mostly made moo-gook and miyukgook. sometimes egg/potato soup with anchovy soup base. i used to make chicken noodle soup a lot and he really loved it. but i only use dark meat b/c white meat shreds and it stuck to his mouth and he used to spit it out. but he def likes dark meat better. so boil dark meat (thighs/legs with bones in it; it tastes much better) for 30-40 mins. when cooked, add potatoes, carrots and celeries and onions in cubes (you can make it big since you can mash it with forks; it's better to be big so that you can boil it for a long time but they don't melt away). boil it for another 1 hr or so. without any seasoning, it tastes really yummy. for us we added little bit of salt but the soup is very flavorful without any salt. and you can add cooked macaroni pasta before serving so the pasta isn't too mushy. it's also great for finger food.
when elijah was ready to move on from purees, i used to just mash everything and spoon it to him. he did pretty well. but meat is still very hard for them to swallow. so i used to just puree meats gently and add mashed veggies to train him to swallow bigger particles. for example, for chicken soup, i would cut chicken into very small pieces using scissors (if you puree chicken, it's disgusting. it sticks to your mouth) and mash the rest of the ingredients. he ate macaroni pasta without cutting/mashing.
based salmon is pretty good too. i learned it from yoonha. if you don't want any salt, you can just bake it in 400 degrees for 20 mins with foil over to keep the moisture. it's soft enough for him to mash it with his tongue. try small amount at a time.
at one point, i pretty much mashed everything veggies, baked fruits etc. fruits are so much sweeter when you bake it.
regarding Logan, is he drinking less formula/water?
ReplyDeletethanks for the tips, SK! I will try the soup this weekend for next week's meals. Did you freeze this into the little cubes? Did you freeze the pasta separately? Yes, processed chicken sticks to your mouth! That's probably why he keeps gagging on it :P I typically mix in some hot water to make it jook-like. I will also try more fish this weekend. The only thing is, I don't always have time to cook during the week, so I try to make stuff that I can freeze and the care providers can thaw/heat up during the week. After you bake/cook, do you freeze into the cubes?
ReplyDeleteLogan is drinking the same amount of formula. He has formula 5x a day. i haven't been giving him that much water. I give him his formula first (6-7 ounces), then i give him the solids (breakfast, lunch and dinner only), and while he's eating the solids, I will offer some water from the sippy cup. He sometimes takes a few sips. I also offer him water if he's having snacks (puffs, fruit).
i freeze all the soups after cooking except for about 2-3 meals. i didn't freeze into cubes by then his portions got bigger. i just used 2 oz. tupperware to freeze each meal. so you can just use those oxo containers so the care provider knows how much to give. so after nuke it, ask them to mash it well for him. if needed, cut it with scissors before feeding. i think once i tried mashing/cutting first and then freeze and it didn't taste that good after thawing it. so since then i just freeze and then cut/mash before serving. i feel like the juice in the food stays better and it tastes much better. maybe it's all in my head. either that i used to let it thaw in the fridge the day before and the night before i would cut/mash them once thawed. i used to just prepare 2 day worth of food at a time in the fridge.
ReplyDeletei only cook small amounts of pasta at a time, so i don't have to freeze. i like to give fresh foods. i hate freezing. i only started freezing food since the baby and b/c i just couldn't cook every day. but if possible, i try to cook pasta 2-3 meals worth and keep it in the fridge.
if you cut the chicken instead of processing, it's not that bad. i know charles probably doesn't like dark meat but dark meat tends to shred less than white meat. also it's not good to freeze potato cubes. i don't know if it was just that one time but after thawing it, the texture was pretty gross, i couldn't eat it. but if you are going to mash it, i guess it might be ok?
baked salmon is actually pretty simple. i never freeze fish, so i always get fresh fish from a local grocery either before or after picking him up and just throw it in the toaster oven while i set the table and clean up etc. when Logan gets older you will have more time in the evening to cook fresh meal since he might be going to bed little later. Elijah's bedtime changed from 7pm to 7:30 to now 8:30... sometimes 9pm. it's much later than i want...
maybe the irregularity is coming from just eating more solid. i always packed at least 1 jar of "P" food per day for day care as snacks or as dessert after his lunch.
when he becomes a toddler, the next thing will be what to make as finger foods.... that's my thing these days... *sigh*
i forgot about tofu!!! tofu is so easy! either make a miso soup with anchovy and kelp soup base or you can just give him boiled or steamed tofu without anything. elijah still eats it as finger food. i was very hesitant about miso soup at first b/c i thought it was too salty. but miso is supposed to be really good for GI. just use little bit of it.
packing lunch is so tiring... isn't it?
this is my fav blog to read. and mad props to you amy for cooking all those food!!
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