Yesterday marked the end of Piper's true culinary babyhood. Her doctor informed me that she no longer needs formula and should begin drinking whole milk and water. She also does not need it in the form of a "feeding," she simply needs a drink with her meals as adults do. She no longer needs "baby food" and is ready to eat healthy meals in bite-sized or chunk form. Sigh. So much of my new motherhood has been spent boiling, mashing, pureeing, blending, sauteing, creating, and jarring that I'm not really ready to let go of my favorite hobby! There is always a silver lining though. Now we can eat dinner TOGETHER as a tiny family and eat the same things! She'll keep me healthy!
For her first "big girl" meal I decided that a cheesy scrambled egg with lots of pepper and a slice of turkey bacon would be perfect. She ate all of it, give or take the little pile on the floor as a result of her getting a little
too excited. Bye bye baby food, welcome toddler food!
Hello Bailey - I saw a post you had on Our365 which linked back to your blog. It was the one about 'babies weaned on home cooked meals'. I didn't know exactly how to send a message so I decided to comment on this post. My wife and I have 5-month old twin boys and we just started feeding them rice cereal. I noticed that Piper (love that name) has a great appetite and wanted to ask you a few questions. What did you start her off with? What do you use to puree her meals (don't want to waste money on something that might not work)? What containers do you use to store her food? And, how long would/do you keep some of the things you make for her (i.e. the salmon dish - I would guess that wouldn't be good for too long???)?
ReplyDeleteThanks in advance!
Aaron (ginyouwin@yahoo.com)
Hi Aaron! Good to meet you!
ReplyDeleteWhew, 5 month old twins! You have your work cut out for ya, huh? I simply incorporated Piper in EVERYTHING I did in the kitchen. I set her in her bouncy seat on the kitchen counter starting at around 3 months while I was chopping, sauteing, boiling, etc. just so she could get exposed and start to love being around food. At around 4 months, I began to let her sniff the spices, taste little bits of whatever I was cooking, even if it was a little spicy. If I was chopping bell peppers, I would give her a little slice and she would inevitably stick it in her mouth. Little things like that! I never gave her the rice cereal or any cereal out of a box, not that there's anything wrong with it, I just think it tastes nasty (Have you tried that crap?? Blech!), so I chose to cook regular rolled oats with whole milk in the microwave, then mix in pureed fruits. Since she was too young to know what to do with the oats in her mouth (as your sons are), I used a regular old food processor in the kitchen. Never bought the Baby Bullet as nifty as it looked. Just seemed unnecessary when a food processor worked just fine. I would puree bananas with a little whole milk in the processor for breakfast as a first food since they're so smooth and easy. I would also buy TONS of frozen fruit in the grocery store (red sweet cherries, mangoes, etc), BOIL THEM DOWN A TON until they were really soft and mushy (a lot of times it's not even necessary to add any water to the pot since the juices boil out and make it liquidy enough), then puree them in the food processor. I would also boil down fresh fruit (plums and grapes together was Pip's fave), but I never peeled them as a lot of sites tell you to do. I just don't see the point. The skin is where a lot of nutrients are stored, and if you puree it well, it's not like there will be any huge chunks of skin to pose a choking hazard... It's always good to have the Gerber fruits and veggies available when you might be running short on time or just feeling lazy (hey, it happens), and when you do use them, SAVE THE JARS AND LIDS. That's what I use to store all of her frozen food in! I just use white labels from Office Max to stick on the lid! I think that's in the VERY FIRST post of this blog. Go check it out. On the label, I write what it is and THE DATE IT WAS MADE. I try not to let the date go past 30 days, give or take a few days. If one is accidentally forgotten and is in there for 2 months, I pitch it. Let me know if any of this helps, ok? I hope it did! I can also give you some step by step instructions via blog posts if you specifically request them! :-)
Oh! And Pip's first MEAT was liver and onions. I should just go ahead and write a blog on how to make that. It's so healthy and purees really nicely. It's a nice bold taste which I always preferred over those jarred baby food meats which always tasted like dog food to me. You can also mix chicken and apples, and chicken and cheese! I need to get on this, huh?!
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