Happy Monday!
I hope you have the day off to spend with your friends and/or family. In my previous posts I have talked in detail about how to create healthly family friendly meals, how to get your kids to gobble down those peas when they are waiting for dinner, and how to get it all done in as little time possible. Well, what I will tell you today is that if you get your babies started on the right foot, everything else will be so much easier, when it comes to healthy eating at least.
BABY FOOD
If you browse the baby food aisle today, you will be in awe of all the beautiful packaging and amazing variety of "super healthy", organic, blah, blah, blah foods for little ones. What you may also be amazed at is the unbelievable price of some of those foods. What I am shocked at is how many things they can add to this "super healthly" baby food and snacks to make it in my mind not so healthy anymore, i.e. salt, sugar, juice, etc. I definitely did buy some baby food when my kids were young, but I purchased as little as possible. I know, you have that look on your face of "seriously, you think I have time to take care of my child(ren), get a million other required things done AND make baby food?" Well, trust me when I say that it is so quick and simple to make delicious and healthy food for babies and toddlers and you will save tons of money and feel like a super hero at the same time. I think the biggest myth around baby food is that the companies that make them have some special step in place to make them extra safe for your precious child. I promise you that there is no extra steps required to make food safe for babies, as long as you follow the guidance you would follow for your own food. Keep prepared food refrigerated, don't store in the refrigerator for more than 4 to 6 days, and never leave food between 40 degrees and 140 degrees for more than 4 hours. I will give you the exact process a little later, but let's talk about first foods and the progression through foods first.
READY FOR SOLIDS
Generally around 4 to 6 months your child will begin the very fun process of learning to eat solid foods. Your doctor may advise something different, but that seems to be the most common time. I was always so excited and started my kids immediately when they were 4 months old. What really entertains me, is that I have heard some say they don't want to start until even later than 6 months, yet my mother/mother-in-law's generation started giving their babies solid food around 3 weeks. Amazing how things change. It is definitely best to start with Rice cereal, as it is very bland, you don't have to worry about allergies and it is a non-staining color (everyone will be wearing some when this is over). Start with a very small amount (no more than a tablespoon) and add some breast milk or formula until it is thin, but not soupy. You may want to start with a little less liquid and thin as you go. Believe me when I say that the first few times that you try this, you will get very little to actually go into and stay in your precious angels mouth. **IMPORTANT: Don't forget your camera and video camera, because this will be an entertaining few minutes. I say a few minutes, because it is very likely that your child will be interested in this for only a short period of time. You will definitely know when it is time to close up shop. If your child gets upset when you start this process, they are probably too hungry to be a willing participant. Try giving them a little breast milk or formula so they are not starving and then try again. If it all goes down hill quickly, no worries you have many more opportunities. This is suppose to be a fun and exciting time for everyone, so don't get frustrated if it is not perfect.
After you have achieved rice cereal one time a day and are moving to two times a day (probably about two weeks to a month), the fun really begins. Imagine if you had spent your whole life (all four months at least) drinking breast milk or formula and then you make the big move to something sort of solid that still tastes like breast milk or formula. There are so many new flavors and textures to explore and every single bite will be an adventure. There are many options for first foods after rice cereal, but pureed sweet potatoes or mashed up avocados were my favorites. My advice would be to start with vegetables first and eventually start adding some fruits. Smashed bananas are a great addition to cereal if you want to change that up a bit and apple and pear purees are delicious desserts. There are so many great vegetables to try, so every week or two add in a new one. It is a really good idea to try only one new item at a time and give it 3 to 5 days just to be sure that your child does not have an allergy. My family was blessed with no food allergies, but I know many that did and do experience allergic reactions, and it is just better to be safe. There are of course some foods that you will want to stay away from either because of allergies or because they are very strong flavors that may not go over well with very young babies. As you may know, babies have millions more taste buds than adults do, so they have a highly sensitive sense of taste. This is important to note because you will not need to add any extra flavor to these foods because they are already extremely flavor-filled for your tot. Veggies that may be very strong include broccoli, asparagus (also stringy), and tomatoes. You can find the list of highly allergic foods anywhere, but the ones that were top of my list were peanut butter, honey, and strawberries. That is certainly not the whole list, but the main ones that I remember.
EASY AS 1,2, 3, EAT...
Buy any fresh or frozen vegetable and cook in the quickest way possible to retain as many vitamins and minerals as possible. I like to make as big of a batch as my food processor will hold and that will last for no longer than a few months in the freezer.
COOK
Cook vegetables like carrots, peas, green beans, lima beans, edemame, cauliflower in a microwave safe dish like corningware with a tight fitting non-plastic lid (don't microwave in plastic, because the toxins leach into the food) with a tiny bit of water or none if you are using frozen veggies. Cook them until they are very tender but still brightly colored (not so long that your green veggies turn that unappetizing army green color). The smaller the size, the quicker they will cook.
If you are making sweet potatoes or any kind of squash, they are great roasted in the oven. For sweet potatoes, cover your pan with foil and place the washed sweet potatoes on the foil unwrapped and roast in a 350 degree oven for about an hour and a half or until very tender. For squash, cut them in half and place flesh down on a lightly oiled pan and roast in a 350 degree oven until very tender. Let them cool to touch before removing the flesh from the skin and processing. To organic or not to organic? This is a completely personal choice and one that does not effect the process of making baby food at all. However, I would encourage you if you do not use all organic fruits and vegetables, to us organic carrots or any other vegetable that grows under the ground. The non-organic version of these vegetables tend to have a high concentration of nitrates in them from the fertilizer in the soil. Generally speaking, I tend to buy organic when it is grown under the ground or contains high contents of fat like whole milk and beef. The highest concentrations of chemicals are stored in the fat.
PUREE
Once the veggies are tender, put them into the bowl of a food processor and add a little water to make them smooth. I puree to a thicker consistency than my child is currently eating for two reasons. First, you can always add liquid when you are serving (too runny is tough problem to fix), and two, it is important to continue to increase the consistency of the food as your child grows. You, of course, do not want your child to choke on food that is too thick or chunky, but if you do not continue to push more and more texture, you will end up with a child that does not like anything that is not completely smooth.
STORE
Put puree into ice cube trays and freeze. I prefer the trays from Bed, Bath and Beyond that have a lid and rubber on the bottom of the tray that make it easier to remove the frozen puree cubes. Once the puree is frozen, remove from tray, place in large freezer bag and into the freezer. The quality of the cubes will be great for about 3 to 4 months in the freezer.
EAT
When you are ready to serve the puree, remove as many cubes as you will need and either warm them in the microwave in a non-plastic container or in a double boiler if you prefer not to use the microwave. Add liquid as needed to achieve the right consistency for your child. You can serve a variety of purees at a meal or only one. I do think it is great to serve each one individually at the beginning, of course to check for allergies, but also so your child knows what each item tastes like. This is a fantastic opportunity even at this early age to talk with your child about each item they are eating, what it tastes like, what color it is, etc. Food, eating and the kitchen in general is one of the best places to teach early language because there are so many different items to name and talk about.
GETTING OLDER
As your child gets older you can continue to use this same process (either pureeing less or just cutting into small chunks) and storing in small portions in the freezer. The 3oz plastic solo cups are a great size for freezing portions of small chunks of any vegetable, rice, pasta or meat. Again, do not microwave the food in the solo cups, but simply remove the frozen food from the cup and microwave in a non-plastic microwave safe dish. If you are cooking chicken breast or salmon or other meat for your family, it is very easy to make a few portions without seasoning at the same time, cut into pieces and freeze. This stage of life goes so quickly and before you know it your child will be eating regular table food with you. I would encourage you to start giving your child the opportunity to pick up finger foods as soon as possible. Learning to feed themselves is obviously great for their brain development but also makes your life easier. Introducing and reintroducing (even if it was not a hit on the first or the 20th try) a variety of foods from the beginning will be a key to having a toddler and older child that enjoys almost any food.
I realize that this is a lot of information to take in at one time, but I wanted to share it all at once just in case your child is about to be or currently is at this stage of development. If you have any questions regarding specific vegetables, fruits, meats, etc., encounter any problems or if you have a child that is having difficulty with texture and want help in getting past it, please comment or email me directly. This is a subject that I could talk about for days and have taught quite a few classes on, so please don't hesitate to contact me.
CHEERS!
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