Eat It

There's more to life than milk you know. A baby is eventually going to start eating food. The magic month to start is when baby is 6 months old. Some start feeding babies at 4 months. There are different camps about when to start and why you should wait till 6 months to start. Here's what Dr. Sears has to say. Based on that, we opted to wait till Critter was 6 months old before we shoveled food into his mouth.

We got a high chair (thank you bad back bro-n-law) and it's now a permanent fixture at our dining table. Critter sits at the head of the table. He's not in charge around here (not yet anyway), it's just easier for us to sit next to him and feed him. A week before he turned 6 months we sat him in his chair and gave him Oatmeal cereal. He took it readily and enjoyed it. After a few days of oatmeal only; It's suggested that when introducing "solids" to a baby, you give them one item at a time and for 3 days straight. Any allergies develop you'll know which food it is; we started giving him other stuff.

I opted to make my own baby mush. Have you seen the prices of baby food??? Not only that, I figure it's healthier. Plus, I'm a sit on my ass at home mom, it's the least I can do to throw some food into a blender. And it's really as simple as that. You steam or bake the veggies and fruits, wait till they cool, throw them into a food processor or blender (I have a blender) with some water and then mash them through a sieve to strain out the lumps and fibers. And hello meal time!

I found a great website with lots of information about making your own baby food. www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
The site has nutritional information. When to introduce what. Lots of easy to follow recipes. So I read up and have become Martha Stewart to Critter. I make baby food about twice a week and freeze them in little one meal containers; lots of people use ice cube trays; and each morning take one or two down for the day. Critter eats three meals a day.

For breakfast he usually has oatmeal or a banana; which I mush the morning of. Bananas brown so can't freeze them. As do pears. FYI. Pears are a soft fruit, so no need to steam or bake them, peeling them and mushing them is sufficient.

I made a mistake the first time I made carrots. I read with some other veggies to save the liquid that you use when steaming and use that to when blending. Well, it's NOT the case with carrots and some other root  and some leafy veggies because they have nitrates. Here's more info.

The first time I made carrots, I wasn't aware of the Nitrate issue. I steamed and blended them using the steaming liquid. Critter happily ate a meal of carrots. I was then reading some more and came across the Nitrate issue. I threw out that batch of carrots. Next batch I made I just used water when blending. HEY, I'm sure Martha Stewart made mistakes when starting out.

So far, I've made:
Carrots - First batch I threw out.
Sweet Potatoes - Critter's favorite
Peas - only had them once, there's some in the freezer and he'll have some today.
Butternut Squash - Critter's second favorite
Apples - I sauteed them in water
Pears- No need to cook, just mush
Bananas - Critter's favorite fruit
Nectarines -  Critter hated them. He made an awful face after the first spoonful and turned his head when the spoon came toward him again. Probably because they were tart. They aren't in season. What was I thinking buying them? I threw out the two meals that I made and I'll eat the other three nectarines.
Beets - I made him one meal only when I made Hubby and I beet soup. But Critter hasn't had it yet.
He's also had a finger of hummus. He looooved it.

Next month Mommy Stewart is going to mix two or more ingredients.