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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Baking (and Steaming) for Baby


The other day, I prepared some baby food for Roman.
I boiled green beans
&
baked some sweet potatoes
and added some carrot cubes (frozen carrot puree') into both!
Then, I added some oatmeal creamed with breast milk.

Prepping Food for your Big Eater Preparing homemade baby food is not only very healthy but also fairly simple. All it really requires is... organic veggies/fruit/grains, breast milk (or water), a blender or food processor, storing containers (clean baby jars or ice cube trays) and baby safe spices. (I also use a coffee grinder to grind uncooked brown rice and oatmeal]) After steaming or baking baby's food until it is just soft enough to mash (veggies are suppose to be firm-you don't want to cook out all the nutrients!), you puree it until it is smooth (for the new eater) or a little lumpy (for the older baby) or SUPER chunky (for the experience chewer). You can always ask your doctor, what consistency your baby's food should be, if you aren't quite sure.

The first thing I began feeding Little; aside from a couple of bites of squash, sweet potatoes, and watermelon was avocado. He seems to like it alright. I will never know for sure, because he always makes a funny face when I begin to feed him. It's almost as though he expects it to taste like b.milk. After the grimace, and a queasy shiver he begins to enjoy whatever I'm feeding him (most of the time).

Balance is Key
It's important to me to try to balance what he's eating, so that I don't upset his stomach (e.g. prunes with brown rice or carrots with peas). I haven't always done this, but after giving him 4 oz of JUST carrots and spending TWO days trying to relieve his constipation; I decided that I had to come up with something- and this works! Something else I have tried is feeding him high fiber at lunch, then something lower at dinner. The benefit of this is that, he won't end up with a dirty diaper in the middle of the night. And of course, I always try to provide a variety of meals. I don't want to overload him on just one thing. Different fruits and veggies have different vitamins and nutrients. It is probably best if you discuss your baby's eating plan with his/her pediatrician (Little's doctor has instructed us to focus on veggies, then fruit, and lastly grains.). I have recently decided to introduce yogurt and cheese to him. Yes, it is true that baby is not suppose to have milk before his/her 1st Birthday. However, the milk enzymes that baby can not process aren't in yogurt and/or cheese. This way, he won't have to take probiotics!! (http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/05_milk_baby.htm). Another thing we are going to be introducing this week is egg yolk. Yolks contain choline, amino acids, good fat, and Vitamin D! It is important for babies to have Vit D to prevent Rickets. I am not one for taking supplements or giving them to my child. I would rather provide him and myself with what he needs through healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle (being out in the sun- another way to get Vit D).

Spices and Baby
Little doesn't like bland food. After the initial introduction of a food; I add garlic, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, etc.(However, It is important to only introduce one food at a time, to ensure that baby isn't allergic to each).  He seems to really enjoy sweet potatoes with cinnamon and nutmeg. There is a great baby food website, http://www.wholesomebabyfoods.com/. Wholesomebabyfoods provides readers with TONS of recipes and facts about healthy baby food preparation!

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