Since I was off today, I spent a few minutes making some more baby food for Gideon. I decided to make a few single vegetable purees, as well as some blended fruits. I'm excited for Gideon to have more variety in his diet; we'll see what foods he likes next!
Prep Day 2
Spent- Approximately $7
Yield- Approximately 50 oz
Time- 30-45 minutes
Green Bean Puree
- Prepare 1 bag of "steam in bag" green beans, puree until smooth, and add water to desired texture. Place in ice cube trays and freeze. Yield- 1 ice cube tray
Carrot Puree
-Peel 1 bag of carrots and cut into cubes. Steam until soft. Puree until smooth, adding water if necessary. Yield- 1 ice cube tray
*I'd done some research which suggested that the nitrates in soil could precipitate certain types of anemias in infants who ate home prepared carrots. My pediatrician didn't seem alarmed about my wanting to prepare my own baby food, and said that this risk was very small. To make the risk of anemia even smaller, I prepared this recipe with organic carrots, and thinned the puree with fresh water (instead of residual cooking liquid).
Banana-Blueberry Puree
-Cook 1/2 cup blueberries over low heat with a small amount of water until soft. Puree with 3 peeled bananas. Yield- 1 ice cube tray. (These are VERY yummy!)
Strawberry-Plum Puree
-Peel, cube and steam 4 plums, as well as 12 fresh strawberries. Puree until smooth. Yield- 1 ice cube tray. (This makes a very pretty puree, and it tastes very yummy, too!)
*Strawberries used to be a "Forbidden Food" due to the risk of food allergies. Some recent publications from the AAP suggest that after exclusively breast feeding for at least 4 months, there are no protective benefits from withholding certain foods from a baby's diet (with the obvious exceptions of things that could cause a child harm, like honey). There is additional evidence that suggests that cooking strawberries reduces their allergenic potential. Since there are zero food allergies on either side of Gideon's family, and our pediatrician did not suggest that we withhold strawberries until 1 year old, I was okay with introducing them.
Simple avocado puree
-Smush up 1/2 avocado. Serve.
*I'd read that due to the high fat content of avocado, this puree is nutritionally similar to breast milk. I know of other mommies who mix avocado with banana. I know several babies who LOVE mashed avocado; Gideon was less than impressed.
We've also added a new snack food to Gideon's diet- Gerber Graduate Puffs. He REALLY likes them. He also tried to steal my Earl Grey tea yesterday morning.
Little boy is growing up so fast!
Friday, April 26, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
5 Months Old!
Our sweet boy amazes us more each day with how much he's growing and changing. Here are a few updates from our big 5 month old boy!
Sizes? Size 2 diapers, size 3-6 month clothes. We're actually going shopping today cause he has outgrown all of his pajamas- as in every single pajama outfit we have.
Eating? We're in the middle of transitioning from exclusive breast feeding to a combination feeding schedule. Once the transition is complete, he'll receive formula bottles during the day and breast milk at night. He also eats about 2oz of fruits and veggies in the evenings.
Favorite foods? Right now Gideon loves apples and sweet potatoes the best, but he did try a fresh banana over the weekend and was very excited about it.
Least favorite food? English peas. Can't blame the kid; I don't like peas either.
Favorite bottles? His favorites are still Dr. Brown's bottles, but he'll also take a Tommee Tippee bottle with no trouble. He does not do well with Medela bottles.
Favorite toys? His crinkly giraffe. (Is that a word? Crinkly? As in, an object that makes a crinkle sound when it's manipulated?)
Developmental milestones?
-Rolling from front to back. He's VERY close to rolling from back to front, but not quite there yet.
-Reaching out for objects he wants- he really does this when the dogs are around, or when he wants to be picked up.
-Holding his own spoon during dinnertime. This is a very messy milestone- I've cleaned squash from hair, eyelashes and dog fur.
-Practicing more sounds- he really likes to work on his "H" sound.
-Propping up on his arms while on his tummy and looking around.
Like mommy? Your big grin. I've also noticed our eyes are the same shape- with the right eye being more pronounced than the left.
Future predictions? We still think you're going to be left handed.
He just gets more precious every day. I never knew something so small could be such a big blessing!
Sizes? Size 2 diapers, size 3-6 month clothes. We're actually going shopping today cause he has outgrown all of his pajamas- as in every single pajama outfit we have.
Eating? We're in the middle of transitioning from exclusive breast feeding to a combination feeding schedule. Once the transition is complete, he'll receive formula bottles during the day and breast milk at night. He also eats about 2oz of fruits and veggies in the evenings.
Favorite foods? Right now Gideon loves apples and sweet potatoes the best, but he did try a fresh banana over the weekend and was very excited about it.
Least favorite food? English peas. Can't blame the kid; I don't like peas either.
Favorite bottles? His favorites are still Dr. Brown's bottles, but he'll also take a Tommee Tippee bottle with no trouble. He does not do well with Medela bottles.
Favorite toys? His crinkly giraffe. (Is that a word? Crinkly? As in, an object that makes a crinkle sound when it's manipulated?)
Developmental milestones?
-Rolling from front to back. He's VERY close to rolling from back to front, but not quite there yet.
-Reaching out for objects he wants- he really does this when the dogs are around, or when he wants to be picked up.
-Holding his own spoon during dinnertime. This is a very messy milestone- I've cleaned squash from hair, eyelashes and dog fur.
-Practicing more sounds- he really likes to work on his "H" sound.
-Propping up on his arms while on his tummy and looking around.
Like mommy? Your big grin. I've also noticed our eyes are the same shape- with the right eye being more pronounced than the left.
Future predictions? We still think you're going to be left handed.
He just gets more precious every day. I never knew something so small could be such a big blessing!
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Pears, Potatoes, and a Rice Cereal Hiatus
Gideon is a pretty outstanding sleeper, as far as babies go. In general, we do his bedtime routine (bath, bottle or nursing and swaddle) around 6:30-7, he'll go to sleep very quickly, sleep until around 3:30 when he wakes up to nurse, and then back to sleep until I wake him up at 6:30 to nurse before work. This schedule worked great from about 8 weeks until about 4 months old, when he started waking up for a 10:30 feeding every night. I'd read that waking up for previously skipped feedings was a sign of solid foods readiness, so we decided to gradually introduce some solid foods.
Our "feeding table" from the pediatrician's office said to introduce rice cereal first, so we gave that a try. While he tolerated the cereal pretty well, he wasn't a reliable cereal eater. Some nights he would love it and eat every single bite, other nights he'd decide cereal wasn't for him (which is not okay when that cereal is mixed with breast milk!). After doing some research, I realized that the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't recommend rice cereal as a first food (they actually don't have a recommendation on which food to introduce first), so I opted to forego cereal for a while and introduce just fruits and veggies. As I love to cook, I decided I'd try my hand at homemade baby food. I figure I'll update here with the recipes I try out and Gideon's reactions to his new foods. This should be fun!
Some homemade baby food basics- baby food is prepared and placed in ice cube trays, frozen, and then the cubes are removed and stored in freezer bags. Each "ice cube" is approximately 1 ounce of food.
Baby Food Prep Day #1
Total Kitchen Time- 1 hour
Total Money Spent- approx $8
Final Yield- 90 oz baby food
On this prep day I decided to stock our freezer with the basics- pears, apples, peas, sweet potatoes and butternut squash. (Recipe note- while I used cooking liquid or plain water to thin purees, it would be best to use breast milk. I don't have much extra to spare, so I opted to thin purees with water).
Sweet potatoes- Wash 2 sweet potatoes and prick multiple times with a fork. Bake at 350 until tender. Spoon the flesh away from the skin, puree, and add water if necessary. Yield approximately 1 ice cube tray (I had one full tray plus about 5 cubes on another tray).
Butternut squash- Cut 1 squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds, and place face down in a baking dish with a small amount of water. Bake at 350 until the skin puckers, spoon flesh away from the skin, puree, and add water if necessary. Yield approximately 1 ice cube tray (again, I had one full tray and a few cubes on another tray).
Peas- Prepare one bag of "steam in bag" english peas according to the package. Puree until smooth and add water if necessary. Yield- 1 ice cube tray. (This could be a smoother puree if done in a food mill instead of a food processor. I don't have a food mill or a strainer, so hopefully Gideon won't complain).
Apples- Peel, core, and cube 4 medium sweet apples (I used Red Delicious). Place in saucepan with a small amount of water and cook on low until tender. Puree until smooth. Yield- 1 ice cube tray plus a few extra cubes
Pears- Peel, core and cube 4 medium pears. Place in saucepan with a small amount of water and cook on low until tender. Depending on the ripeness of the pears, water could be optional. Puree until smooth. Yield- 1 ice cube tray.
So far Gideon has had sweet potatoes and pears, and has LOVED both of them. I'm looking forward to trying more fruits and veggies here soon!
Our "feeding table" from the pediatrician's office said to introduce rice cereal first, so we gave that a try. While he tolerated the cereal pretty well, he wasn't a reliable cereal eater. Some nights he would love it and eat every single bite, other nights he'd decide cereal wasn't for him (which is not okay when that cereal is mixed with breast milk!). After doing some research, I realized that the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't recommend rice cereal as a first food (they actually don't have a recommendation on which food to introduce first), so I opted to forego cereal for a while and introduce just fruits and veggies. As I love to cook, I decided I'd try my hand at homemade baby food. I figure I'll update here with the recipes I try out and Gideon's reactions to his new foods. This should be fun!
Some homemade baby food basics- baby food is prepared and placed in ice cube trays, frozen, and then the cubes are removed and stored in freezer bags. Each "ice cube" is approximately 1 ounce of food.
Baby Food Prep Day #1
Total Kitchen Time- 1 hour
Total Money Spent- approx $8
Final Yield- 90 oz baby food
On this prep day I decided to stock our freezer with the basics- pears, apples, peas, sweet potatoes and butternut squash. (Recipe note- while I used cooking liquid or plain water to thin purees, it would be best to use breast milk. I don't have much extra to spare, so I opted to thin purees with water).
Sweet potatoes- Wash 2 sweet potatoes and prick multiple times with a fork. Bake at 350 until tender. Spoon the flesh away from the skin, puree, and add water if necessary. Yield approximately 1 ice cube tray (I had one full tray plus about 5 cubes on another tray).
Butternut squash- Cut 1 squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds, and place face down in a baking dish with a small amount of water. Bake at 350 until the skin puckers, spoon flesh away from the skin, puree, and add water if necessary. Yield approximately 1 ice cube tray (again, I had one full tray and a few cubes on another tray).
Peas- Prepare one bag of "steam in bag" english peas according to the package. Puree until smooth and add water if necessary. Yield- 1 ice cube tray. (This could be a smoother puree if done in a food mill instead of a food processor. I don't have a food mill or a strainer, so hopefully Gideon won't complain).
Apples- Peel, core, and cube 4 medium sweet apples (I used Red Delicious). Place in saucepan with a small amount of water and cook on low until tender. Puree until smooth. Yield- 1 ice cube tray plus a few extra cubes
Pears- Peel, core and cube 4 medium pears. Place in saucepan with a small amount of water and cook on low until tender. Depending on the ripeness of the pears, water could be optional. Puree until smooth. Yield- 1 ice cube tray.
So far Gideon has had sweet potatoes and pears, and has LOVED both of them. I'm looking forward to trying more fruits and veggies here soon!
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