Adventures in Baby Food

Jacob has started eating 'solids'.  From the get-go, I knew I wanted to make homemade baby food for him.  I am not working in France, so I have the time. And anything I make at home has to be better than the stuff in jars, right?  My mom bought me the book Super Baby Food (kind of like every pregnant woman reads What to Expect When You Are Expecting, anyone who wants to make homemade baby food reads Super Baby Food).  We started off with the traditional infant rice cereal.  Jacob had his first cereal when we were in the US.  Our pediatrician had given us the go ahead after his 4 month check-up, but we waited until we were in the US with Matthew's family.  After missing Christmas, we thought it would be fun for them to witness at least one of Jacob's milestones.  He did really well.  I don't know how much he actually ate the first time because a lot of it ended up on his bib, but for his very first time- he did great.  A few weeks later I added in Infant oatmeal to his diet, mostly just for some variety for his taste buds. 

After his 5 month check-up, the pediatrician told us to start introducing vegetables during his lunch meal.  This is where things got a little confusing because everything our pediatrician told us was completely opposite from what I had read in my book, and what I had seen online.  Even on US websites, no one seems to agree on what foods to start with, what foods for what ages, etc.  One thing everyone does seem to agree on is waiting 3-5 days before introducing a new food (to allow allergies to show themselves, and then you can easily eliminate the culprit from the diet).  Our pediatrician told us to pick 5 vegetables (she gave us a list of recommended ones) and for 15 days rotate through the 5- giving a new one each day.  Hmmm... should I follow the advice of our doctor?  Or go with the 3-5 day wait rule that is the norm in the US (especially since Matthew had food allergies when he was young)?  Better safe than sorry, so slowly but surely we are introducing new foods to him. 

Food #1:  Avocados.  These are a super food.  They are not only one of the most nutrient-dense foods, but are high in iron, folate. potassium, vitamin E, and magnesium. Shew!  AND, there is no preparation.  Scoop some out, mash it up, mix in a little breast milk to thin it just a tad, and voila! (oh, and if you don't feel like freezing the rest, you can mix up a little guacamole for Mom and Dad). :)  Feeding Jacob avocado was pretty anti-climatic.  From his facial expressions you couldn't even tell that he was eating something different.  I thought after eating the bland rice cereal and oatmeal, the avocado would be a welcome change.  He did eat it all up like a champ, and was opening his mouth and leaning forward for the spoon.  So I guess that means he liked it!

Food #2:  Sweet Potatoes.  Another super food.  Preparation is pretty simple too. Poke some holes in them, throw them in the oven until they are fork tender, scoop out the flesh and puree.  The only extra step is to strain the puree because the fibers that don't puree could be a choking hazard.  I cooked up a bunch of these, and froze them into cubes.  Jacob is a big fan of these, and the orange color makes them a whole lot prettier than most baby food!

Food #3:  Green Beans.  Jacob gets green beans for the first time on Sunday.  Since Matthew took the day off today, we headed out to enjoy one of our favorite things to do when living in France- faire les courses.  Our first stop was the butcher, then the boulangerie, then the fruit/vegetable market.  I stocked up on green beans and peaches (Jacob gets those in about 2 weeks, but I thought I could go ahead and make/freeze them).  I also couldn't resist buying some artichokes that were bigger than Jacob's head!  I can't wait to dig into those.  Anyway, back to the green beans.  A friend here let me borrow her baby cooker.  It is so simple to use, and you can steam veggies and puree them in the same pot!  Unfortunately, the amounts I was attempting to cook and puree was just too much for the baby cooker.  I finally had to ditch the cooker and pull out my big pressure cooker and immersion blender.  One piece of advice I did take from our pediatrician was to add a little potato when cooking the green beans.  She told us it would help with flavor and help combine everything into a better texture.  But does that mean if he doesn't react to the green beans, then we are good-to-go with potatoes as well???

Next up on the schedule are bananas, carrots, winter squash (I think I am going to do pumpkin because I already have some frozen pumpkin puree in the freezer that I need to use before we leave in July...), pears, peaches, and applesauce.  One of my biggest goals is to "clear" foods that I might be able to find on the cruise we are going on in July.  I really don't want to have to lug a ton of jarred foods onto the ship, so I am hoping I can find some of the foods he has already eaten on board (ie avocados at the sushi bar!).  I love meal time with Jacob and I can't wait until I can really cook for him.  For now, I will have to settle for cooking/pureeing/freezing for him!