It's really difficult being a new mom and having to figure out what to feed a growing child the nutrition it needs. I remember when Pierce, my first child, was ready for solid foods. I was terrified. Literally. ME, the healthfood chef, was scared of baby food?! Yes! It's strange. I honestly used jarred food for a good few weeks because I was stumped.
Then one day my mom - God Bless Her - showed me how easy it was.
DUH, I mean, of course it's easy. All it is is raw or steamed veggies with a little liquid blended until smooth. YES, that's it! I mean, I KNEW that, so what was my problem? Why was I drawing a blank? And why was I so terrified?
Who knows. Probably because it's so foreign and a huge responsibility?
But, good new is, it just takes doing it once to get the swing of it and then instantly you're a pro. I'm serious. I eventually became obsessed with all the fun combinations and creations. And not to mention brave with trying all sorts of new things.
Baby Food Recipes 101
- Steam or bake sweet potatoes and then blend them (keeping some, but not all, of the skin on it) with a little goats milk or breast milk until smooth.
- Fresh raw ripe bananas with goats milk and a little flax oil.
- Raw papaya with ripe bananas and water or goats milk and flax oil.
- LIGHTLY steam semi-skinned apples and pears. Add just a touch of water and blend on high until smooth.
- {later, at about 9-10 months old} Steam up some quinoa or barely or brown rice and blend it (not until 9 or 10 months old) with either bananas or broccoli or greens (raw like butter lettuce) until VERY smooth.
tip: Remember kids LOVE things like garlic or herbs and spices. You might think otherwise, but try it! Flavor it and they will eat it!
This year Thanksgiving was fun because I gave my 6 month old some of the baked sweet potato (blended up in the cuisinart). HE LOVED IT!!!! And slept 6 hours that night.
Have fun with this. Make your own food. It's so easy.
You might also be wondering HOW MUCH to feed your child?
I skipped the whole "cereal" thing all together. I decided just to do breast milk and then veggies and fruits at 6 months {if they seemed interested in food and could hold head up}. Sometimes I would add grains to foods when I pureed them. That would add bulk and keep them filled up.
The rice cereal/formula thing seemed odd to me. All it does is bulk them up. It doesn't add nutritional value.
But of course, do it if you must!
Leave a Reply