Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Adventures in Solids: Part II

So a while ago I posted that we had started the boy-o on some solids, and provided a how-to on making your own puree from Sweet Potato. Since then we've greatly expanded on the boy-o's eating repertoire and have now tried making our own baby food from Sweet Potato, Avocado, Apples, Pears, Squash, Pumpkin and Rice Cereal.

Squash and Rice Cereal Face

It's been really easy to make our own foods so far, and I know the boy-o is certainly loving his food! We've made all of them essentially the same way: the sweet potato, squash, and pumpkin have all been cooked in a little water in the microwave (the first batch of Sweet Potatoes were boiled!), and then were mashed into a puree and placed into the ice cube trays to freeze.

The apples and pears were both cut up into tiny chunks and boiled in a small amount of water. Once the fruit was tender the water was saved to add as necessary when they were mashed up. I added a pinch of cinnamon to the apples to make it similar to applesauce in flavour and the boy-o loved that!

 
Avocado is a little different because you don't need to cook it. (The only other baby food you don't need to cook is bananas!) So once the avocado was ripe I simply scooped it out, added a little water and mashed it up as well, then put it into the ice cube trays to freeze it. 
 

 
 
When the boy-o is ready to eat some of it, I take one or two cubes from the bag and microwave them for 30-45 seconds to melt them, mix them up, and add more water if necessary to achieve a smooth runny texture. Any baby-spoon is great, but we have a really handy one we got in a baby sample pack where the purple tip turns colour if the food is too warm!
 
Other than mixing the Sweet Potato and Apples together, which I think is the boy-o's current favourite, we haven't tried any mixes yet. Once we add in a few more veggies we'll start experimenting with some other mixtures.
 
 
 
What were some of your little's favourite baby food combinations? One of my cousin's little boys loved black beans and bananas together! I stumbled across a really great website the other day for making your own baby food with some great suggestions for combining foods. It's called: Wholesome Baby Food. I look forward to checking it out frequently as the boy-o grows and his appetite for new and exciting foods grows too!

8 comments:

  1. Oh very clever spoon!! Tip I read is to put their bowl/plate in the fridge so if the food is too hot, you can transfer it to a cold plate and it'll cool down very quickly! Maybe for when he is eating more "meal" type rather than the individually heated cubes however?

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    1. It really is a great spoon, and it's narrower than a lot of the other baby spoons we have which fits the boy-o's mouth much better too. That's a great tip about the plates as well--good to keep in mind for later!

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  2. Great that you are making your baby food. I am a lot older than you but 27 years ago I made all my daughter's food. I basically took everything we were eating (healthy) and took a portion for her and froze it. It really worked out well and today she has no allergies and I believe it it because I made her food.

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    1. Thanks for your comment Annemarie. A big part of the reason we wanted to make the boy-o's food ourselves is for exactly the reason you mentioned--we want him to be able to eat whatever we're eating, without having to make him "special" meals once he gets a bit older.

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  3. What an absolute cutie!!
    Both my babies now 7 and 2 loved their food so much right from the start.
    I loved too those Sinchies things so you can make your own squeezee pouches (like the yoghurt ones you buy in the shop) but these are reusable. Very handy for when you are out and about X

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    1. Thanks for your comment Rebecca. I think he's pretty cute too. ;) I had never heard of those Sinchies things until you mentioned it. I've contacted the company to see if they would be interested in a product review. They look pretty neat! Thanks for the heads up on them.

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  4. What a cutiepie! We love sweet potatoes because they're healthy and delicious. Love the natural baby food recipes here, thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks for your comment Jenny. (and the boy-o thanks you too!) my hubby and I actually hate Sweet Potato but we're trying not to let our food preferences stop him from trying things. Which is good--because he seems to love Sweet Potato!

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