Baby Food: 6 months

This may seem very “crunchy” of me, but yes, I make Davis’ baby food.  And yes, most of it is organic.  Here’s a few reasons why:

• I believe we need to take charge of our own health.  Davis needs Todd and I to do this for him, and I take this responsibility seriously.
• Food is medicine.
• I had to start him on formula at 5 months, and making his food helps my mommy-guilt from not being able to keep breastfeeding
• It saves us money.
• I love to cook.  I make almost all of our meals at home, so it isn’t any real trouble for me to make D’s as well.

Davis’ First Tastes. “What is this, Mommy?”

First Step: Oatmeal with Banana and Oatmeal with Apples

We started Davis on solids when he was 6 months old.  We decided to start with oatmeal (babies do not need rice cereal).

I bought organic old-fashioned oatmeal from Trader Joe’s.  I cooked it (according to package directions) and blended it with bananas and with organic apples (2 c oatmeal [before cooking] + 3 bananas or with 3 peeled, cubed, steamed apples).  I made sure it was very smooth, since he wasn’t used to eating anything with texture.  I let it cool, then froze it in ice cube trays.  Once frozen, pop the cubes out and store in a labeled freezer bag.  This makes at least a month’s worth of oatmeal.  At first, he only ate 1 cube each day, but we increased it to 2 at around 7 months.

Second Step: Sweet Potato and Avocado 

The next foods we fed him were sweet potato and avocado.  Our family doctor encouraged us to feed him 3 meals after his 6-month check-up.  He didn’t eat much at first, but he quickly got used to real food.

For the sweet potato, I buy a bag of organic sweet potatoes from Trader Joe’s.  I just wash them, pierce them with a fork, and bake at 400 for around an hour.  Then I peel them and either mash them with a fork, or blend in a food processor.  At this stage, add a little water.  Freeze in ice cube trays, then store in a labeled freezer bag.

For the avocado, make sure it is very ripe, and mash with a fork.  Add a little water before serving.  Those do not need to be organic.  I mash his avocado right before he eats it, but I wrap up the other half in saran wrap and it stays good for a day or two.

Third Stage: Broccoli-Pear; Apples with Cinnamon 

I cooked and pureed broccoli and pear together.  I wanted him to have green veggies, but thought I could sweeten them with just a little pear.  I bought 1 bag of **organic fresh broccoli from Trader Joe’s, and 2 organic pears.  *Steam the broccoli.  Peel, dice, and steam the pear.  Then puree them together. Let cool and freeze in ice cube trays, then store in a labeled freezer bag.

Broccoli-Pear Process

For the “applesauce,” buy 4 organic apples.  Peel and dice them.  *Steam them with about 1 tsp ground cinnamon.  Puree, and add a little bit of the cooking liquid.  Cool, then freeze in ice cube trays and store in a labeled freezer bag.

*When I say to steam, I put them in a pot with about 1/2 c water, and cook on low or medium low with a lid.  You could also cook them in a glass bowl with a little water, and covered with saran wrap, in the microwave.

**You can also buy frozen organic veggies!

A few tips:

• I typically thaw his food in the microwave on defrost.  I serve it to him warm.
• If your baby doesn’t like something, don’t give up.  Try mixing it with something a little sweeter.  Sweet potato can often cover up a more “vegetable” taste. If that doesn’t work, try again the next day.
• It takes them several tries to get used to real food.
• We gave him oatmeal in the morning, something for lunch, like 1 cube of broccoli-pear and 1 cube of sweet potato, then a cube of applesauce, and some avocado for dinner.  That is just an example.
• At this point, we were still giving him 4-5 bottles of formula as well.  (We use Earth’s Best formula).
• You don’t need to buy everything organic.  Here is a good reference for the “dirtiest” foods.  Dirty Dozen vs Clean Fifteen

I will post about the next stage in baby food soon!