First Food

Avocado!
Yum.
Yum.
Yummy?

or maybe not.

Why I choose Avocados as my first food.
Taken from Wholesome Baby Food.

""Avocados are often called one of nature's perfect foods because they are said to contain everything a person needs to survive. A wonderful "good fat" food for baby's brain and physical development, try an avocado as baby's first food instead of refined cereals.

"Sodium- and cholesterol- free, avocados contain valuable nutrients including 8% of the recommended Daily Value (DV) for folate; 4% DV for fiber and potassium, 4% DV for vitamin E; and 2% DV for iron. A serving of avocado also contains 81 micrograms of the carotenoid lutein and 19 micrograms of beta-carotene. Per serving, avocados have 3.5 grams of unsaturated fats, which are known to be important for normal growth and development of the central nervous system and brain."'

Wahhh! What is this stuff?

Hummm... Maybe I do like it.
Bring it mom!

Yum!

You can check out my post on making baby food here.

Homemade Baby Cereal

My baby is 9 months old. I can't believe it!
Where does the time go...

A few months ago I wrote about making my own baby food and what foods I started with. I explained that I don't start with cereal, instead I start with avocados. Many Pediatricians use to recommend starting with rice because it considered one of the least allergenic foods. However, many Peds are now leaning toward starting with avocados, banana's or sweet potatoes. I do believe whole grains to be very nutritious and an important part of a babies diet, but until 6-8 months a baby's digestive system isn't mature enough to handle whole grains. The processed and refined rice cereal you purchase is not a whole grain, (the good stuff has been taken out and it has been 'enriched') which is why you can feed it to a very young infant.

Making baby food is very easy.
Fruits and vegetables simply need to be washed thoroughly, cooked/steamed and pureed. It is simple to do this in large quantities and freeze in freezer cube trays or small containers. Cereal takes slightly more time until you get a system down. There are several short cuts you can take to decrease the time cereal takes to prepare.

1. Blending whole grains into a powder in a food processor or blender will shorten the cooking time. As your baby grows, you can shorten the blending time resulting in a thicker cereal.
2. The powdered cereal you purchase from the store has been processed, refined, precooked and dehydrated, which allows you you 'just add liquid'. Cereal you make from whole grains must be cooked, even in a powdered state.
   
3. Making big batches and freezing extra cereal will cut down on preparation time.

Brown Rice Cereal

• 1/4 cup brown rice powder
• 1 cup water

Bring water to a boil. Add the rice powder, stirring constantly. Reduce to a simmer. Simmer 10 minutes, whisking consistency. Add breast milk, water or formula to desired constantly. Serve warm, add pureed fruits/veggies if desired. Freeze extra. Double or triple if desired.

Oatmeal
1/4 cup ground old fashioned oats, NOT instant or quick cook
3/4 - 1 cup water

Bring water to a boil. Add the oatmeal powder, stirring constantly. Reduce to a simmer. Simmer approximately 10 minutes, whisking constantly until cooked. Add breast milk, water or formula to desired consistency. Serve warm, add pureed fruits/veggies if desired. Freeze extra. Double or triple if desired.

NOTES:

• When making baby cereal, you are not limited to brown rice and oatmeal! Any whole grain can be make into cereal. A good general rule to follow is 1/4 cup powdered grain to 1 cup water. The smaller the grain, the more water you will need. Smaller grains pack together tighter making them more dense than larger grains.
• Around 7 months of age your baby can have mixed grains. Simply mix the grains and cook together.
• Around 9 months of age your baby can have beans/legumes. Grind beans in blender and cook with the grains. Two parts grains to one part beans/legumes equals a complete protein.
  
• The less powdery you grind the beans/legumes and grains, the longer the cooking time will need to be.
• If you are making rice/millet/barley/couscous/quinoa/beans... for your family, simply puree or mash after cooked and feed to your baby.
• Healthy add in's (wait until 8-9 months): brewer's yeast, kelp, wheat germ, flax

Remember, whole grains are a great way to start every one's day!
Ditch those boxed cereals, add some fruit, cinnamon and a little honey or sugar, and you've got a great breakfast for the whole family :)

Baby Food

Yes you are right! I was making my own organic baby food.

Ashlynn started eating big girl food on Christmas Eve.
We started with avocados, then bananas which constipated her so we stopped, now she has added sweet potatoes to the mix. Yum!

I give my babies avocado as their first food. The health benefits of giving babies (and all children) avocados to eat are countless! They are one of nature's perfect foods. Avocados contain healthy fats great for your little ones' brain development, plus much more. They can be easily mashed with out the need to puree in a blender or baby food mill.

Making baby food is incredibly easy, less expensive than buying it and it's got to taste better. My favorite baby food making book is Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. I don't agree with, or do everything she says. However, her book has a wealth of information in it, a lot of good tips and many tasty, kid friendly recipes. Another great resource for making (and feeding babies) baby food is Wholesome Baby Food.

The basic steps for everything you make are the same.
Wash, cook until soft( if needed), puree and freeze.

Yesterday...
I cooked one LG sweet potato for about 1 1/2 hours in a glass dish with a lid on it. Let it cool, removed the skin and then pureed it. You may add liquid if needed for your babies age.

Next I scooped the potatoes into ice cube trays (my potato made 2 trays of cubes) then I put the trays into the freezer.

When the potato cubes were frozen I popped them out and put them in a freezer bag to store.

To use, remove # of cubes desired from freezer, thaw, add liquid if necessary and feed. I normally warm the food a bit as well.

If bananas and avocados are on sale, I will mash and freeze them but I normally mash those two foods at feeding time. An avocado or a banana is the first thing I will grab to feed my baby if we are going to be gone over a meal. You can toss the whole thing, in it's peel, into your diaper bag. If your baby doesn't finish it, you can, or you can put the extra in a baggie to finish later.

Here is a chart of great first foods and when to start what, plus why I wait to start until my baby is close to 6 months and why I've chosen not to start with rice cereal. Super Baby Food also has all this information.

I normally introduce grains between 6 and 8 months. Your babies digestive system isn't developed enough to handle whole grains (oatmeal, barley, millet, quinoa, couscous) until 6 months. Making your own baby cereal is easy too! I'll save that for another day.