Homemade Baby Food

When I was about to introduce solids to our daughter, I said that I would make my own. I had books on how to do it and I had friends (including moms with full-time jobs, love you Jenn!) who made it work. It seemed pretty easy. I didn't say my child would ONLY have homemade, because I knew I'd have to use jars occasionally when traveling.

Fast forward to 15 months later and I'm trying to get back in the swing. I had a baby who preferred nursing to solid foods and would often eat less than half a food cube (ice cube shaped portion of food, more about that later) in one sitting. Food was sitting in our fridge and freezer spoiling, because Kalaya wouldn't eat enough. Plus, she'd eat the jarred stuff much better. It almost hurt my feelings that she preferred the jars, I was making her food with so much love! : ) But, I knew that the jars had healthy things that were organic. I decided I'd rather have a child eating than not. It really didn't matter though; she really has only started eating regularly in the last couple of months. I could have easily gotten away with nursing her only the first year, with no solids. (and, the advice so many people are willing to give about sleeping long/through the night after introducing solids?? Not with this kid.)

My wonderful friend (since we were 7!) Laura recently blogged about making her own baby food. She is a stay-at-home-mom as well, but she has a toddler and an infant. (though it sounds like her six month old eats more than my 15 month old!!) And she's making her own. I felt like I had no excuse. I decided to start up again.

I have book Blender Baby Food which is just perfect, I love it!! I've also read Baby Super Food and The Nutrition Book, which are both great also. I've made several batches of recipes from Blender and put froze them in ice cube or muffin trays. Then I put the frozen cubes in tupperware or baggies in the freezer. I modify them a bit, so that they're thicker and chunkier, since Kalaya is a big older than what the recipes are designed for. It's like having go-to ready meals!! Here are the recipes I made this week (all organic ingredients) Add water or stock to thin out. Or breast milk or formula:

Summer Savory (6 months and up, according to the book)

1 tbsp veg oil, 1/2 cup of leeks (white and light green parts), 1 cup diced peeled potatoes, 1/2 cup frozen corn (I used diced carrots instead, didn't have corn), 1/2 cup diced tomatoes (I used canned organic, had some leftover), 1/2 cup low-sodium veg stock (Trader Joe's), 1 tbsp parsley

Saute leeks in oil about 5 min until tender, add potatoes, tomatoes & carrots (corn) and saute until potatoes are golden, about 5 min. Add stock, reduce heat to medium. Cover and simmer about 15 min until potatoes are tender. Stir in parsley. Let Cool. Blend until desired consistency.

Quick and Easy Quinoa (this is great for mixing in with veggie and other food cubes)
7 months and up

1 cup quinoa, 2 cups veg stock, 1/4 cup grated parmesan.

Toast dry quinoa in skillet over med heat until golden, about 3 min. Add stock, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 12-15 min, until liquid is absorbed. Let cool, add cheese and blend.

Lemon Chickpeas with Carrots and Celery (8 months and up)

1 cup dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans), 2 cups water, 1 tsp veg oil, 1/4 cup diced onion (I used leeks, since I had some leftover), 1/4 cup diced celery, 1/4 cup diced peeled carrot, 1 cup veg stock, 1 bay leaf, 1 lbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1 tbsp parsley.

Soak chickpeas in water overnight. Heat oil in saucepan, saute onion, celery, carrot until tender about 5 min. Add stock, chickpeas and bay leaf; bring to boil. Cover, reduce hear and simmer until chickpeas are tender, about 45 min. Let cool. Blend with lemon juice and parsley.

Spinach, Salmon and Rice (8 months and up)

2 tsp EVOO, 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup rice (I used brown) 1 cup water, 1 cup chopped fresh spinach or other green, such as blanched kale or chard. (I used baby spinach) 4 oz skinless salmon fillet, double check for bones!!!, 1 tsp lemon juice

Saute onion in oil over med heat about 3 min. Add rice, stir until coated with oil. Stir in water and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until water is mostly absorbed and rice is slightly tender. This will vary, based on type of rice. Takes much longer with brown than white. Place spinach and salmon on top of rice; cover and cook until spinach is wilted and salmon flakes easily with a fork, about 10 min. Let sit, covered for 10 min. Add lemon juice and blend. WARNING: store this separately from other foods, unless you want a fishy smell on other foods.

Chicken with Celery (can sub other veggie) (8 months and up)

6 oz boneless skinless breast diced (fresh only, don't thaw and re-freeze meat), 1 cup chopped celery, 1 cup low sodium chicken stock

Combine all in saucepan, bring to simmer over medium heat. Cover and simmer until veg is tender and chicken is no longer pink, about 15 min. Let cool and blend.

Chicken Stew (8 months)

1 tbsp veg oil, 6 oz chick (see above) diced, 1/2 cup diced peeled carrot, 1/4 cup onion (leek), 1/4 cup diced celery, 1 small potato cubed, 1 cup chicken stock, 1 tbsp parsley

Brown chicken in oil over med high heat. Add carrot, onion, celery, saute another 5 min. Stir in potato and stock, bring to a boil. Return chicken to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender about 20 min. Stir in parsley. Let cool. Blend.

Spinach Surprise (9 months)

1 tbsp EVOO, 1/4 cup minced onion, 1 package (10 oz) fresh spinach, stems removed, 1/2 cup half & half, 1/4 cup parmesan

Saute onion in oil about 5 min. Add spinach and cream. Cover and cook until spinach is wilted, about 3 min. Remove heat and let cool slightly. Add cheese and blend.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Gratin (9 months)

1 cup broccoli florets, 1 cup cauliflower florets, 1 cup veg stock, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Combine veggies and stock in saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, simmer for about 15 min. Let cool. Add cheese and blend.

Tomato, Cauliflower and Cheese (9 months)

2 tsp EVOO, 1/4 cup chopped onion, 1 cup cauliflower florets, 1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes in juice, 1/4 cup shredder cheddar cheese

Saute onion in skillet with oil, about 5 min. Add cauliflower and tomatoes with juice. Cover, reduce heat, simmer about 10 min. Let cool. Add cheese and blend.

No name, I just made it up! (don't know what age....sorry!)

2 sliced zucchini, 2 tsp EVOO, 1/4 cup parmesan

Saute zucchini in oil over med heat until tender 5-10 min. Drain on paper towel. Let cool. Add cheese and blend.

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I'm going to make more with fruit soon. I add ready made baby cereal (oatmeal or mixed grains) if I want it to be thicker. Laura directed me to this site too, that I'll try soon!

15 Months

Well, things around here are busy, busy, at least for Miss Kalaya! She is growing and changing so much every day, I can't keep up with everything! This last month has been full of so many new things, it is so exciting to watch her!

Kalaya is walking, walking, walking! She basically just got up about 2 weeks ago and walked back and forth across the room all day and hasn't stopped. She definitely could have done it much sooner, she just lacked confidence. She is go, go, go! It's super cute, we love watching her waddle everywhere, toes turned out, knees locked. She gets going really fast, falls over, and gets right back up again. She seems so unsteady, but she doesn't fall as much as it seems like she should. She explores all over the house and any where else we go.

It's crazy how much her play time has changed. She is so independent at playing, as she always has been, but even more so now. Our house is pretty much completely Kalaya-proof (not necessarily any baby proof, she knows what she is and isn't supposed to get into), so she likes to explore and experiment where ever she goes. She has some drawers in the kitchen to play in, which she LOVES and empties several times a day. She has lots of toys, though she doesn't play with a lot of them as much. She looooooves books. She sits and reads quietly to herself several times a day, which just tickles me to death. She is starting to play pretend, which is adorable. She hugs and kisses her babies and animals, puts them on blankets, while saying "night night!", pushes them in the stroller, carries around bowls and spoons to "feed" herself, pushes trucks around and has a noise that goes with them, pretends to brush her hair, put on lotion, carries a purse around, plays dress-up with animal ears, jewelry, hats and shoes; it's so fun!

Her eating habits have gotten much more diverse. (on most days) She will finally eat a lot of different foods. She also seems to want to eat more in one sitting. We used to throw out a lot of food, because she wouldn't eat it!! It was awful, I hated the waste! Now that she's eating bigger meals, I've gone back to making meals for her (kind of baby food and baby food upgrades), freezing a bunch and having them ready. I like that she's being exposed to so many tastes and foods, which you certainly can't get in baby food jars! I made some with broccoli, cauliflower, salmon, quinoa, and avocado, just to name a few. I haven't seen those pre-made! Part of the reason she may be eating better now is that 2 more molars came in, so maybe teething will slow down a bit. She's up to 12 teeth!

She says 2 words clearly now (bye bye and night night) and has several more that are very close. (do for dog, da for daddy, nnnuh for nurse or sometimes no, etc.) She signs a LOT, which is so helpful, I am so, so glad we decided to sign with her! If for no other reason, it avoids meltdowns, because she has figured out that crying will not get her what she wants/needs. If she starts to fuss, whine, beg, etc, we say, "Use your words please!" and she signs for what she needs. This includes: want please, all done, more, help, eat/food, nurse, dad, mom, sorry and we see a LOT of dogs and birds when we're out and about! : )

One thing that has been happening at our house occasionally, it time out. With this new freedom of walking, of course, comes independence. It maybe happens once a day, if that. It's only if she's doing something unsafe, after a warning, or if she refuses to do something deliberately. (usually when she has something she's not supposed to and won't give it to the person requesting it) She gets a warning and she KNOWS what "time-out" means. A lot of the time, simply saying, "Do you need a time out for not listening?" is plenty and the behavior stops. (this is after we've asked her to stop repetedly and tried distraction too, unless it's something extreme or dangerous) If she refuses to cooperate, we have a spot in the family room that we put her in until she calms down (since it's usually not accepted well) or 1 minute, whichever is second. She then has to say (sign) "sorry" and give hugs and kisses, which she always does and 9 1/2 times out of 10, the behavior disappears! It's been working great. I'm amazed that parents think that their 3 or 4 year old "won't understand" time out. The first couple of times she tried to get away, but now she understand that she stays there until we say she can get up.

Yesterday something AMAZING happened. My mom and I were out shopping and I found a potty for her that was dirt cheap on sale that can either sit on the ground, convert to a seat to put on the big toilet, or a stool for after they're trained. I bought it and set it up in the bathroom, just to get it out of the box. We told Kalaya what it was and didn't think anything of it. A little while later, while starting to talk about bath time, she started undoing her diaper. I asked, "Do you want to sit on the potty?" She knew exactly what we meant and walked into the bathroom. I helped her sit on it and gave her some water to drink. I had a book we looked at and less than 3 minutes later, there was pee pee in the potty!!! We couldn't believe it! And, she did it again today! I had NO intention of starting potty training this early, but who knows??? I have read that cloth diaper babies can learn earlier, but this seems REALLY early. We're going to leave it in the bathroom and any time she shows interest, we'll let her sit on it. We'll also offer in the morning, after naps and just before bath. No rush, of course, but why the heck not???

We've been pretty busy this summer on the weekends. We've attended some weddings and we went to Nelson's 10 year reunion. (eek, that means mine is only a year away!!) This was a step for us as parents, because we left Kalaya with 2 friends of ours, which we've never done before. She has always only been left with one or the other of us. She has stayed with my parents twice, less than 30 minutes each time. She did fine, we did fine. I'm glad we waited as long as we did. It's funny, when I posted on Facebook that we were leaving her for the first time at 14 months, people acted like we were nuts for waiting so long. And they acted like leaving your child is such a huge break and so relaxing! I don't know, it was fine, but I didn't think, OMG, why did we wait so long?? Nelson and I are both in total agreement that we will have YEARS to be just the two of us. We like being with our baby! Maybe when we have more it will be different, but she's nice to have around. : )

We have been doing some sleep training at our house. As parents, we agree that learning to sleep should be like any other part of growing up: solid foods, weaning, potty training, etc. We think that when our children are ready, they'll take the next step. We don't believe in forcing them aka, for sleep training, we don't leave them alone in a room to cry themselves to exhaustion. We know many people swear by it, but we're choosing otherwise. Since we c0-sleep, Kalaya still had been waking up once a night to nurse, which was fine. Then, she started waking up much more often, for several nights in a row. I was beyond exhaustion, so we tried an experiment. Since Nelson usually sleeps in his own room and I sleep with her, we decided to switch. Because Kalaya hasn't HAD to be nursed to sleep in several weeks, I felt confident that she is able to fall asleep on her own. So, Nelson sleeps with her and I sleep in the next room. It has been working! Kalaya stays asleep most of the night between 8pm and 6am. However, a LOT of people told us that once she wasn't getting to nurse at that 3am feeding, she would stay asleep and sleep all night. WRONG! It's been 3 weeks and that hasn't changed. But, she does go right back to sleep pretty quickly most nights. And, when she wakes up at 6, I go in to nurse her and she usually goes back to sleep until 9 or even 10am. The funny thing is, I don't feel like I'm getting THAT much more sleep. I sleep for longer stretches, which is great, but during the day, I don't feel any more rested than when I used to nurse her once a night. I knew I was getting enough sleep from co-sleeping. : )