My Growing Giraffe

 

Waiting for dinner

I know I've mentioned before that I make all of Toby's baby food. I get such a sense of pride in knowing EXACTLY what goes into his food. Perhaps I'm still sour over the fact that I had to feed him formula and couldn't exclusively breastfeed him (I am getting over it, I swear!) Or maybe I'm just paranoid about all the chemicals and additives in the foods we eat, but he still hasn't had any food from a jar/can.

I closely follow the So Easy baby food model of introducing certain foods and spices at particular times in his development. So far he's had:

Avocado
Sweet Potatoes
Peas
Butternut Squash
Zucchini
Banana
Tofu
Pears
Peaches
Apples
Black Beans
Rice Cereal

 

I never thought I would be a mom who spent every Sunday morning making baby food. Honestly, I had envisioned myself pulling food from a jar. I do want to say I have absolutely no judgment about babies eating jarred foods, really. I own some jarred foods and pouches that, at some point, I might feed him. But, for now, I'm very content making his food in my kitchen. It literally takes me about an hour, including clean-up!

Every Sunday I usually make two different types of food. Historically, Sunday has always been a day that Aaron and I make a big deal out of breakfast so, at about 7 AM, after we've fed Toby his bottle, we set him up in the kitchen and Aaron and I cook a big breakfast and make his baby food. I'm really hoping it teaches Toby to appreciate food, understand what goes into food preparation, and feel good about the fact that his parents cook together and share the kitchen. We make it really fun; he sits in his high-chair, we cook, sing, and dance.

Making his food has been much easier (and cheaper) than I imagined it would be. Every time I make food it yields him about 12 servings. Like I said, I use the So Easy baby book of recipes and the So Easy trays. I use a food processor, the veggie or fruit of choice, and I add a little of the juices I used to cook the food (if it requires cooking) as I process it. Then I simply spoon the food into the freezer trays and freeze them for 24 hours (leaving out 4 servings for him to eat over the next few days.) It's awesome.

 

Part of my stash. As you can see they are all in individual 1T cubes. I simply select two, let them defrost and voila! So easy and healthy! Each bag is labled with the contents and the date.

Like the book recommends, I introduce new foods at his first meal of the day and repeat that for 3-5 days. Then, I record any reactions he has to them (Does he like it? Does he show signs of allergy?) So far he only had a very small reaction to the Tofu (soy.) I love that I know exactly what is in the food, therefore if he did have a reaction there wouldn't be any question in my mind as what it was to. I can also introduce spices to his foods, which is really exciting.

For instance, last Sunday I made him peaches. Sunday through Wednesday he'll get 2T peaches every morning. After Wednesday, I'll add cinnamon to his peaches and try that for a few days so I can make sure he doesn't have a reaction to cinnamon. (At his lunches and suppers I give him foods he has already had.) Currently, he drinks about 24-28 oz. of formula per day, has 1 oz of organic pear juice, about 7-10 oz of water and 6T of solid foods.

Making his food gives me so much variety and the ability to experiment. I take a lot of comfort in knowing that his meals are organic and preservative free (I mean, some of my jarred foods don't expire for years... how does that work!? Yikes!)  As much as possible, I try to serve some of the foods to him fresh (banana and avocado.) Further, I'm also a stickler about the microwave. I take all his food out of the freezer the night before. I won't allow his food/liquids to go in the microwave. I kind of feel psycho sometimes.

Toby is a really good eater. He loves his foods (okay, except peas) and gets really excited at meal times. Perhaps it would be easier to feed him from a jar, but I'm really digging our routine and knowing what my baby is (or isn't) eating.

 

I want my little meatball to grow big and strong!