Semi-Homemade (Vegetable Stew, 8+ months)

So why “semi-homemade?”  A dear friend of mine was recently grappling with the issue of using jarred baby food and I wanted to calm her fears by letting her know it’s okay to do sometimes.  She’s a good momma with real concerns about what her daughter eats :)  She was looking for fresh peas so she could make homemade pea baby food since her little girl had already tried sweet potatoes.  As you may remember from an older post ("The Gregor Mendel Special: Peas!") peas are a great first food for babies.  However, peas aren’t always in season so there may be times in the year where you can’t access fresh peas.  Peas are usually in season around June through the beginning of September, depending on your climate.  She looked through all of the frozen peas, but even the organic varieties contained salt and of course salt is a big no-no when it comes to feeding babies.  Babies do not need extra salt or sugar added to any of their meals.  Not only will it give them a taste for unhealthy foods, it can put undue strain on their tiny kidneys :(

When is jarred food okay?

First of all, feeding your child jarred baby food is not a decision that’s going to damn you straight to hell.  It’s just like breastfeeding: it’s healthier for your child, but it’s a choice and as mothers we have the right to make our own decisions on how our children are raised.   With that being said, if you decide to feed your child homemade food there are some instances where it is perfectly acceptable to use jarred food once-in-a-while.  When my friend could not find any suitable alternatives to fresh peas, she asked if I had any advice on trying something else.  I know she wants to make all of her daughter’s food so I didn’t want to disappoint her, but when peas aren’t in season the best option is honestly organic, jarred baby food as opposed to frozen peas.  Why?  When baby food is jarred by the manufacturer it is picked at just the right time and it is flash-steamed –steaming at a high temperature for a short period of time—to lock in vital nutrients and packaged as quickly as possible.  Jarred baby food has no preservatives, no additives, just the vegetable/fruit and maybe some water.  However, frozen peas can contain all of the above as well as copious amounts of salt.

Organic is what I would always choose when it comes to jarred baby foods.  Used to you could only find organic baby foods from small, independently-owned producers that not all stores carried, but nowadays even the big companies like Gerber are getting in on the action.  Organic baby foods are easily-accessible at any grocery store.  Organic baby foods are grown without the use of potentially-harmful pesticides, genetic engineering, or artificial fertilizers.  I will still always advise using organic produce as much as possible.

So the moral of this post?  If you have to use jarred baby food because something isn’t in season, you lose power, or you’re just extremely busy, don’t sweat it.  If I’ve ever had to use it I’ve usually just loaded it down with a bunch of fresh ingredients.  Sometimes if a recipe is particularly watery I’ll add jarred peas to thicken it up, much like I did in this recipe :)  When I threw this together I didn’t do really any measuring, so it was a little of this, a little of that.  You can always make a recipe your own by adding or subtracting ingredients to your taste!

“Vegetable Stew” (8+ months, stage 3)

½ jar organic pea puree

½ tablespoon tomato paste

¼ cup cup brown rice, cooked

¼ cup baby spinach, chopped

¼ cup cubed carrot, well-cooked *mushy*

    A few snips of fresh parsley (optional)

You can microwave this recipe!!!  Mix together all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with a damp paper towel, and cook for 1 minute, stir, then cook an additional 30 seconds.  The heating is mostly just to wilt the spinach and optional parsley.  If you’re not comfortable with feeding baby whole rice just yet, place the cooked rice in the food processor and pulse a few times to break it down a little before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.  BE SURE TO COOL THE FOOD BEFORE FEEDING IT TO BABY.

Nutritional perks: Brown rice provides an excellent amount of whole grain and easily-digestible protein; carrots supply vitamin A in the form of beta carotene; tomatoes, especially cooked tomatoes, contain Lycopene, a carotenoid with no vitamin A properties but it is a powerful antioxidant that has been considered a potential agent for the prevention of certain cancers (more on Lycopene in the next article!) baby spinach is a great source of iron as well as fiber; peas round out the mix with a good carbohydrate punch from its natural sugars and starch.

So if you’re ever beating yourself up for not making every single meal totally from scratch, remember: it is OK.  Your baby won’t love you any less :)  I do know it takes a bit of the fun out of feeding your baby something you made lovingly just for him/her, but at least you’re taking the time to do it in the first place!  Believe me, I struggled with this idea for a long, long time.  Adding fresh ingredients to pre-made baby food made it a lot easier for me.  Expect a more detailed blog about Lycopene, and the red fruits/vegetables that contain it, in the near future!  Happy eating!

-Elias’s mommy

Queen of Quinoas *8+ months*

Whole grain Quinoa, uncooked

With the boom in high-protein carbohydrates & whole grains in recent years, you may have already heard a lot about Quinoa.  I was pleasantly surprised when I read that babies can enjoy this super-healthful grain as well.  The Quinoa we’re used to seeing in supermarkets are small, almost spherical grains usually in the health food section of the store.  If you can’t find it at your local Piggly Wiggly, you can surely find it at specialty stores or larger organic chains such as Whole Foods & Wild Oats.  For babies, quinoa should be ground either with a food processor, coffee grinder, or purchased as “flour” to create the smooth texture of cereal.

Quinoa is a great alternative to rice & oatmeal cereals because it is cooked by similar methods & can be easily adapted to those recipes.  It can be served savory, sweet, or plain, depending on how your child likes it.  Quinoa for babies & toddlers is usually served like a breakfast cereal with fruit, a little raw sugar, & whole milk.  When the child is over a year old it is permissible to add honey for sweetening.  Quinoa lends itself well to sweet flavors because it has a nutty, hearty flavor like really substantial oatmeal.  Quinoa is not recommended for children under 8 months of age because of its high protein content; your child may not be able to digest it very easily.  If in doubt, always talk to your child’s pediatrician!

Nutritional perks:  Due to its minimal processing, Quinoa is exceptionally nutritious.  It is teeming with fiber, protein, calcium, potassium & folic acid [see Eggplants blog] just to name a few key nutrients.  With its super-high protein content, it’s a great meat substitute for raising the vegan baby (raising vegans article coming soon!)  Quinoa is also great for children who don’t tolerate GLUTEN very well.  Quinoa is 100% gluten-free & can substitute for wheat ingredients. The Quinoa "flour" is used as a substitute for wheat flour in baking, though the high amount of protein produces a heavier texture to some baked goods.

What’s all this gluten-free talk??

You may have noticed a lot more “gluten-free” products in your supermarket.  They’ve been available for a long time in organic food stores, but with their growing popularity you can find them as easily as going into your local Walmart.  The gluten-free movement was started with more awareness of the autoimmune disorder Celiac Disease.  One stand-out problem with this disorder is the person’s inability to digest wheat or any kind of wheat products because of the wheat protein “gluten.”  Gluten is what makes bread dough stretchy but firm & keeps cakes from falling apart.  The reaction by the intestines when exposed to gluten ranges from diarrhea to severe inflammation & pain.  Prolonged exposure to indigestible proteins causes the villi in the intestines to atrophy, which greatly affects the absorption of vitamins & minerals since that is the role of villi in the intestinal tract.  The only treatment is a lifelong gluten-free diet.  Celiac Disease is not the same as a wheat allergy, though of course children with a wheat allergy can benefit greatly from the introduction of Quinoa in their diet.

Popular brand of organic,
wheat-alternative grains.

Though Celiac Disease is a big part of the gluten-free market, parents are advised not to give their child any wheat products until they reach 1 year of age to due to the occurrence of allergic reactions to wheat.  Foods that pose a big risk for an allergic reaction are generally not recommended for younger children because what would be considered even a “mild” reaction to us may be a much more severe reaction for them. Quinoa is considered mostly non-allergenic so it is ideal for most children with food sensitivity.  Gluten is also difficult for younger children to digest, which results mostly in gas, fussiness, & tummy aches :( 

Let’s make it, shall we?

I’m going to be honest, once again, this is not the quickest food in the world.  The higher the protein in grains or pasta, the longer they take to cook.  However, since the Quinoa will be ground either by you or pre-ground at purchase the time will be cut down considerably :)  Should you choose to feed your child the whole grain, just follow the directions on the package & make sure your child is ready to have chewy foods.  The Quinoa pearls may be small, but a mouthful of Quinoa could spell disaster to a child who is unable to chew hearty foods properly.

Quinoa Baby Cereal

¼ cup ground Quinoa

2 cups water

Bring water to a boil on the stovetop, slowly whisk in Quinoa powder & continuously whisk while pouring to avoid lumps.  Turn down to lowest setting & cook uncovered for about 10 minutes.  Whisk intermittently.  You can always add more water if you think the mixture is getting too thick.  That’s all she wrote!

Again, you can add fruits, sweeteners, or serve plain.  I’d suggest serving plain first so you don’t have to add sweeteners over & over again to get your little one to eat something.  Some suggest toasting the quinoa before grinding or before cooking because it is supposed to make the grain easier to digest, but that (oftentimes unnecessary) step is up to you.  Enjoy!  And remember, it’s “Keen-wah” if you have trouble finding it in the store :)  Happy eating!

-Elias’s mommy

Sources: What to Expect: The First Year book by Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, & Sandee Hathaway, B.S.N.;  http://www.en.wikipedia.org/celiac-disease; http://www.celiac.org  

Holy Guacamole!: Avocado Baby Foods *stage 1&2*

Gerber sure never made this when we were kids!  Wait, they still don’t make it!  Why?  Because the avocado isn’t shelf-stable without non-baby-safe additives (like citrus or vinegar*) so unless it’s eaten promptly, it will oxidize to a brown, gooey mess, which actually looks like what we find in diapers.  No good!  So it’s essential that you feed your baby this food as soon as possible.  You can make either a stage 1 or stage 2 food out of avocado by either pureeing it on its own or by mixing it with another fruit.  Avocado is super-rich in those “good fats” we hear so much about these days.  Monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, chock-full of omega-3’s, DHA, & vitamin E!  Not many fruits are as oily & fatty as avocado so you don’t get much of these oil-soluble nutrients like you would with avocado.  Yes, avocado is botanically a fruit, but it is still safe for children as young as 4 months old*.  They also produce a wonderful paste when ripe, as any guacamole fan will tell you.  So here is a recipe which can be tweaked & tasted to your liking.  I guarantee your little peanut will LOVE the smooth, almost pudding-like texture you'll get.  Elias can't get enough!


ADDITIONAL PROPS: Avocados are a great way to introduce a high-calorie food into your baby's diet that is actually healthy.  A medium avocado can boast almost 600 calories, but they're mostly from the healthy fats in the fruit. As with any food, moderation is always key.  You don't want to bore your baby with the same thing over and over again anyway!

Stage 1 recipe:

½ ripe avocado meat

Warm water

To safely remove avocado “meat," cut the fruit in half by running your knife lengthwise around the fruit, then pull it apart to expose one side with the pit, & the other without the pit.  As a tip, use the half without the pit & if you’re going to store the other half for later, keep the pit inside^†.  Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh into your food processor & pulse a few times.  Add water & process to your desired consistency.

Stage 2 recipe:

½ ripe avocado meat

½ ripe banana

Removing meat safely with aforementioned method, place both ingredients in a food processor & blend until a smooth paste is formed.  If still too thick, add warm water a tablespoon at a time & process to your desired consistency.

^† If storing a ripe, unused portion of avocado, place in a zip-top bag in the refrigerator & use within a day.  Remove pit by placing a towel or oven mitt over your hand, hold the avocado in that hand, & strike the pit with a large knife.  Once the knife is in the pit, twist to remove the pit & discard.  Remove brown area with the knife.  Use as desired.

*Citrus fruits & other acidic foods are not recommended until after the child has reached 1 year of age.

Love at first bite!  Avocado mixed with a little prune puree --recipe coming soon!

When homemade baby food is NOT safe: volume 1

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be any more things to scare you as a parent, the talking heads have brought forth an attack against homemade baby food.  Gasp!  Unfortunately there are some reasons why homemade baby food isn't safe for all babies, and I don’t just mean babies with food allergies.  So here is a large reason homemade baby food may not be safe for some infants: NITRATES.

If you’re like me, this word brings up thoughts of processed meats, Viagra commercials, angina & explosives (my stream of consciousness is quite polluted) Strangely enough these volatile compounds are naturally-occurring  in everyday foods such as: carrots, spinach, and squash.  The naturally-high levels of nitrates increase with improper food storage of spinach.   Why are the jarred versions of these vegetables safer than the homemade kind?  The food companies remove these compounds during manufacturing so your child will not ingest them.  What does this mean for your baby?  Unless your baby is at risk for anemia or has sickle cell disease, limited exposure is just fine.  However, these vegetables are recommended more for children over 6 months of age due to their levels of nitrates.  High levels of nitrates can cause “baby blue syndrome” where nitrates keep red blood cells from properly carrying oxygen to parts of the body, creating a “cyanotic” appearance (i.e. bluish, purplish skin discoloration).  With repeated, high exposure to nitrates, the baby will literally asphyxiate slowly.  DON’T PANIC.  You would have to be force-feeding your child foods with high-levels of nitrates over & over.  Again, if your child already has a condition where red blood cells are compromised, the occurrence of this problem is higher.

Here is a short list of common baby food ingredients that are known to have high nitrate levels:

• Carrots
• Green beans
• Squash
• Beets
• Spinach (or other dark, leafy greens)
• Turnips

Prevention?  Just try not to feed your baby too much nitrate-rich foods* to your baby if he/she is less than 6 months of age.  I'm not a fan of fear-mongering, but this may be a big help to babies with red blood cell disorders. 

-Elias's mommy

Chemical poisoning in children overview: http://www.healthofchildren.com/M/Mineral-Toxicity.html

*Not sure how much is too much?  Ask your pediatrician of your child's risk factors.


Sources: http://webmd.com, "Your Baby's First Year: Week by Week" book by Glade B. Curtis, http://mamapedia.com

Homemade Jasmine Rice Cereal *stage 1*

So why Jasmine* rice?  Well, Jasmine rice is amazingly fragrant & the taste is incomparable to regular old white rice.  The reason I choose Jasmine rice is because I want my son to experience different tastes other than the bland, expected tastes of baby food.  Obviously you can't expose your children to spicy foods or anything over-seasoned at such a young age, so you can find healthy alternatives like Jasmine rice.  There's a big plus as well: your whole kitchen will smell like flowers!  The American palette is becoming more sophisticated & food companies are taking advantage of this by adding words like "organic," "whole grain," & "all-natural" to their labels, adding much to their price & not much to the actual nutritional-value.  However, Jasmine rice remains a cheap source of all-natural & interesting flavor.  An entire bag of Mahatma Jasmine rice is half the price of prepared rice cereal.


IS HOMEMADE REALLY BETTER FOR YOUR CHILD?


Honestly, there's not much "wrong" with prepared rice cereal other than the following: 

• you don't know who prepared it & the conditions of the factory (same goes for the rice though!)
• no flavorings besides added flavorings from processed fruits
• some prepared rice cereals contain preservatives, fillers, & other additives

Honestly, the reason behind making this rice cereal is to expose your child to the wild, wonderful taste of Jasmine rice.  I'll be blunt, it's not nearly as convenient as popping open a can of prepared rice cereal & adding hot water, but it's whole grain, easy on the tummy, & much tastier than its canned counterpart.  Jasmine rice also has less "amylopectin," a polysaccharide starch, than other white rices, making it easier to digest.  It's a small difference, but hey, anything to make a baby less fussy, right??

Tools of the trade & Why I HATE the "Baby Bullet"

Realizing not everyone uses the same stuff, I thought I'd post what I use right now as a suggestion.  The first thing I wanted to do when I decided to make my own baby food is go out & buy one of those "Baby Bullet" systems by the makers of the counter top "magician" ie. the "Magic Bullet."  It's a food processor with cutesy little cups sporting smiley faces galore!  I think it's kind of disgusting how companies take advantage of mothers who just want to make what's best for their kids.  They make it seem like if we don't buy their products then we must be horrible parents!  There will always be brands trying to keep our confidence down so we'll buy their products, the trick is just trying to ignore that & go with your own instinct. What are the benefits of using the "Baby Bullet" ($80+) instead of a mini processor that can be found at your local mega-mart? (around $10-15)  Here are some of the things included & why they're not exactly necessary:

• A batch & storage tray for freezing baby food:  I don't think it's necessary to freeze baby food unless you're deciding to leave your baby for a week at a time with someone else who has no idea how to process baby food.  Why?  Fresh is best, refrigerated is second-best, & third in line is freezing, nutrition-wise.  So just make enough for what the baby eats & if there's anything left over, refrigerate it for no more than 48 hours.  Ice crystals form in all foods that contain water & the more ice crystals that form, the more the cellular structure of the food will be broken down.  There are occasions where I'm sure you'll need frozen baby food, but you can go out & buy a silicone ice cube tray for around $2, or to go even cheaper you can get a regular ice cube tray for $0.50!  Just cover it with saran wrap, freeze until solid, pop out & stick it in a zip-top bag.  Ta-da!

• "Date Dial" storage cups: I'll admit, it looks really cool, but you don't need to turn a dial to know when you made your baby's food.  Like I said before, you really should only make enough to store for less than 48 hours, but if you have to go further than than, masking tape & a sharpie works just as well.

• "Pocket Nutritionist" Recipe Guide: While it is good to have a recipe guide, there are soooo many resources available to you for baby food recipes.  Ahem, there's this blog for example :)  You can find tens of thousands of recipes online, from your local health department, pediatrician, etc.  If you want a book, you could get one from your local library or even a Barnes & Noble without having to shell out $80 for other stuff you don't need.

AND THAT'S ABOUT IT!

SO WHAT DO YOU REALLY NEED?

• Food processor --I got mine at Walmart for $10 & it is available at Walmart.com for $14. It is a Rival brand mini food processor with a 1.5 cup capacity.  Perfect size, works fantastic, easy to clean & store, safe, & even grinds rice to a fine powder.
• Storage containers --I'll admit it, I'm a supporter of Walmart because there are locations everywhere & I can get cheap, BPA-free containers to store baby food.  I got a 6-pk. of 0.5 cup capacity storage containers with lids for around $2.  The Glad "Mini Round" storage cups are BPA-free*, hold half-cup servings, & contain lids.  8 cups for $2.58 online & in stores.  I just got the 6-pk. of the store brand containers because they were more dishwasher safe & were actually slightly cheaper.  Always the thrifty one!
• Ice Cube Trays --I'm not going to pretend that no one freezes baby food just because I don't want to do it, so invest in some ice cube trays.  If you want to go all-out & get the ones specifically made for baby food, they're around $10 both online & in stores.
• Zip-Top Bags --You gotta put those frozen cubies somewhere!  Just wait until the food is frozen solid, transfer to a zip-top bag, & freeze.  There are times where we can't control the weather, power-outages, etc. so I'm not going to feel like a failure if I must freeze some food.  Hey, works for freezing breast milk!  They even have zip-top bags with a contraption to suck the air out!  NEAT!  Not really, I have one.  Works horribly.  I do have one of those "food saver" things, but if you're cheap you don't want to get those.  However, Rival makes their own version & it's significantly cheaper & works just as well.
• Insulated carrier you probably already have for bottles --keep your baby food cool while traveling long-distances in an insulated lunchbox, bottle-holder, teeny cooler, etc.  Always cheap, always available, gotta keep that food at a safe temperature!

That's what you really need.  As Alton Brown says: 

            "I only allow one 'uni-tasker' in my kitchen & that's a fire extinguisher."  

You can bet if something is made for only one purpose --like making/storing baby food-- you're probably losing money in the long run.  You can get all of the nice gadgets, gizmos, & recipe books & still not pay as much as you would for some silly "Baby Bullet" system.  If I got one as a gift, yes, I would use it, but I'd rather spend that money finding quality ingredients for baby food.

And I'm spent.  Now I must get back to cleaning my bedroom which has been ignored for the past, oh, 3 WEEKS!  If there are any questions, feel free to ask because I realize I kind of rambled here.  It's the rare moment where Elias is sleeping so I really get into my opinions.

Peas & Love,

Alli

*what's the big deal with BPA?  Check it out online! http://children.webmd.com/environmental-exposure-head2toe/bpa

"As seen on TV" might as well be a bulls-eye

for taking advantage of new mothers...

Song, Song of the South: Sweet potatoes! *Stage 1*

Ah, sweet potatoes.  A great alternative to the mashed potatoes every grandmother & great-grandmother tries to sneak across the Thanksgiving table into our babies mouths *sigh*  Not as starchy as its white-fleshed cousin, the sweet potato is full of beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, & fiber, just to name a few benefits!  Of course no baby cares about nutritional value, so there's an added bonus to sweet potatoes: they have enough natural sweetness that babies go nuts for it :)  No need to add sugar, so please resist the urge or you'll create a monster!   Believe me, you don't want your baby to get used to sugar.


It's cheap, it's considered a stage 1 food so you can feed it to a child as young as 4 months old*, & there are several ways to cook it.  Personally I steam mine, but don't think you have to run out & purchase a steamer!  I put mine in an aluminum foil packet with some water & throw it in the oven.  See?  Cheap, cheap, cheap!


Here goes for steaming:

• 1 small sweet potato
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup water
• water (for foil packet)

Peel & cut up sweet potato into small chunks, steam in a steamer or wrap up in aluminum foil with water & bake at 400 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.  Once done cooking & slightly cooled, put in mini processor with ¼  cup of water & pulse until smooth.  If it’s not watery enough, add remaining water & process until desired consistency.  Makes 1 to 1-½ cups of pureed sweet potatoes.

EASIEST WAY, BUT MESSIER:

One sweet potato, pierced; wrap in aluminum foil like a baked potato, bake at 400 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until flesh is easily pierced with a butter knife.  Skin will easily peel off, but either wait for the potato to cool or use gloves to peel the skin off!  Once peeled, put in processor & follow same directions as above.

*Can be fed to children who meet the developmental requirements to eat baby food such as: being a "supported sitter," not pushing the food out with his/her tongue immediately after feeding, can hold his/her head up.  Always talk to your pediatrician before introducing baby food into your child's diet.