In the Samad household cooking is much more than something we do to quiet our growling bellies. It is a huge part of our life, consuming much of our time, a large chunk of our budget, and it is something we enjoy doing as a family. So it should come as no surprise that when it came time to feed Jack we wanted to be the ones to prepare his meals.
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| How many knives do you need to cut a mango??? |
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| Pureed butternut squash |
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| Finished product |
We purchased
Super Baby Food, a helpful but largely overwhelming book about baby food preparation. We skimmed through the book and decided that we wanted to make most of his food, but that we were ok with purchasing cereal and some of the fruits and vegetables. When he was six months old we started steaming and pureeing some of the recommended first foods and have gradually added variety to his diet each week. We have learned his favorites (peaches and pears), and have learned that green beans are best from Gerber. (I could never really get the texture right.)
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| My kitchen helper |
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| A meal with Aunt Marcia |
One of the things that I enjoy about making his food is that I can control the texture, taste, and variety. He is now able to handle thicker foods and I have decreased the amount of time that I puree each batch.
We are at the point where we want to start mixing flavors and adding spices to his foods. We're seeking out new recipes and have stumbled upon a few that we're going to try.
Today we are going to try
Moroccan-ish Carrots and Yams from Smitten Kitchen. This is one of my favorite foodie blogs and she has great pictures to accompany each recipe. I have found a few keepers from her site and I would encourage you to check it out. We might just try the
First Spinach with White Yams too, since I haven't yet tried to prepare fresh spinach.
I am looking for some new ideas and inspirations for purees and meals and finger foods. If you have any favorite recipes that are a hit with your kids, please share! Jack has just started eating Cheerios and Puffs, plus egg yolk, tofu, and cottage cheese.
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| First puff |
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| A mixture of egg yolks and tofu |
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| His first taste of Skyline. He slurped the spaghetti while we ate. |
2 comments:
I'm glad you finally caved and gave him Skyline! We have found that smaller pasta works better...not Rotini.
We give Casey just about any type of meat or anything soft (cottage cheese, baked & mashed potatoes, pickles). She'll eat it. :) For the meat, I would recommend small amounts, like slivers, half of a dime size or so. Lo gives her bigger amounts and it freaks me out, but she seems to handle it just fine. Steak, tuna, chicken, and crab are big hits here. I remind her to "chew, chew, chew" and demonstrate for her.
Casey has 5 1/2 teeth now, so that may make a difference, too. She seems to prefer food with texture rather than the pureed Gerber food. Oh, Triscuits are a nice side, too. She likes those on her gums.
Tell Jack that we miss him and can't wait to see him again. :)
Can I just call you Super Mom?!?!?
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