Monday, January 17, 2011

Adventures in baby food

When Natali went for her 4 month check up we were given a sheet about starting her on solid foods.  It gave a whole bunch of information about what and when to feed her.  The paper said to start with cereal.  We bought a box of dry rice cereal and mixed it with formula.  She took it pretty well.  After that we tried mushed banana.  She didn't like that as well, which was surprising because I am a big fan of bananas and I figured she would inherit my sweet tooth.  The paper listed a few fruits and vegetables to try at this age, and at the bottom it talked about preparing fresh baby food at home as opposed to buying jar food.  This intrigued me.  I have absolutely nothing against jar baby food.  I know that's what I was raised on.  However, in my research I found that fresh foods are healthier and have less preservatives, and making my own baby food actually saves a lot of money.  I am not a cook by any means, but I figured I could try this.  It didn't seem too hard.

We started out by buying a small, cheap food processor and a butternut squash.  That was the first squash I ever purchased in my life, and my ignorance showed.  I had no idea I had to bake it in the oven for a whole hour before processing it!  It wasn't a big deal though.  Baking it was easy, and the food processor is really nice and quick to use.  Plus, Natali loves squash!  With the rice cereal and bananas she never finished the amount we prepared for her, but she has finished all of her squash without a problem 2 days in a row.  I tried it too.  It's actually not bad.  I have never been a squash eater, obviously, but I would probably eat a meal with squash as an ingredient.  I figure if I'm going to feed it to her I might as well be able to eat it myself.  Next we are going to try sweet potatoes.  I read that we can prepare a good amount of food at one time and freeze it in ice cube trays, then store them in a freezer bag in the freezer until we are ready to use them.

I am looking forward to preparing different foods for Natali.  It should be fun!  I found some interesting recipes for baby stuff for when she's older and can eat more than one food at a time.

In other news, Natali was diagnosed with bronchiolitis.  Darn daycare!  Then she got the rest of us sick.  I even took a sick day from work today.  I haven't done that in a really long time (other than for doctor's appointments during my pregnancy).  I don't think it hit me as hard as it could have.  I have been pretty healthy lately, and I still take several vitamins and supplements each day.

In other, other news, my cousin Julie had her second baby yesterday.  It was her 2nd daughter and her name is Lianna Michelle.  Congratulations Julie and Bill!  Also, my friend Shelbi Lynne, who I met because we both have the same condition and miscarriage history, is scheduled to have her baby boy by c-section on Friday.  Congratulations Shelbi Lynne and Matt!  It's so exciting that we were both able to have perfectly healthy babies with a simple treatment for our condition.  I can't wait to see pictures of little Wyatt! :)

3 comments:

  1. You forgot to add Butternut Squash comes out the same color it goes in....same consistency too!

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  2. To make the butternut squash taste better for parentals mix a bit of butter or margarine into it!
    Am happy to help with cooking tips! Not that Google can't help too. :)
    When I was first making food for Lucas I was so exhausted that I forgot to cook his peas - I couldn't figure out why he didn't like his smushy peas. Ew! Poor kid! :)

    Hope that you all get better super fast.

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  3. My baby got bronchialitis too! I had never heard of it and we took her to Urgent Care because she was breating rapidly. They did a neb there, but then said it would just run its course. They also tested her for rsv, 20 days later, she still has symptoms. She was just put on amoxicilan because her ped thinks she probably has a sinus infection.

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