Who needs sugar?

This kid is definitely learning some healthy & varied eating habits. I'd say my mission to keep him from becoming dependent on salt and sweeteners has been a success so far.

He LOVES unsweetened lemon water, plain hot cereal, plain yogurt and fresh cranberries. My mom about passed out in surprise when I gave him a wedge of lemon while we were out for breakfast the other morning. He really enjoyed it though. He was content and quiet, while eating two wedges is any sign at all. ;) It was a perfect finger food to let him just sit and knaw on.

Today's new finger food was plain kidney beans and was a big hit. I've had such a hard time coming up with a variety of finger foods since he really hasn't gotten the whole chewing thing down yet. The main ones are blueberries, cherries, fruit and veggie rice puffs, nutrigrain bars and now beans. Unless I soften it up he gags on cheese (but loves it) and was choking on stuff like toast up until this week when I tried it again. Anything with really dry crumbs that he can accidently breath in he has had trouble with up till now. I was surprised today that he did so well with corn bread. Didn't choke once.

He still hasn't been able to figure out how to tip his sippy cup in order to drink while sitting up, but he's been doing really good learning to drink from a kid sized plastic cup.

Blueberries, bananas and beans, oh my!

Frozen blueberries, plus mushed up bananas, plus cereal = nom!



Torsten's been eating a lot of beans, tomato sauce and beef the past couple days. I picked up a couple jars of stage three baby food and he loves the spaghetti with beef and the beef and veggies. I made roast beef so he got some of that chopped up small and really enjoyed it too. The roast beef was turned into stew. The base of my stew was a big pot of mixed beans and barley. Torsten loves beans but I have yet to find a brand/store that sells canned beans that are sugar and salt free so he doesn't get them often. I decided I'd go to a little extra trouble and cook up a bag of dried 16 bean mix instead of the usual canned beans so that he could have some.

I really don't like taking the time to make large batches of baby food but I felt ambitious yesterday. I cooked the beans and added veggies and a few herbs(carrot, onion, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, parsley, summer savory and garlic) then took out a portion for Torsten. Three enough in the magic bullet for about 15 ounces and chopped it up till it was mostly mush with some decent chunks in it. It all fit in about 5 little single serving tupperwares. I saved out oneand froze the rest. The soup turned out fantastic for us grown ups once I added the beef, salt and the rest of seasonings by the way!

For lunch today torsten had the serving of beans that I saved out mixed with curry powder and a little more garlic. He inhaled the whole bowl full so I think it was a hit!

For dinner I microwaved a small handful of frozen blueberries, smooshed them with a fork and mixed in some oatmeal baby cereal, ground flax seed and a jar of banana baby food. Some cinnamon and cardamom for the finishing touch and he cleaned his plate!

Eggs For A Busy Day

We were out and about all afternoon today doing the grocery shopping and running errands. Despite the people who give welfare a bad name, I have to say, I love my food stamps! This is our first month getting any and I am so greatful to live in a country that helps out it's citizens. My husband and I worked for years to pay taxes so that this service would be here for us if we ever needed it.

Anyways, Torsten didn't have anything but formula while we were out and was starving and fussy when we got home. While I put groceries away he munched in his booster chair at the bar. He ate Gerber Peach Puffs and Gerber freeze dried strawberries and bananas, about 1/2 cup total. The freeze dried fruit is a new food for him and he loved it! Had no problem with the texture even tho the package technically said "only for kids 12 months old and up". I really prefer walmart organic puffs or the organic ones from target, since those brands are no sugar added, but we went to Winco today and all they had was Gerber. Gave him a handful of shredded Italian mix cheese. Boy was that a mess. I don't think much made it to his mouth. Thank goodness I have pets to clean the floor for me!

I've had a stressed out unproductive week and he has been eating his food pretty much straight out of the jar and unaltered. I wanted to liven things up a little tonight and decided it was time for some eggs!

*Keep in mind, doctors currently recommend giving kids his age only the yolk, as the egg whites are a common allergenic. They don't recommend feeding eggs at all until 8 months of age. However I hadn't read this back when he was three months old and I started giving him scrambled eggs off my plate! Oops. He's never had a reaction and so I figure there is no reason to stop giving him whole eggs now.*


So, Today's Dinner:

I think you could call this a baby quiche. I almost never measure so this is approximate

1 egg
1 tablespoon mixed veggies baby food (spinach, peas and beans)
1 tablespoon baby oatmeal
1 teaspoon ground flax seed (loaded with omega fatty acids and all sorts of good stuff!)
1 tablespoon mixed italian cheese

Stirred it all together in a little microwave safe tupperware that was the perfect size. My friend Jasie gave me the set and they've come in so handy!


Zapped the egg mix for about 1 and a 1/2 minutes. I know, I know, the gourmet cook in me is writhing at the thought of microwaved eggs too. But it was easy, quick and I didn't have to dirty a pan for one little egg. It also came out in one solid patty that I just sliced into small squares after cooling and gave him as finger food. After all the puffs and fruit and an ounce of formula, he only ate about half the egg but he enjoyed it. Leftovers for breakfast!

Sharing Mommy and Daddy's Dinner - Two Big Hits

Mahi Mahi:
Up until last week, I have not been able to get Torsten to eat fish. It didn't matter what I mixed the tuna with he spat out the first bite and clamped his mouth shut. I got a killer deal on a 5 pound bag of frozen mahi mahi at costco and cooked it up crusted in a Mccormick asian ginger spice mix. I added a lot of garlic of course along with a little more ginger for extra heat and some turmeric cuz it's oh so healthy. And it was oh so good! The first night I ground up the fish, with some brown rice and a little yogurt and lemon juice(for tartar sauce). He chowed down and begged for more. I cooked it again last night and he ate the fish smooshed in with some green beans and baby cereal. This morning he had leftovers, just chunks of the fish by itself and still enjoyed it. I guess I will have to be making that a permanent item on the costco shopping list cuz my husband Devon and I both enjoyed it too!


Tacos:
For baby approved tacos, I save out a little of the hamburger before putting all the salt and seasoning in. That goes it into my little Kidco grinder along with some lettuce (the mixed bag that has carrots and purple cabbage too) some pico de gallo, cheddar cheese and a little yogurt instead of sour cream. I made sure to pick out any bits of jalapenos and seeds from the pico. He can handle a little heat and flavor but I certainly don't want to burn his mouth or his back end! I can't stand anything with a pepper based spice but so far Torsten seems to like what small tastes he's had of it.

Adding To Jarred Baby Food - Some Favorites

A lot of what Torsten eats is spiced up jarred baby food from the grocery store. At least a couple nights a week I try to feed him a salt/sugar free version of whatever we are having. Some meals aren't easy to leave the salt out of so I don't bother with those and sometimes I just don't have the time or energy to do more than pop open a jar. Might as well use up what we get for free anyways! These are a few of my favorite ways to make the store bought baby food a little tastier. This kid is a garlic fiend like his parents, so that is a pretty common ingredient in a lot of his meals.

Squash and Sweet Potatoes:
Torsten loveds both squash and sweet potatoes. (On a side note he hates white potatoes.) He enjoys them plain from the jar, but really loves it when I spice them up a bit. Cinnamon is always good with both those vegetables but another hit is a little garlic, cardamom and ginger for a spicy sweet snack.

Green Beans and Carrots:
Torstens favorite way to enjoy green beans and carrots (both separate or mixed together) is with dill weed and garlic mixed in.

Peas:
Torsten likes his peas a few different ways.
Mixed with baby cereal, garlic and grated cheddar cheese. Or.....
Mixed with ground sage and garlic. Or....
Mixed with cottage cheese, cumin, coriander and the tiniest teeniest bit of chili powder.

Fruit:
Torsten's favorite jarred fruits are the apple/strawberry/banana mix and the apple blueberry, but almost any fruit is a hit. Not a big fan of the plain banana though, he's like his momma in that regard. Torsten likes his fruit mixed with baby cereal, yogurt or cottage cheese. He doesn't eat it as well plain anymore. He seems to crave a little texture in his food now that he is getting older. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom all add good flavor to any fruit.

The Background Post

My son, Torsten, was born July 11th, 2009. When it came time to start solid food, all the standard baby food seemed so bland and gross. I just didn't see any reason that baby food needs to be so boring and flavorless! I did a lot of reading to find out if it was safe to feed babies spices. There were some people who seemed stuck on the old fashioned idea that baby food has to be bland and tasteless, but most of what I read said babies benefit from flavorful food, they just have no need for salt or sugar. I also studied up on homemade baby food and was overwhelmed by all the grinding and freezing and hassle it seemed to entail. I'm not ashamed to say we're on WIC and when I started this we didn't even have food stamps, so we didn't (and still don't) have a lot of extra money to be spending on food for him when we get jarred baby food and cereal for free! I started playing around with things I could do with what we already get and have around the house. Things that are easy, quick and on the low end of the hassle scale so to speak. With everything, we followed the "3 day rule", introducing only one new food, herb or spice at a time and waiting 3 days in between. I posted the occasional meal description in my Facebook status but decided some of my friends would get bored with that pretty quick and it just wasn't the right outlet. Thus, a blog. =) I doubt anyone will read it but I will have fun sharing my meal creations and Torsten will continue having fun eating them!