Friday, December 3, 2010

Homemade Baby Food!!


Thing Two is getting older, and bigger! Which means his appetite is getting bigger as well. After nursing he sucks on anything he can, asking for more, more! He will eat his cereal but doesn't really care for it. Since he is almost 5 months now I decided to try some baby food.
First, I took some canned peas that had no added salt or preservatives. Just peas and water. Since they were so soft all I had to do was heat them up in the microwave, and then mash them with a spoon. Thing Two loved them! He would move a spoonful around in his mouth for awhile, and would then swallow. A second later, a little bare pea casing would pop out of his mouth! Since he has no teeth he can't really chew those, but it's amazing that he can suck all the pea off of them, and then spit the little shell out!
Next time I make him peas I will strain them, to get all the shells out.

After a couple of days I decided to make apples for him. I originally wanted to make Butternut Apple Sauce, but it's best to introduce a new food on it's own, and then wait a couple days to make sure there is no reaction. So I started with the apples, and will try the squash later, eventually working my way up to mixing the two.

Here is the recipe for Baby Food: Apples.

Ingredients:
Apples
Water
(Once your baby is 8 months old you can introduce them to spices such as allspice or vanilla. A lot of children have a sensitivity to cinnamon, and can break out in hives or get a bad rash, so make sure to watch carefully when introducing that.)

Directions:
Peel and chop apples. Place in slow cooker. Add about 1/4 cup water if you'd like, I added no water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
Once cooled you can either store it in an airtight container and use within 3-5 days OR you can freeze it! The best way to freeze baby food is to place it in an ice cube tray, and then put it in the freezer. Once the cubes are frozen, pop them out and put them into a labeled freezer bag.
Each cube is 1 ounce, or 1 serving. Easy!
I used two gala apples, which gave me 8 servings. 7 I froze, and one I used right away.
To thaw, place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 15 seconds. You can also thaw a cube over night.
After thawing a cube I added some fresh breast milk and some rice cereal.




Frozen Cube

Thawed Cube


        To prove how big Thing Two is getting, this is him wearing a pair of his brother's pajamas!! He is 4 months old, and this size 2T outfit fits him perfectly!

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