Joan Ellen Cornell: baby food recipes

9:00 PM

{Italian Turkey Burgers with Honey Mustard Mayo} || recipe ||

3:35 PM

{Teething Biscuit} || tutorial ||

3:33 PM

Homemade baby food.

I recently read this article by MSNBC, "Experts seek to debunk baby food myths". Go read it, what a great article. A few quotes from it:

~As research increasingly suggests a child's first experiences with food shape later eating habits, doctors say battling obesity and improving the American diet may mean debunking the myths and broadening babies' palates.

~"Parents have lost touch with the notion that these charts are guides, not rules," says Rachel Brandeis, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "Babies start with a very clean palate and it's your job to mold it."

~In a review of the research, Nancy Butte, a pediatrics professor at Baylor College of Medicine, found that many strongly held assumptions — such as the need to offer foods in a particular order or to delay allergenic foods — have little scientific basis.

~And bring on the spices. Science is catching up with the folklore that babies in the womb and those who are breast-fed taste — and develop a taste for — whatever Mom eats. So experts say if Mom enjoys loads of oregano, baby might, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right on.

I knew from when Porter was the size of a pea in my belly, that I would make his baby food myself rather than buy jarred food. I never really looked much into it, I just knew that's what I would do. So when I felt like Porter was ready to start eating food, I started making it with my Beaba.

Now that i'm making it myself, I realize WHY it's so awesome:

~it's cheaper. all that food that I used to make 43 meals with- total cost of $14. that's 22.5 days of food. $.62 a day. Over three weeks worth of meals and it took me a couple hours (it made 86 cubes...Porter eats 1-2 cubes, twice a day).

~I can make any creation I want, and am not limited to what they make and sell in jars.

~it's fun. it really is.

~I know exactly what is going into his little growing body.

~you know that feeling you have while breastfeeding, that you, yourself are producing your child's food? Well it feels like that in a way...i'm putting love into making his meals :)

It is SO much fun. I literally look forward to making it. Tonight I spent a couple hours, with a few interruptions, and made 5 different types of meals. Because he has already tried a handful of things, I was able to make mixtures of different fruits and vegetables as well. And I am going to start using a little bit of spices here and there too.

Right now, I buy everything organic that I use to make his food (with the exception of the Pomegranate Juice).

What I bought now:

6 Small Plums

1 Mango

1 Small Spaghetti Squash

Sugar Snap Peas

Pear Juice

What I bought the other day:

Pomegranate Juice

5 Bananas

Baby Carrots

What I already had:

Nutmeg

Recipes:

Carrot Puree
3/4 Bag of Baby Carrots
1 Cup Water
Pinch of nutmeg

Mango Puree
1 Mango
2 Bananas
1/2 Cup Pear Juice
1/4 Cup Pomegranate Juice

Plum Puree
6 Small Plums (I left the skins on)
2 Bananas
1/2 Cup Pear Juice

Squash Puree
1 Small Spaghetti Squash
1 Bananas
1/2 Cup Water

Pea Puree
2 Cups Sugar Snap Peas (I steamed and blended the peas & pods)
1/2 Cup Pear Juice