I’m in practically in a cherry-coma right now (i’ll get to that soon) so what better way to unwind after a nice weekend than to write a quick blog post?
I picked up some cherry products from Cherry Republic and when I got home I devoured the sour candies and chocolate covered cherries to the point where I now feel sick…haha. I will definitely be placing an online order for more of these goodies. They are delicious and make great gifts. So glad we stopped at that booth.
We also picked up some gingerbread cookies and an ornament for Harper from the Houston Ballet. They didn’t have a ballerina with red hair (boo!) what’s a girl to do?
Harper’s high chair came in this week too! I’m so grateful for all of your feedback. We ended up getting the Boon Flair. My mom actually got it for us as an early Christmas gift for Harper since it’s the only “big” item we really needed so she wanted to get it for us. We won’t use the chair for a couple more weeks until we start solids at six months but Harper seems to like it. I went with the Boon because ultimately I wanted something that was easy to clean (didn’t have a fabric cover to remove) and had an adjustable height (this one can be used at counter height as it’s about as tall as our barstools). Harper has been noticeably more interested in our food lately so it looks like her interest in food is coinciding right about with the six month mark! When did you start solids with your baby and what did you start with? We are going to skip rice cereal and do baby oatmeal and vegetable purees.
I also bought this book about making baby food. It’s really important to me that I make most of Harper’s food. I want her to have the opportunity to try all kinds of fresh vegetables and fruits and if I can make them in large batches and freeze everything then I think the effort will be very much worth it. My own diet isn’t fantastic so I don’t want Harper to eat any of the processed stuff we do sometimes, especially as she’s first trying solids. For on-the-go I’ve heard that a lot of moms love the Plum Organics pouches so we will eventually incorporate those too.
I hope you all had a great weekend! I’ll leave you with this sweet photo of Harper hanging out in her crib. We moved her bunting to her wall under her gold “H” now that she sleeps there and I love it. We also pulled the netting off to the side and removed her bumpers. So far she is sleeping really well in her crib.
Good idea to skip rice! Oatmeal was a huge hit with my little boy. It's so fun to let them taste food for the first time. Way to go on planning to make all her food. It's nice to know exactly what you're feeding your baby!!
Baby led weaning ftw! No making special batches of food for baby plus babies will then learn how to manage food in their mouths and chew then swallow versus the other way around. I BLWed my 10 month old twins and they are so good with any size or sort of food I give them now (no cutting into small bits, yay!) and as someone with a choking fear all my life, this makes me feel much more relaxed at mealtime with the babies. Plus baby eats what you eat so much less prep work and planning involved. Great for busy working moms who want more free time with their babies! Granted, we eat 80-90% unprocessed food in our home with lots of fresh fruit and veg so if we didn't have good eating habits, I would be less keen to do BLW with them. We started with roasted sweet potato wedges and avocado then quickly moved on to plain organic yogurt and scrambled eggs for good fats and protein. Babies loved it and it is fun watching them get so messy. The faces they make when first trying solids are so cute so have the camera ready for sure.
thanks for your input 🙂 I had considered BLW but I am way too paranoid about choking and for some reason I like the idea of purees and easing into things. I know a lot of people who had success with BLW though so it's good to hear feedback from other moms! thank you!
Hi Veronika! With Ellie (my 1st) I made all of her food and plan to do that with Summer, too. I feel the same way you do. We started around 6.5 months with the Earth's Best oatmeal and I pureed all of her foods, then froze them in silicone ice cube trays, popped them out into a ziploc bag, labeled it with food and date and stored them in the freezer for easy re-heating. I loved the book, The Baby & Toddler Cookbook (it's a yellow cover). I got mine at Williams Sonoma, but they also sell it on Amazon. It was really easy to use, especially b/c I had no idea how to make everything on my own. I definitely recommend it! I steamed basically all her veggies, then used a food processor (no fancy baby food maker). Let me know if you have any questions. I may be able to help!
We also plan to use a food processor as I've heard mixed feedback about the ones marketed for babies. How did you steam your veggies and fruits? Over a pot?
I have a big pot with a pasta insert, which I use for steaming veggies. Similar to this: https://store.calphalon.com/calphalon-tri-ply-stainless-steel-6-qt-pasta-insert/332596 I put about an inch of water in, add frozen or fresh veggies, bring to a boil, then simmer on low until done. Then, I would throw into food processor and in the beginning I started using breast milk to mix it, but later just used water from the pot. I think it's spinach and carrots that you can't use the same water b/c of nitrates (fyi). The book I mentioned above tells you how to do all of this in detail and is really helpful. Also, foods for each age stage and tips.This pot is so much bigger than any of the baby makers that are advertised. It was great for storing. People don't realize how easy it is to make your own baby food and how much money you can save! I also like knowing what she is eating. I also made homemade applesauce this way, pearsauce and I roasted certain veggies, too. I think I tried everything! Bananas and avocados are easy b/c you can just mash them. I was always afraid of the choking, too. I even would cut blueberries in half once Ellie could eat them! I used a Cuisnart food processor the first time and it always worked great. This time I have the Ninja and love it so I'll be using that. Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂
this is so very helpful, thank you 🙂 I will get one of those inserts!
You're welcome. I remember being so overwhelmed the first time around and didn't know where to start. Feel free to ask for any advice or suggestions.
AHH the Christmas decor gets me so excited!!
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We also did BLW and it was amazing. My daughter never liked purees and our pedi recommended us to try BLW. It was a total success. Also less work for me as I didn't have to cook or purée anything special for her, just to give her some of my food and fresh fruits. As the other poster we barely eat processed food, so I'd feel comfortable with her eating whatever I'd cook. Nowadays she is a really good eater, as in she is not picky.
We also did BLW and it was amazing. My daughter never liked purees and our pedi recommended us to try BLW. It was a total success. Also less work for me as I didn't have to cook or purée anything special for her, just to give her some of my food and fresh fruits. As the other poster we barely eat processed food, so I'd feel comfortable with her eating whatever I'd cook. Nowadays she is a really good eater, as in she is not picky
great post i am using this food processor from last few months i never face any kind of problem from the date of the purchase it
I can not get over it, Harper is just so freakin adorable! And I love that heart headband she has on in the picture where she's sitting in her highchair. Where did you get it? I like a lot of the headbands you have Harper wear… did you get them all from the same place? Can you let me know where you buy her headbands? I'd love to purchase some, especially the heart one. Thank you. Oh and P.S. those cherry products look de.lic.ious.
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oh my! Those chocolate covered cherries look amazing! Have you tried Harry and David's version? how do they compare?
We are also looking into the Boon Flair for our princess….does it have a feature where it can recline? Also wanting to start making baby food….I bought the Beaba pro but still have not opened it….I need to get a book like yours to help me with recipes as I am a bit intimidated to start lol!
Thanks! Harper is a doll:)
I love her little crib space! Olivia has the same headband and we LOVE it!
Thanks for sharing your weekend time with me! I have missed you and Harps.
We also hold off until 6 months for solids and skip rice cereal. I started with oatmeal and veggies with both the boys and the girls. With the boys, I made a majority of their food. With the girls…well, my time is just a little more limited, lol! Occasionally I will steam and puree things for them if I am making it anyway, but we do a lot of organic pouches. I like quite a few brands, and Plum is one of them (but there was a recall this week on them, so check that out). I also really like happy tots and earths best. I get them mostly at Target. I never bought the food processor specifically for babies, I just used our regular one, which worked great. Looks like you all had a great weekend! ~Jenn
http://www.twobytwomom.com
We're starting solids on Friday (her 6 month mark!). We are going to do Baby Led Weaning and starting with avocado, sweet potatoes and broccoli (they say to offer them an assortment of food so they can test the different tastes and textures). I'm getting excited, haha.
Love that last photo! We started solids about 6 months too. Mainly used oatmeal cereal, I love Earths Best brand. Still put that in their yogurt and applesauce over a year later! Plum Organics was my go to pouch food and I LOVED my food trays. Did a lot of research on them and they were eaiest to remove food from, held the most and didn't stain. They are the Mumi & Bubi trays from amazon. Held up to all our rigorous food making for the quads. I also used my CuisineArt baby food maker around the clock. Steams and purees all in the same bowl, no switching things out. good luck!
looks like you had a lovely weekend! : )
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mmmmm I love pad thai too. The Nutcracker market looks like such a cute place- what a fun weekend! I went out and bought everything to make Aubrey's food, tried one batch, failed miserably, and haven't really tried again. I feel bad about it sometimes but then I remember that I was fed the store bought stuff and I'm perfectly healthy so don't stress about it too much. It is time consuming and if you are in a crunch don't come down on yourself too hard and don't try to be a hero:) Best of luck with solids:)
what was it about it that didn't work out? was it just not the right consistency? let me know 🙂
I couldn't get the consistency right. I tried using a stick blender and a food processor an it was still to chunky. It was a bit thick too but I think that was because I needed to add more water or breast milk. I could give it to her now that she is adjusted to solids but to start off it was just too chunky for my liking- I was too nervous that she wouldn't be able to handle it. The only thing that I have made for her that turned out right is applesauce (with no sugar, just cinnamon).
We skipped rice cereal with our guy too & will with #2 when he's ready. We actually started C out with Avocado, it was a big hit!
I wouldn't make big batches of baby food until:
1) Make sure that she likes it.
2) She doesn't have a reaction to it. My pediatrician's rule was to introduce one new food (preferably a vegetable) at a time. Try that food for 3 days to make sure that there are no digestive or allergic reactions to it. Then you know that it's safe.
You just don't want to be wasteful or make something that she won't eat.
I didn't use rice cereal either. I mixed pureed fruit with the oatmeal for breakfast. I saved the vegetables for the lunch and dinner. My now 15 and 9 year old love vegetables, and we eat all fresh produce. They've never had a canned good unless it wa at their grandparents.
We've made all of the baby food for our twins- it has worked out really well! We have the baby brezza which worked great. Our pediatrician recommended rice cereal, so we started with that, but then switched to oatmeal. We were told to start with green veggies, then move to orange, and then fruits. Our girls haven't refused anything yet! About once a week we would make big batches of food and then freeze it.
Now that they are 9 months old, we have switched to feeding them primarily table food, but they still have a few purees to finish up. They have adjusted well from switching from purees to a chunkier consistency.
And FYI, plum organics just had a big recall- I'm not sure of the details, but just wanted to let you know! We fed our girls their first pouch the day we learned of the recall- thankfully it was a different brand.
Great post! I am looking into the boon flair as well. I currently just have a regular graco and let me tell you, all the food get stuck in the cracks. I'm thinking with the next child i'll save myself the trouble. Only thing is the tray looks so small. Less to clean I guess hehe 🙂
Luba
http://www.lubalovely.com
We definitely wanted something easy to clean with no fabric on it. The tray is small, but I've heard that's a good thing because the baby can reach the food and it can help teach the baby that they need to keep the food in a contained area. I am okay with the tray size—but we will see how it works when we actually start to feed her!