My little girl, Violet, is 6 months old and well on her way to becoming a foodie. She’s been eating solids for awhile now – I admit I started her much earlier than Cameron. At first I though there was no way that I was going to make food for her. I was too busy, and certainly not feeling motivated. But once Cameron started school I suddenly felt inspired to make her some simple purees while she took her morning nap. I remember my pediatrician in Brooklyn always told me that feeding Cameron foods that started with ‘P’ would help keep his digestion moving (a constipated baby is no fun!) Pears, peas, prunes, peaches…. So when making food for Violet, I try to keep that in mind. Here’s two of my recent purees with ‘P’ power -
Butternut Squash with Pears
Peel and cube one butternut squash and one pear. Steam them till they are good and soft (20 minutes?) Dump them in your cuisinart with some butter, if you like, and puree. The pears bring out the sweetness in the squash, so this is a super tasty one! It also works great with sweet potatoes for the same reason.
Frozen Peas and Beef Stock
Frozen peas are one of the few vegetables I buy frozen because most of the time, they will be better than fresh (since they are frozen pretty much immediately after picking and will remain sweeter). Plus, who has the time or patience to shell all those peas? Not this mom. Heat up the frozen peas in a little beef stock (chicken would be fine too – I just happened to have some beef stock in the fridge). I use stock instead of water to add a little extra protein to the puree – low sodium stocks are readily available, and these make a better choice for this recipe I think. Once the peas are good and tender, dump them in the cuisinart and puree.
Pump Up the Protein
I always try to include some protein in Violet’s meal. For breakfast she has yogurt, and for lunch and dinner I take a puree like one of the ones above and add either ricotta cheese (full fat version) or hummus to it. These are already nice and smooth so they stir in easily. If you like, you can throw some tofu into the cuisinart when you make your baby food.
Cameron isn’t as much of a fan of scrambled eggs as I would like, although we have had occasional success with them. My pediatrician is always saying it’s great for Cameron to eat lots of eggs because they are a good source of iron – but besides french toast, I was having trouble getting him to eat them on a regular basis. Eventually, we discovered does seemed to like flat eggs because he was always going after the egg in my husband’s weekend favorite – the bacon egg and cheese sandwich. So, when it was Dad’s turn to make breakfast for Cameron, he came up with “Eggs Daddy Style.”
Here’s the method – beat an egg and put it in a hot greased skillet (I use a little Pam, and then a dot of butter). Cook for about a minute, or until the egg is lightly browned on one side. Flip the egg and cook for a few seconds more. That’s it! It’s basically a flat omelet with no filling – but feel free to get creative and add things in!
It only takes a minute in the pan
Cameron eats it up!
Today I decided to make some banana bread because I had lots of super-ripe bananas, and I didn’t think Cameron would get to them all before it was too late. I searched online for banana bread recipes and I found one that used apple sauce too (I happened to have some that I bought at the Fort Greene farmer’s market). Here’s the recipe I used, which I adapted a little bit from this one I originally found on Cooks.com (I reduced the amount of sugar, added more banana, a few spics, and omitted the nuts).
Banana Applesauce Bread
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of salt
2 c. flour
4 ripe bananas (mashed)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. applesauce
Cream sugar and oil. Add eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and beat well. Add in the mashed bananas and applesauce. Add flour and baking soda, and mix until just combined. Bake in greased loaf pan, 350 degrees, 1 hour. Or if you want to use small loaf pans, or muffin tins, just bake it for less time – when a knife inserted into the bread comes out clean, it is done. Also, you will notice it pulling away from the edges of the pan slightly.
FYI – you could probably use whole wheat flour, although I would recommend doing a 1/2 and 1/2 with whole wheat and regular flour. Using 100% whole wheat flour might make the bread crumbly and hard for baby to pick up.
I hope your baby (and you) enjoy it!
At Cameron’s 12 month check up I was talking to our pediatrician about how to get him to eat eggs. Sometimes he goes for scrambled eggs, and sometimes not…. She suggested trying french toast. For Cameron, it was love at first bite! A mom asked me the other day for my recipe. I don’t really have one (I never measure) but here is a rough estimate:
1 egg
1/2 cup whole milk
dash of cinnamon
pat of butter for in the pan
4 pieces of whole wheat bread
French toast and strawberries!
I whisk up the egg, milk, and cinnamon and then dunk the bread in for a few seconds on each side. Then cook in the pan with the butter until nice and brown on both sides. I always make extra (Cam usually only eats 1/2 – 1 piece per serving) and keep it in the fridge. It reheats well in the microwave. Serve the toast with fruit and a touch of maple syrup if you like.
I know that a baby eating scrambled eggs isn’t news to most of you, but I’ve been trying for months now to get Cameron to eat them, and after being encouraged by my string cheese victory, I tried them again with some eggs I picked up at the Fort Greene Farmer’s Market this past weekend – with success! It might help that Cameron’s nose is so stuffy he most likely can’t taste anything, but I’ll take what I can get! I am excited about the veggie hiding possibilities….
Hi all! I know some of you are new to Mommy For the Win so I wanted to highlight some of the most popular and asked about posts that I’ve done in the past. Check them out!
Diaper Rash? My Doctor Said Mylanta
Picnic in the Park Made Easy with the best picnic blanket ever!
Free Infant CPR Classes at the Brooklyn Hospital
FREE – Clinton Hill Library – Reading for Babies
The Books I Found Most Helpful
The What’s Cameron Eating series: Ricotta Cheese and Squash, Avocado and Banana, Baby Yogurt and Banana, Baby Mum Mums, Cream of Wheat, Peaches, Waffles, Organic Puffs, Roasted Butternut Squash, Oatmeal with bananas and cinnamon, 67 Burger, String Cheese, Grilled Cheese and Peas
I hope you find them useful!
I was hanging out with some mommies yesterday in Fort Greene Park and lamenting that now that Cameron is on puree strike I can’t seem to get him to eat his veggies. A mommy suggested spreading some veggie puree on toast (which I will certainly try) but it inspired another idea – why not hide some veggies in something Cameron already likes? A classic Mom trick! I make Cameron’s grilled cheese in the toaster oven on one slice of whole wheat bread (since he isn’t a big eater). Today I slipped some peas in there and he was more than happy to eat them. Not the most hearty portion of vegetables, I know. But I’ll take what I can get!
click to see more posts about What Cameron is Eating
We were in Washington DC over labor day weekend visiting Cameron’s grand parents. Grandma is an avid gardener and gave me some butternut squash to bring back to Brooklyn. At first I was going to puree it, but then I thought I should go the finger food route.
I roasted chunks of the squash at 425 for about 30 minutes with a little olive oil until it was golden brown and nice and soft. I turned it once while it was in the oven. I put it in a tupperware in the fridge and now at meal time I bring out a few chunks for Cameron to eat. He loves it! Roasting the squash really helped to bring out its natural sweetness. Yum!
When I was a kid my dad always used to make me cream of wheat – so it seemed like a natural choice when I was looking for things that I could eat along with Cameron. I’ve been making the Cream of Wheat with a little water and a little milk, as well as bananas, which add a natural sweetness. I add the bananas while the Cream of Wheat is still cooking – so it sort of dissolves right in there. Cameron loves it! Soon I’ll be giving it a try with some other fruits as well. Yum (for mommy and baby!)
This is the one I have
There are plenty of baby food making products out there, but I decided to go with something practical that I could use for years to come – not just for baby food. This is the Oxo good grips food mill. It’s nice for making the baby food because you don’t have to peel anything – they just don’t pass through. And the food ends up with a little texture which I think is good for baby to get used to. Plus, it makes great mashed potatoes for mom and dad!
