The day after Easter will mark Mac's half birthday - six whole months old. With that milestone comes something quite momentous: real food!!
If he's anything like his parents, Mac is going to love every last bite he gets. (Yes, yes, I'm a picky eater. Doesn't mean I don't love to eat!)
As we approach this next step, I'm researching different ways of presenting Mac's first foods to him. My friend Brooke and I talked earlier this week about how pure and absolutely perfect babies are at this age - totally untouched by the sun, by time, by age, or by poor choices. (Picture the average twice-daily McDonald's customer or lifelong smoker to understand what I mean.)
As all parents do, I'm hoping to keep Macky as healthy as possible. His eight-a-day newborn mealtimes have gone by the wayside; he's now nursing four times a day and enjoying rice cereal as "dessert" after two of those meals.
(Enter my obsession with control here.) I'd love to make sure that what Mac gets from here on out is as natural and good for him as possible, just as I have these last (nearly) six months. Nursing was no walk in the park in the early days, but I stuck with it because I felt he was thriving from the nutrition it provided. (And because it helped me fit back into my pre-Mac clothes even though I was tearing into Halloween candy, but let's ignore the selfish reasons, shall we?)
Has anyone tried making their own baby food? Examined the labels of what's sold in stores to see if there are fillers - salt, sugar, preservatives - that seem unnecessary?
**Obvious next question: Why am I not quite as obsessed with checking my own food labels? I'm working on that, step by step. But I'm damaged goods this far into my twenties, I think. :) Might as well keep the baby perfect and then get B and I on an all-local, all-organic, all-raw diet. With a side of Chick-Fil-A fries.***
I'd love any suggestions y'all may have, even if they're "give him some cheese grits and get over it already!"
Happy weekending!
Dear Emerson
6 days ago
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6 comments:
Some baby food is really easy to make yourself. I made some of Ben's baby food myself, but not all. I tended to buy Organic Gerber's or Earth's Best (check the labels- all they have is the fruit or veggie and maybe water in a lot of them... good stuff!). Sweet potatoes: Cook a huge pot of them. Blend them to a good consistency and freeze them in individual portions. It's really really simple! But no, I wasn't obsessed with making ALL his food. Bananas are sooo simple too.. just mash 'em up! No need to buy those. :)
haha Anne! I love this post and our conversation the other day. I am so far from the baby food days but I'm already thinking about it. I am going to try to feed the babies organic and make their food...if for no other reason it saves SOOOO much money!! When you buy the jar stuff you are paying mostly for the packaging (as w/ most products). However, I think each family has to do what is right for them, so I definitely don't think the jar stuff is bad.
Check out this link below - a few friends swear by this to make their baby food. They said it paid for itself in no time!!
Keep us updated w/ what you decide!
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/beaba-babycook-baby-food-maker/
Love this post! I, too, am enjoying nursing for both the benefits to the little guy AND the fact that I can eat dessert after every meal, not work out (i know i need to - just putting it off!) and still nicely fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes, haha! I'm still a ways away from the baby food days myself, but I have a few friends that are making their babies' food and say it is easy, cheaper than baby food, and their little ones LOVE it! I've heard of the Beaba, too, but most people say that if you have a good food processor it works just as well, if not better! I'm still deciding on what to do when the time comes, but I'm leaning towards the healthy "know what they're actually getting" side of things...and yes, we too are already "damaged goods," haha, maybe we'll work on that down the road!! :)
Ok, if you LOVE Publix (who doesn't?), they have Earth's Best B1G1 like every 2 weeks!!!! I would buy about 50% and make about 50%. I made the easy stuff... steaming apples, pears, carrots; baking sweet potatoes; tried avocado (a GREAT first food!) and Will gagged profusely... you should check the video out on the blog - under march 2009!; bananas - so easy - no work!; and squash. Anything else (i.e. I could never figure out how to get fresh green beans tender enough to puree) I bought. Good luck! It gets easier!
Anne--I never thought I would be the type to make my own food, but it's unbelievable how easy, cheap, and healthy it is. We buy all organic, and have purchased the babypro all-in-one (I highly recommend it). We make baby food once a week, and stock up at the grocery store. We store in the freezer, in BPA free containers, and take out and microwave each day. I must say that I think the jarred foods smell and taste not-so-appetizing, so why would I feed it to my child. Besides, you can get 9 jars worth of baby food from 2 sweet potatoes for a fraction of the price! Check it out. It's easier than you think...
I make Whitt's baby food and it's really easy. I have the Beaba Babycook (they sell it at Williams Sonoma, just google it and you'll see what I'm talking about) and it's SO easy to use. I bought little containers from One Step Ahead and I'll make a huge batch of something (bananas, apples, pears, etc) and pour small portions into the containers, stick them in the freezer, and then just grab a couple as I need them and pop them in the microwave to thaw them. I love that I know exactly what I'm giving him and it really doesn't require much effort at all to make it--and it saves a ton of money. I do occasionally buy Earth's Best Organic to use if I'm out of the homemade stuff or if I'm going to be out and about and just want to throw something in my pocketbook to feed him at the playground or something, but I probably make 95% of his food with the Babycook. Check it out--I love it! :)
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