Tutorial: How to Make Baby Food!

Since we got such a positive response to this post last time it was up, and a couple of us on the panel are going to be entering the phase of baby food soon, we thought we would repost this great post on making your own baby food!

One of our readers sent us a complete tutorial on how to make your own baby food. This is something that I've wanted to do for a long time, but was never brave enough to figure it out on my own. Thank you so much! If you have any ideas for tutorials feel free to e-mail us at thevillageformoms@gmail.com

CHECK IT OUT!

I have loved making my own baby food for my two children. When I first thought about making my own food, I thought it would be so complicated and take so much time, but I am here to tell you how simple it really is!

First, here are the reasons I like making my own baby food:

1. The cost! I did my own cost comparison to see how much money I was really saving by making my own. Gerber baby food comes in two packs costing between $0.75 and $1.00, and each container is 2.5oz. This equals $0.15 to $0.20 per ounce. I bought 2 lbs of carrots for $1.55 which made 31 oz pureed. This equals $0.05 per ounce! The peas were also $0.05 per ounce. Green beans were $0.07 per ounce and butternut squash was $0.14 per ounce. Fruit tends to be more expensive but you may be able to find some good deals depending on the season. You can also buy the fruit on sale, puree it, and freeze it for use when your baby is ready to start solids.

2. It gives me peace of mind to know exactly what is in the food my baby eats. There are no fillers or preservatives. I know how fresh the produce is and when it was made. It smells good, and I have no problem tasting it which makes me feel better about feeding it to my baby.

3. It's really simple! I can make all the food my little girl will need pureed in one day. After she eats all the food I have pureed, she will probably be ready to start more table foods.

The Process
I put together a little tutorial so you can see step by step what to do. Hopefully if you are feeling overwhelmed by the thought of making your own food, this will help ease your mind a little! Please pardon my pictures.. I am not a pro photographer :)

I first made pears. Six pears ended up making 23 oz.


1. Cut your pears in half and scoop out the core. ( I thought I could scoop out the core after I cooked them, but I later regretted it.)

2. Place them cut side down in a baking dish. Pour water into the dish to cover about 1/2 inch of the fruit.

3. Bake the pears at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until tender. (Your house will smell delicious!) Don't throw away any left over water just yet!


4. When they are baked the skins will be brown and wrinkly. After they cool, peel the skins off. They should come off pretty easily by pinching the skin. ( I cooked mine a little too long so the skin was very soft and harder to get off.)

5. Place your pears into a pureeing device. I use a magic bullet, but a food processor, blender, immersion blender or even a hand food mill (click to see food mill) will work. If your puree is too thick, add some of the water that you saved from baking them. Adding stock water back is good because you get some of the nutrients back that were baked out. You can also add water or thicken it with rice cereal when you want to feed it to your baby.

6. I use a freezer method, so I pour the puree into ice cube trays. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze. Once they are frozen, you can pop them out and into a freezer bag. I find that one cube (approx. one ounce) is the perfect size to start out with. When my kids get a little older I just warm up two cubes instead of one. I had four trays laying around, but if you don't have any, I have seen packs of two at the dollar store.

Make sure to label the bag with the date and type of food.

When I want to warm up the food, I just place it in the microwave for about 30 seconds, stir it, and place it in for 7 more seconds. Make sure to stir it and check that it's not too hot because microwaves can cause hot spots.

And that's it! I made 6 different purees, and it only took me half a day, not including freezing time.

FAQ's:
Should I use canned, frozen, or fresh produce?
Canned food should never be used. The biggest reason is loss of nutrients. For more information click HERE. Frozen and fresh foods are a both good option. If you use frozen, be sure to read the labels to make sure there is no added salt, sugar, or syrups.

What are different options to cook the food?
1. Baking with water, like the example of the pears. I also bake butternut squash and peaches this way.
2.Baking without water, like baking a sweet potato.
3. Steaming or boiling - this works well with many vegetables like peas, carrots, green beans.

What if I don't have enough trays?
I put the extra purees into containers in the fridge. When the first cubes froze, I popped them out and froze the purees that I had saved in the fridge. This way I could do all the cooking in one day, even though it took longer to actually freeze them.

Is it necessary to strain vegetables?
I strain the vegetables that have outer skins that are harder to digest (like peas and green beans.) After I puree them, I put them into a strainer over a deep bowl and push it through with a spoon. Scrape off the back of the strainer, and all that will be left in the strainer are tiny bits of outer skin. Some people think this may not make a difference for baby, but I found that my son had a hard time digesting peas until he was over a year old.

What about meats?
A note about meats-- I thought that there was no way pureeing meats would work, but it really did! I just boiled the chicken and pureed it, adding a little liquid. See HERE for information on choosing types of meats that are good for baby. Meats were my least favorite thing about jarred food, so I was so glad that pureeing meats worked so well (and actually smelled good!) Try it!

My favorite resource on making baby food is this: wholesomebabyfood.com. It really can answer almost any question and has great ideas for making your own rice cereal, teething biscuits, and toddler food too.

Thank you very much once again. What a perfect tutorial! So......
What questions do you still have?
Have you made homemade baby food? Do you like it? Give us your success stories!
What are other pros/cons of doing homemade food?
What other advice can you offer about homemade food?

Losing That Baby Weight

Okay, fine.  I'm pretty sure the model above has never had to lose baby weight her young, stretch-mark-free existence, but for the rest of us who have given birth and are raising kids, shedding those extra pounds can be torture.  Weight brought on during the mommy-ing process seems to stick like glue.  Seriously.  Especially when the number of kids starts adding up and taking time to go work out becomes more and more difficult.

Now, back when I was doing my undergrad, I went through a spell of wanting to be a dietician.  Studied  it for about a year, then quit for personal reasons, but I've always loved food and nutrition.  I actually taught a supplemental class for Basic Nutrition on campus.  So, I'm by no means a health professional, but my teaching spree gave a good grounding in basic nutrition.

So how to loose that unwanted weight?  A couple, simple tips.

- Burn more calories than you eat.  Simple enough, right?  I wouldn't go all crazy with calorie counting, but keep a rough, running estimate in mind, or download one of those cool calorie apps on your smartphone.  How many calories should you be eating?  Well, that depends.  First, calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate, for an easy calculator, click HERE), then rate your activity level and use the info below to estimate your needed calories:

• Sedentary (little or no exercise) = BMR x 1.2
• Lightly active (light exercise 1-3 days per week) = BMR x 1.375
• Moderately active (moderate exercise 3-5 days per week) = BMR x 1.55
• Very active (hard exercise 6-7 days per week) = BMR x 1.755
• Extra active (very hard exercise 6-7 days per week) = BMR x 1.9

For example, say my BMR is about 1426.  If I were moderately active, the number of calories I should be consuming (to keep the calorie burn and consumption relatively equal) is approximately 1426 x 1.55 = 2210.3.  If I wanted to lose weight, I would eat less than that.

(NOTE:  It takes eating about 1600 extra calories to gain a pound, and burning about 1900 extra calories to lose a pound.  So, pound for pound, you're going to have to work harder to shed the weight.  And the difference (300 calories) equals roughly 30 minutes of moderate jogging.  It helps me to remember that before snacking with my toddler.  Most times, I end up deciding having to exercise off the extra snack just isn't worth it.)

- Recognize the difference of when you're really hungry and when you've just got the munchies.  One way to differentiate is choosing a fruit or vegetable you don't particularly love or hate and running a simple test.  For me, it's celery.  Whenever I feel like eating something, I offer myself celery first.  If I don't want to eat it, I'm not really hungry.  (True hunger means your body is telling you to refuel and you'll want to eat just about anything.)

-Recognize the difference of when you're hungry, or just thirsty. I would say 80 percent of the time when I feel like eating something, I drink a glass of water, and then I don't feel hungry anymore.  It's so crazy.  Seriously try it.  Your body may just be trying to tell you its dehydrated.

-Eat smaller portions.  Think about how much you want to put on your plate, and end up serving up about half of that.  A serving of meat or poultry is about the size of a deck of cards.  A serving of ice cream is usually just a 1/2 a cup.  A serving of margarine or butter is about the size of a dice.  And, get this, a typical bagel has 2 servings in it, which means you should be eating about a half a bagel. It seems like nothing, right?  But I'm completely serious.  Eat appropriate portions.  You can eat wonderfully delicious food, but in smaller portions.  If you're still hungry, fill the rest of the tummy space up by drinking water.  I guarantee, you will not starve. 

-Make sure your diet is balanced over the WEEK.  It's unreasonable to think everyone will have the perfect diet EVERY DAY.  Plus, I don't want to eat rabbit food day-in and day-out for the rest of my life.  So, balance your meals weekly.  When I plan dinners and make a heavier meal one day (because my husband likes stuff like that), I'll balance it out with lighter meals for the rest of the week.

-If your family has a tradition of dessert after dinner, change it.  Point blank.  Having dessert more than 2-3 nights a week is not necessary, and certainly not a healthy habit for you or your children.  I'm not saying sweets are bad, (I adore them) but having them every night is a bit much.  Cut back.  Save dessert for special occasions, like FHE.  Or serve fresh fruit instead of sugary sweets.  Your kids might complain at first, but they'll get used to it and start to enjoy the natural sweetness and yumminess of no-sugar added fruits.

-And finally, work out.  This isn't something you do to be a uber health nut.  Thirty minutes of moderate exercising a day is absolutely necessary to maintain MINIMUM levels of health...to decrease your chances of developing cancer, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, heart, liver and lung problems, and a whole host of medical issues we want to avoid.  Moderate exercise is stuff like fast walking, heavier housework, jogging and swimming...anything that causes your heart rate to increase, your body to work hard enough to sweat, and your breathing to quicken.  The most common argument against exercise I hear is that, "Well, I'm doing relatively okay without it.  I'm not super in-shape, but I'm not sick."  Har.  This is serious, people.  If you do not exercise consistently, it WILL catch up with you as you age.  Work out.  30 minutes a day. Your 50, 60, and 70 year old self will thank you for it.

So, what do you think...is this doable, ladies?  I think it's totally within our realm of reach.  Now I'd like some inspiration from you.  What sort of tips do you have for getting a good work out in when finding "alone" time is hard?  How do you keep from mindlessly snacking all throughout the day?  We'd love some awesome tips!  Thanks much, friends!

-Alyssa

Lunch Conundrum

We've kind of hit a rut with our lunch routine lately. Usually it is mac n' cheese, grilled cheese, or peanut butter and jelly with a piece of fruit and a carrots or something like to go with it. I'm trying to break out of the same routine, but so far I'm stumped.

What do you feed your kids for lunch?

-Megan-

It Comes with the Territory

 Okay, I know we have talked about potty training several times but one aspect that I haven't seen addressed in our previous posts was constipation.  I know this isn't a fun topic, but we are currently combating this issue at my house and having several problems with it.  I've talked to our pediatrician and all the non-medication remedies that he suggested haven't worked.  Before I start putting my child on miralax, I wanted to ask all you smart moms out there who have dealt with this issue what you have done!

We tried the prune juice, increasing his water intake, changing up his diet to include more fiber, and decreasing the amount of dairy products he eats and nothing has worked so far!  We still end up with the same result of messed underwear. So, if you have any other ideas for what we could try please leave a comment!

- Megan -

How Much Is TOO Much?

This is something I've wondered about for a while now, how much juice is too much for your little ones? I try not to give more than 2 1/2 sippy cups full a day of 100% juice and the rest of the time try to get my son to drink either milk or water. While we deal with melt downs almost on a daily basis when I say no to more juice, sometimes I almost think it would be easier to give him. But, then again his development and growth is important and everything in moderation right?

So how much is too much when it comes to juice?

Request from Our Readers Week 31

This post we're discussing starting solids. Here's what our reader had to say:

"My little boy is 5 months old and I'm wanting to get him started on solids sometime soon. He nurses 5 times a day, 4 hrs apart. Once I started thinking about the logistics I realized that I had no idea what I was doing. I've looked at a lot of websites and can't really find what I'm looking for. So, here are my questions. How do you incorporate solids in with your nursing schedule? How many times a day? What time of day? How much food? Before or after you nurse? How much time do you wait before or after the nursing? When do you start having solids replace nursings? Any advice on this topic would be greatly appreciated!!"

Help her out!

I don't like that!

My daughter is quickly approaching three years old, and she's what I would call a picky eater. My question today is more concerned with the principle of the matter, however, rather than the nutrition.

I base our lunch menus around what I know my daughter will eat. She gets plenty of nutrition from breakfast and lunch. Dinner is another story. My husband and I prefer a more varied diet than a toddler, surprise surprise. It is not uncommon for us to serve up dinner, only to promptly hear "I don't like that. I'm not going to eat it," as the plate is pushed back across the table.

My questions:

How do I teach my daughter that she needs to eat what is served, even if it isn't her favorite? I don't want her growing up thinking that she gets a specially prepared meal just for her every night!

What do I do twenty minutes after the table is cleared when she comes to me and says she's hungry? Probably because she didn't eat anything for dinner...

Where do you draw the line between putting your foot down about eating what is served and making sure your child isn't going to bed hungry?

Thanks for your suggestions!

~Laura~

To Drink or Not to Drink

My daughter will be turning one next week. Yay! Anyway, she has been primarily bottle-fed for the last 8 months. She never liked baby food of any kind, but she does enjoy most table foods.

My question of the day is weaning her off the bottle. She still drinks regularly sometimes, but other times she just plays with the bottle and would rather eat table food. She's inconsistent, so I can't tell if she's ready to quit formula altogether or if it needs to be a more gradual process.

So...

How do you know when your child is ready to wean?

When do you start serving only table foods?

How do you make sure your toddler is getting all the necessary nutrition from table food only?

Thanks ladies!

Laura

Eating for TWO

It seems that food is constantly on my mind these days. I know that medically speaking your body only needs 300 extra calories per day to grow a child, but when I'm pregnant I am almost ALWAYS hungry. I seem to be always planning what I will eat next (most of the time with dread since I feel like I'm always on the hunt for food). It literally feels like I'm eating double what I'm accustomed to, and that I am indeed "eating for two".

I also know that weight gain is a touchy subject when pregnant. Some ladies gain a lot and some very little. Some eat whatever they want and gain only a few pounds. Some eat really healthy and gain quite a bit. There doesn't seem to be any explanation for all this. But what I do know is that counting/cutting calories when pregnant is dangerous and very unhealthy. If you are hungry you should eat! Your body knows what it needs when you are pregnant.
However, that doesn't mean that while pregnant we should throw out the rule book and eat German Chocolate cake for breakfast every day. :) Though, if that's the only thing that sounds good to you, I say more power to you. Hehehe.

What I need are GOOD nutritious foods that will ONE - fill me up and TWO - taste delicious. So here are a few of my pregnancy favorite standbys....

Toast - my favorite varieties are with wheat bread because it sticks to you more. I like to put peanut butter (again, it has staying power) and honey on mine. Or cream cheese and strawberry jam. I also love raisin bread toasted with a little butter and cinnamon.

Cereal - cold cereal with milk will actually provide your body with a lot of the vitamins you need, plus the milk will give you calcium and protein. Sugar cereals won't stay with you though, so my favorites are wheat Chex, honey bunches of oats, or Quaker oat squares. I think I eat 2-3 bowls per day.

Granola Bars - these seem to stick longer with me!

Yogurt - I like yoplait fat free. It fills me up without offering empty calories I don't need.

Tomato/vegetable juice - I know this one sounds weird, but tomato juice is VERY filling and will offer you so many nutrients your body craves. Plus, it doesn't have many calories so it is a WIN WIN! Try it! Pair it with crackers and it's a nice snack that will hold you until dinner.

Apples - For some reason the juicy and crunchy quality of this fruit really helps to ease my tummy and fills me up very well. All fresh fruits are a win, but apples are cheap and a BIG standby for me when pregnant.

Popsicles - This one doesn't really fill me up, but it does soothe nauseated tummies. Pace bars are my favorite variety but I've also been known to eat 2 or 3 otter pops in one sitting. Popsicles are awesome because they give you needed fluids and as I said, can calm an upset stomach.

Those are my best suggestions! But I want YOURS.

What do you eat when you are pregnant that fills you up?
What are some healthy snacks/meals you can eat while being pregnant?
What foods do you eat that help ease your nausea?

Thanks for reading and helping me out! Be sure to check out the post below on Halloween Costumes!

Eating Out with the Kids

I'm sure you all know how embarrassing/frustrating it can be when you go out to eat and your kids are throwing a screaming fit and refusing to eat their dinner. Been there. Done that. Sometimes my husband and I try to pick out places to eat where the environment is not-so-quiet so that we can accommodate our rambunctious son. Doing this makes it just a little easier on us so we're not trying to make him "be quiet" the whole time. With that being said,

What are some of your favorite places to eat that are kid-friendly?

Do you have any tips for taking your kids out to eat?

Requests from our Readers: Week 21

Our Reader asks:

I am wondering about how to avoid food allergies, particularly peanut allergies. I avoided all the "no no" foods during my sons first year (honey, nuts, chocolate, etc). From what I've read, it sounds like pretty much everything is safe after the first year - just to be cautious of choking hazards like carrots, whole grapes, popcorn...), but I've heard mixed things about nuts. I'm mostly wondering because I want to start using peanut butter. I even asked his pediatrician and he said some people say that the earlier they start nuts, the more likely the allergies; and other are saying the opposite - introducing sooner might actually decrease the risk. What have you heard and learned from your own experience? When did you start giving your child peanut butter?

If you have any advice or thoughts to share with this mom please do!

Munch and Crunch

Is it just me or do you sometimes feel like you feed your family the same things over and over? I really try to vary our daily menu, try new recipes and add new things but I am only human and I do find myself turning to the basic "safe" meals that I know my family loves. I feel that I mostly do OK at dinner time, but I want to improve our meals at breakfast and lunch when my hubby is away at work and it is just me and the kids. So, please share!

What are your favorite "kid friendly" meals?
I would especially love some fast, healthy options for breakfast and lunch.

Thanks!!

P.S. Be sure to check out the updated activity and recipe corners.

Requests From Our Readers: Week 17

We have our first Reader Request for the new year!! Thank you so much for contributing. This week we are talking about baby bottles. Check out what our reader said.....



"What are your favorite bottles to use with infants? I used Avent bottles with my first child. I loved the bottles with one exception, THEY ALWAYS LEAKED!!!! It was so annoying to have milk leak all over the place. What bottles have you used? Which did you like the best?"

So help her out:

Tell us your favorite types of bottles and why.
Tell us what you've tried that works and what you've tried that doesn't work.
What other tips can you give us about bottles?

Just shoot us an e-mail if you have a question that you'd like discussed! Thank you for reading and commenting.

Food Allergies/Lactose Intolerance

Lactose Intolerance has been a big thing at our house lately. We've been dealing with diarrhea diapers off and on since October, then the month of December we dealt with nothing but diarrhea. I finally took Lucas to the doctor and he thought he could possibly be lactose intolerant. So, for the past two weeks Lucas hasn't been able to eat any dairy products or anything that contains milk. Luckily, the diarrhea has been basically non-existent since taking Lucas off Dairy products. This has been a very hard thing to do; everything contains milk! I've had to be a little creative with snacks because Lucas loves cheese and yogurt. Everyone I use as a babysitter, and anyone he spends time with, has to be told that he cannot have dairy products. I'm hoping this is a phase and that he will grow out of it.

I know many families have dealt with lactose intolerance or food allergies. This can be a very difficult thing to deal with and spreading the word that your child can't eat certain things can be a daunting task. Schools, daycare, church teacher and activities, family and friends all need to be aware of what a child can and cannot eat. I've got some tips for spreading the word and for lactose intolerant proof snacks!

Spreading the word:

Email! For teachers and schools this is a very good way to let them know what is going on. If you find out your child cannot eat something, email your child's teacher, principle, and anyone else at the school that should be aware of the allergy.

Also, just talking to people you take your child too.

Snacks:

Pretzels; these has been a life saver!
Graham Crackers; every brand that I have looked at has been dairy free.
Cheerios
Fruit and dried fruit
Fruit snacks
Apple sauce
raisins
Celery and peanut butter
Carrot sticks and a dipping sauce other than ranch

I don't know a ton about food allergies, but lactose intolerance has certainly made me stretch my grocery budget as soy milk is almost a dollar more per half gallon than regular milk. Hopefully people with children with food allergies will be able to share a couple more tips for helping spread the word and snacks. If you have any tips relating to lactose intolerance or food allergies please share!

Tutorial: How to make baby food!

Since we got such a positive response to this post last time it was up, and a couple of us on the panel are going to be entering the phase of baby food soon, we thought we would repost this great post on making your own baby food!

One of our readers sent us a complete tutorial on how to make your own baby food. This is something that I've wanted to do for a long time, but was never brave enough to figure it out on my own. Thank you so much! If you have any ideas for tutorials feel free to e-mail us at thevillageformoms@gmail.com

CHECK IT OUT!

I have loved making my own baby food for my two children. When I first thought about making my own food, I thought it would be so complicated and take so much time, but I am here to tell you how simple it really is!

First, here are the reasons I like making my own baby food:

1. The cost! I did my own cost comparison to see how much money I was really saving by making my own. Gerber baby food comes in two packs costing between $0.75 and $1.00, and each container is 2.5oz. This equals $0.15 to $0.20 per ounce. I bought 2 lbs of carrots for $1.55 which made 31 oz pureed. This equals $0.05 per ounce! The peas were also $0.05 per ounce. Green beans were $0.07 per ounce and butternut squash was $0.14 per ounce. Fruit tends to be more expensive but you may be able to find some good deals depending on the season. You can also buy the fruit on sale, puree it, and freeze it for use when your baby is ready to start solids.

2. It gives me peace of mind to know exactly what is in the food my baby eats. There are no fillers or preservatives. I know how fresh the produce is and when it was made. It smells good, and I have no problem tasting it which makes me feel better about feeding it to my baby.

3. It's really simple! I can make all the food my little girl will need pureed in one day. After she eats all the food I have pureed, she will probably be ready to start more table foods.

The Process
I put together a little tutorial so you can see step by step what to do. Hopefully if you are feeling overwhelmed by the thought of making your own food, this will help ease your mind a little! Please pardon my pictures.. I am not a pro photographer :)

I first made pears. Six pears ended up making 23 oz.


1. Cut your pears in half and scoop out the core. ( I thought I could scoop out the core after I cooked them, but I later regretted it.)

2. Place them cut side down in a baking dish. Pour water into the dish to cover about 1/2 inch of the fruit.

3. Bake the pears at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until tender. (Your house will smell delicious!) Don't throw away any left over water just yet!


4. When they are baked the skins will be brown and wrinkly. After they cool, peel the skins off. They should come off pretty easily by pinching the skin. ( I cooked mine a little too long so the skin was very soft and harder to get off.)

5. Place your pears into a pureeing device. I use a magic bullet, but a food processor, blender, immersion blender or even a hand food mill (click to see food mill) will work. If your puree is too thick, add some of the water that you saved from baking them. Adding stock water back is good because you get some of the nutrients back that were baked out. You can also add water or thicken it with rice cereal when you want to feed it to your baby.

6. I use a freezer method, so I pour the puree into ice cube trays. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze. Once they are frozen, you can pop them out and into a freezer bag. I find that one cube (approx. one ounce) is the perfect size to start out with. When my kids get a little older I just warm up two cubes instead of one. I had four trays laying around, but if you don't have any, I have seen packs of two at the dollar store.

Make sure to label the bag with the date and type of food.

When I want to warm up the food, I just place it in the microwave for about 30 seconds, stir it, and place it in for 7 more seconds. Make sure to stir it and check that it's not too hot because microwaves can cause hot spots.

And that's it! I made 6 different purees, and it only took me half a day, not including freezing time.

FAQ's:
Should I use canned, frozen, or fresh produce?
Canned food should never be used. The biggest reason is loss of nutrients. For more information click HERE. Frozen and fresh foods are a both good option. If you use frozen, be sure to read the labels to make sure there is no added salt, sugar, or syrups.

What are different options to cook the food?
1. Baking with water, like the example of the pears. I also bake butternut squash and peaches this way.
2.Baking without water, like baking a sweet potato.
3. Steaming or boiling - this works well with many vegetables like peas, carrots, green beans.

What if I don't have enough trays?
I put the extra purees into containers in the fridge. When the first cubes froze, I popped them out and froze the purees that I had saved in the fridge. This way I could do all the cooking in one day, even though it took longer to actually freeze them.

Is it necessary to strain vegetables?
I strain the vegetables that have outer skins that are harder to digest (like peas and green beans.) After I puree them, I put them into a strainer over a deep bowl and push it through with a spoon. Scrape off the back of the strainer, and all that will be left in the strainer are tiny bits of outer skin. Some people think this may not make a difference for baby, but I found that my son had a hard time digesting peas until he was over a year old.

What about meats?
A note about meats-- I thought that there was no way pureeing meats would work, but it really did! I just boiled the chicken and pureed it, adding a little liquid. See HERE for information on choosing types of meats that are good for baby. Meats were my least favorite thing about jarred food, so I was so glad that pureeing meats worked so well (and actually smelled good!) Try it!

My favorite resource on making baby food is this: wholesomebabyfood.com. It really can answer almost any question and has great ideas for making your own rice cereal, teething biscuits, and toddler food too.

Thank you very much once again. What a perfect tutorial! So......
What questions do you still have?
Have you made homemade baby food? Do you like it? Give us your success stories!
What are other pros/cons of doing homemade food?
What other advice can you offer about homemade food?

Request From Our Readers: Week 10

This week we are talking about babies and solids! Here is what our reader had to say:

I had a question for you all! I started giving my baby rice cereal and then added oatmeal once a day about three weeks ago. Now all the sudden she refuses to eat either. Does this mean I should start offering different foods? Or that she just wasn't ready to start solids, and I should wait a week and start again? I would really love some advice!

Let's help her our:

At what age did you start your child/children on solids?
Did your child prefer one cereal over another?
Did they prefer fruit purees or vegetable purees?
What did you do to help your child start solids?

Also, if you haven't already, check out the tutorial for making your own baby food under the health and nutrition label!

Requests From Our Readers: Week 9

This week we are talking about meal planning. In the past we've talked about toddler snacking, organic Foods, and saving money on groceries, but one of our readers has offered an excellent question that expands our food topics even more. Check it out!



"Hi, this last post about coupons and grocery shopping has reminded me of a question I have forever had about meal plans and weekly/bimonthly shopping trips. I like to cook, but when it comes to planning full course meals on a regular basis, I am lacking. I can take a recipe and cook it up nice, but I haven't seemed to figure out how to do this on a constant basis. Besides simple and basic recipes which we are now very tired of, I feel like I don't even know where to begin. I think most of the problem is when I do plan a good meal, I go to the store to pick up the ingredients - just for that meal - and feel like I'm spending more than I would if we went out to dinner. Thus I feel like if I did this for multiple meals, I would be burning holes in my pockets. So my questions are:

How do you figure out your meal plans?
Do you always use recipes with similar ingredients close together so you can use those same ingredients over and over until they are done?
Do you have a basic meal plan that you use each week/month with slight variations? or is it always totally different?
What kind of recipes do you like to cook? Are they very simple and basic? or do you have more 'gourmet' recipes that you use?
How do you make it work that you aren't spending $100+ for one weeks worth of grocery? or is that what you spend?
Do you keep certain foods always on hand to throw into any recipe? if so, what are they?
What do you try to ALWAYS have in your cupboard or in your fridge?
Basically, what is your process of planning, preparing, and shopping for your meals?"

So help her out by answering the questions above! I think this is a wonderful topic and one that we've all had trouble with before.

Also - check out the post below on movie censorship with children. We haven't gotten very many responses and I think the topic is very pertinent. We need your responses to make the blog work!!

Thanks again for contributing and don't forget to e-mail us if you have a reader request!

Groceries:getting the most for your money

I am a huge advocate of family dinners. I would feel safe assuming that most of us are. I love it when my hubby gets home from work and we can all sit down as a family and eat and chat about our day. However I am always looking for ways to make it easier and more cost effective. When I am planning a trip to the grocery store, I write up a menu of meals I plan to make during the next week or two. Then I write my grocery list off that. I probably could save a lot of money if instead I went to the store, bought what was on sale, and then made meals from that but I am just not that creative. One of my good friends told me about a food co-op that she is part of where a big group gets together and buys produce in bulk. I have been meaning to look into it forever, but I always forget and miss the monthly deadline. I will also admit that I am not good at knowing what is a "good deal." I don't have the prices of many things on my list memorized so I am not even sure when something is a good bargain or not. Make sense? So, tell me your secrets/tricks?

*What do you do to get the most for your money on groceries?
*Do you have a meal plan?
*Do you clip coupons or have some other way of regularly saving on items you buy? *What else can you share with us to help everyone save more while still feeding our families good, healthy meals?

Going Organic?

This cartoon sums up exactly how I feel when it comes to the latest organic food craze.

ORGANIC FOOD: foods that are made according to certain production standards. The use of conventional non-organic pesticides, insecticides and herbicides is greatly restricted and avoided as a last resort.

While I whole heartily favor this choice (organic/natural food) over other food products, I can't quite bring myself to spend the few extra dollars per item. But then I fret and worry that I am feeding my children "harmful" or "unsafe" food with growth hormones, trans fats, and other unhealthy additives despite the USDA giving their stamp of approval.

I am planting a garden and have stepped it up over the last few years in my cooking. I have gone from frozen burritos to hamburger helper to "real" home cooked meals.

I still slip in the occasional gold fish for a snack or mac and cheese on a lazy lunch day. But, I know that those are not the best options when it comes to taking care of myself and my family's bodies/health.

Help me out here!!!

What do you know about "harmful" additives in today's food products and their true effects?

How do you plan, promote, and implement healthy eating?

Toddler Snacking

If you have a toddler at home then you know that you will not make it through a day with "3 square meals." Instead (if you are like me) you will be serving up not only tres entrees, but also at least two snacks per day (sometimes more).

I feel that I do a relatively good job at making sure my family eats well rounded meals. For breakfast my toddler usually eats cereal (often oatmeal, but lately more cold cereal with milk), some fruit (usually banana and/or grapefruit), and drinks juice or milk - she often takes bites of my toast too. A typical lunch might be milk, some cheese slices, apple slices, lunch meat, and bread with butter or jam (she won't eat a sandwich). For dinner I try to make sure we get at least a bit of all the major food groups (we rarely eat out and I think my dinner skills are adequate). When it comes to snacking however. . . that is another story.

Snacking for toddlers is VERY important, but I will freely admit I am not taking my toddler's snacking seriously enough. Her morning snack usually consists of dry cereal (really inventive - and healthy huh?) I do a bit better on her afternoon snack (but it is boring); this almost always consists of crackers (sometimes with cheese) and either fruit snacks or fruit chunks.

I am not particularly concerned about my girl's eating habits - I know she is healthy and is almost always in the 30-50%tile ranking in weight and height. She also gains weight at an appropriate rate and she always get a great bill of health at WIC and well child checkups. However, I'd like to do better with snacking!

So, I am giving a shout out to ALL of you moms! What snacks do you do with your little ones? What are some good affordable and quick ideas for snacks. I really must improve my repertoire and I am sure there are more moms out there who want to do the same.



As a final note - although this is my first post as an official coauthor it is not THE first. I urge you to read the three posts below that were submitted by Dee Dee (the one who invented this glorious brain child). The first outlines 10 AMAZING products she uses on a daily/weekly basis - many of which I had not thought of or hadn't thought of using in that capacity (thanks for the white vinegar tip, and I also bought some Eucerin cream for my little girl's eczema). The other two are about hot topics which every mom needs help on. And BOY OH BOY do I ever need help with tantrums and toilet learning. Check them out and leave your insights and comments.