Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a nice relaxing holiday and wish everyone a happy and healthy 2012.
This past week, I have been introducing different foods to Layla and learning all about the first stages of feeding a baby solid food. For those of you who are new moms, this is what I have learned.
-Start with rice cereal or baby oatmeal mixed with a little breast milk or formula.
-Start introducing different foods one a time, wait 3-5 days to make sure the baby is not allergic before introducing a different food.
-When making food, you can refrigerate the fruits and veggies for up to 3 days, otherwise freeze the rest for later use.
In the past 2-3 weeks I have given Layla apples, bananas, sweet potatoes and peas. She seems to like sweet potatoes and bananas best so far.
Here are a few ideas that I think help to make homemade baby food easier and healthier.
-The baby bullet is a great system to blend and puree the food and it comes with storage jars and freezer containers. You could use a regular blender, but I like that this one is really small and easy to clean and put away each day.
-I also think buying organic for the baby is important. I'll admit that I don't always buy organic food for myself and Tom because its to expensive with the amount of fruit and veggies we eat daily, but buying the baby organic food should not be too costly. You only need 1-2 vegetables or fruits and it makes a lot of jars. For example, I large organic sweet potato makes 6-8 jars of baby food.
Below is a recipe for a healthy stuffed sweet potato. I like to make this when I have been eating a little too much and feel like a light dinner. However, you can cut the potato in half (2 servings per potato) and have them as a side dish.
Healthy Stuffed Sweet Potato (sweet potato puree for baby food):
Serves 1 for dinner and makes 6-8 jars of baby food
Ingredients:
2 Sweet Potatoes ( 1 per person and 1 for baby food)
1 cup baby spinach
1 tsp butter or margarine (optional)
2 Tbsp feta cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake the potatoes for 45mins to 1 hour until cooked through and soft in the middle.
2. Remove the potatoes from the oven. Keep oven on.
(If you are preparing baby food, set one potato aside to cool)
3. While the potatoes are cooling for a few minutes, steam or sautee the spinach until wilted.
4. Make a slice on the top of the potato and scoop out the insides into a bowl.
5. Mix in spinach and butter with the inside of the potato.
6. Put the mixture back into the potato skin and top with feta cheese.
7. Bake for another 10-15 mins until the feta cheese is starting to become golden brown.
To prepare Sweet Potato baby food:
Scoop out the insides of the potato and discard (or eat) the skin. Place the flesh of the potato into a blender or baby bullet and add in 1 cup of water. Puree until very smooth. Refrigerate for up to 3 days and freeze extra.
(I like to roast the sweet potatoes instead of boiling or steaming because it gives the potato a little more flavor. Sweet Potatoes are rich in vitamin A, good for healthy skin and eyes. Vitamin A also helps fight infection.)
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a nice relaxing holiday and wish everyone a happy and healthy 2012.
This past week, I have been introducing different foods to Layla and learning all about the first stages of feeding a baby solid food. For those of you who are new moms, this is what I have learned.
-Start with rice cereal or baby oatmeal mixed with a little breast milk or formula.
-Start introducing different foods one a time, wait 3-5 days to make sure the baby is not allergic before introducing a different food.
-When making food, you can refrigerate the fruits and veggies for up to 3 days, otherwise freeze the rest for later use.
In the past 2-3 weeks I have given Layla apples, bananas, sweet potatoes and peas. She seems to like sweet potatoes and bananas best so far.
Here are a few ideas that I think help to make homemade baby food easier and healthier.
-The baby bullet is a great system to blend and puree the food and it comes with storage jars and freezer containers. You could use a regular blender, but I like that this one is really small and easy to clean and put away each day.
-I also think buying organic for the baby is important. I'll admit that I don't always buy organic food for myself and Tom because its to expensive with the amount of fruit and veggies we eat daily, but buying the baby organic food should not be too costly. You only need 1-2 vegetables or fruits and it makes a lot of jars. For example, I large organic sweet potato makes 6-8 jars of baby food.
Below is a recipe for a healthy stuffed sweet potato. I like to make this when I have been eating a little too much and feel like a light dinner. However, you can cut the potato in half (2 servings per potato) and have them as a side dish.
Healthy Stuffed Sweet Potato (sweet potato puree for baby food):
Serves 1 for dinner and makes 6-8 jars of baby food
Ingredients:
2 Sweet Potatoes ( 1 per person and 1 for baby food)
1 cup baby spinach
1 tsp butter or margarine (optional)
2 Tbsp feta cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake the potatoes for 45mins to 1 hour until cooked through and soft in the middle.
2. Remove the potatoes from the oven. Keep oven on.
(If you are preparing baby food, set one potato aside to cool)
3. While the potatoes are cooling for a few minutes, steam or sautee the spinach until wilted.
4. Make a slice on the top of the potato and scoop out the insides into a bowl.
5. Mix in spinach and butter with the inside of the potato.
6. Put the mixture back into the potato skin and top with feta cheese.
7. Bake for another 10-15 mins until the feta cheese is starting to become golden brown.
To prepare Sweet Potato baby food:
Scoop out the insides of the potato and discard (or eat) the skin. Place the flesh of the potato into a blender or baby bullet and add in 1 cup of water. Puree until very smooth. Refrigerate for up to 3 days and freeze extra.
(I like to roast the sweet potatoes instead of boiling or steaming because it gives the potato a little more flavor. Sweet Potatoes are rich in vitamin A, good for healthy skin and eyes. Vitamin A also helps fight infection.)
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