Adventures in Baby Food: Blueberries and Peaches

I am really enjoying making all of Hadley’s baby food.  I thought I’d share another quick tutorial on how to make fruit (it’s not recommended for babies under 8 months to eat raw fruit [with the exception of bananas and avocados], so you should cook it in some way prior to pureeing.) 

I made a batch of peaches and blueberries at the same time using two different methods (warning: this will make your house smell soooo delicious you might just have to make a pie).  I decided to bake the peaches and simmer the blueberries. 

We’ll start with the peaches:

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Slice desired amount of peaches in half and remove the pits.  Place peaches “meat” side down in a baking dish with about an inch of water.   I only made 2 peaches this time around because I wanted to see if Hadley likes them before I make a huge batch, and as you can tell from the picture below, they were already pretty ripe when I made these. 

Bake in the oven at 400 until the skin wrinkles and peaches are soft to the touch.  (I think this took about 20-25 minutes or so, but because I was making the blueberries at the same time, I can’t remember exactly!)  This is what they should look like when they’re done:

The skins should just “slide” off at this point – see picture below.  If you have a few pieces of skin that hang on for dear life, you can either cut that part of the peach off before throwing in the puree, or just call it good. (They say that the skins of fruit can be tougher to digest for little tummies, so just use your best judgment as to what your little one can handle.)

After removing the skins, throw it in a food processor or blender and puree!  I didn’t even need to add water to these because they were juicy enough on their own.

The blueberries were just as simple. 

Dump a package of blueberries into a sauce pan and add just enough water to cover.

Simmer the blueberries until they turn a nice deep purple – if I remember correctly, this only took about 5-10 minutes. 

Drain the blueberries and reserve the water in case you want it to thin out your puree (I didn’t need any of this water either, they came out nice and juicy!)

Stick in a food processor or blender and puree! 

Easy-peasy!   I added some avocado to this tray to freeze, and filled the rest with the peaches and blueberries. 

We haven’t tried the peaches yet, but I’d say the blueberries were a hit!

Mommy & Me

Or maybe I should title this Ms. Christy and me. 

Hadley and I joined a weekly class at The Little Gym to get some fun time with other mommas and babies and Hadley LOVES her teacher.   Since she has a track record of melting down and screaming anytime we do something new, I was prepared for her to scream the entire class.  Instead, she just STARED at her teacher.  She was listening so intently to everything she said, and when she got a compliment from Ms. Christy, I swear she grew 3 inches. 

She could be about to start crying, and if her teacher came over to tell her she was doing a great job, all of a sudden that bottom lip would go back in and she’d look up at her as if to say “Really?   I’m doing good?  Thanks!!” – it’s the sweetest thing!

 

I’m realizing quickly that we need these activities in our schedule or else we will both go crazy!  We’re having so much fun with this, I might just look for a playgroup to join, too! 

Making Baby Food: Sweet Potatoes

I decided, after doing a little research online, that I wanted to make Hadley’s baby food.  By making it, not only do we save a lot of money, but I like knowing exactly what it is that’s going in her little tummy.  Not to mention, it’s super easy!  I thought I’d share a quick little tutorial for anyone else thinking they might want to make their own baby food! 

I started with just one sweet potato – I wanted to see how much one would make and whether or not Hadley liked them before I went overboard. 

• Pre-heat your oven to 400 (you can steam or boil these, or even stick them in the microwave, but I think the taste is better if they’re baked, and it makes clean-up a lot easier!)
• Wash and dry your sweet potato(s)
• Using a fork, poke holes all around the potato and wrap with foil

• Place the potato in the oven for about 55 minutes (until soft)
• Let cool for about 5 minutes, then slice in half

• Using a spoon, scrape the “meat” of the potato out (if it’s fully cooked, this should be really easy)

• Place the “meat” in a food processor or blender and add breastmilk or formula to thin to your desired consistency (I used a little over an ounce of breastmilk for this batch). 

• Place in whatever containers you choose to store in – I actually have a bunch of items coming in the mail that I ordered to make solids, but since they’re not here yet, I had to improvise.  I just used some silicone cupcake liners I had, measured with water how much they hold (approximately 2 ounces when filled 3/4 the way full), and scooped the puree into them!  I left one out to try tonight and stuck the other two in the freezer.  Once they were frozen, I just popped them into a Ziploc bag and labeled it with the name of the food and the date!  From what I’ve read, most homemade baby food will last about 3 months in the freezer. 

• In case you didn’t put 2 + 2 together, that one sweet potato that I baked made just over 6 ounces of puree.  With the amount Hadley is eating right now, that’s at least a weeks worth! 

In case you were wondering, I ordered one of these – it’s a silicone brownie-squares baking mold by Wilton.  I read some reviews and decided to get something like this rather than the ones made for baby food – that way, when we’re done with this stage, I can re-use this (plus it was cheaper!).   Each cavity holds about 1/2 an ounce, so I can just pop a couple squares in the microwave (or stick in a bowl with a lid if we’re going to be out and let them thaw on their own). 

If you’ve made your own, I’d love to see your recipes and here how it went! 

Sweet potatoes didn’t go so well for us the first time around… but I think she was a little bit tired, too, so next time we’ll try earlier in the day

First Day at the Pool! And Sun-Protection 101

Hadley is NOT taking after her momma in one aspect, for sure; she does NOT enjoy the pool. 

With the highs in the upper 90s here, summer has arrived and is not going anywhere until probably late September, so we decided to try to stay cool at the baby pool in our neighborhood.  First of all, who builds a baby pool without any shade?  It’s sort of annoying to have to really limit our time there and make sure Hadley is covered head to toe in either SPF clothing or sunblock! 

{sidenote: I found this site to be really helpful when choosing sunblock (and other products) for Hadley - http://safemama.com/cheatsheets/sunscreen/

Also – this is a quick sun protection 101 that I found online while doing research – it is written by a dermatology nurse practitioner, and mother: (I made a few small changes for typos – the English teacher in me couldn’t help it!)

“First let me start by saying there is a big difference between Sunscreen and Sunblock

Sunscreen is 100% NOT safe for infants under 6 months old. Honestly I would never put sunscreen on my child at any age. Period. Sunscreen is a chemical blocker that simply gets absorbed into the top of the skin as a chemical thus reflecting the sun’s rays and not allowing them to penetrate. These chemicals however are not safe for infants.

Sunblock is a physical sunblocker which is 100% safe from the day your child is born up to the very elderly. Sunblock is a product that literally creates a shield on the top of your skin and gets absorbed and will block out the harmful rays.

Many companies mislabel their products calling themselves sunscreen and sunblock interchangeably.  You need to look for the active ingredient.

Avobenzont; Homosalate; Octisalate, Octocrylene  and Oxybenzone, : ARE CHEMICAL BLOCKERS aka Sunscreen. NEVER use this on your child; this is what pediatricians do not want you to use on your children.

Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide as the active ingredient is a PHYSICAL BLOCKER and this is absolutely safe for your child at birth. As noted with the American Academy of Dermatology. The active ingredients are actually pretty much the same as diaper rash paste.

The key is putting it on 30 minutes before going outside. Physical blockers need time to get absorbed into the top layers of the skin. Also you must reapply every 2 hours of continuous sun exposure. Long sleeve shirts, wide brim hats and sunglasses are also recommended. They sell bathing suit coverups and bathing suits with a UV protection.

Recommended Sunblocks by the AAD are as follows:

Neutrogena Sensitive Skin

Neutrogena Pure and Free

Blue Lizard

California Baby”

The site I listed above has a more thorough list of sunblocks, as well!

Okay – Sun 101 lesson over!}

Next up, little miss drama proves once again that she rules the roost and we spent all of 10 minutes in the baby pool, another 10 changing her and drying her off, and then we were on our way home.  Fun times  

Here’s our little chunker in her sun/pool get up…

Look at that belly!!  (Hadley’s, not her daddy’s… ha)

Dad… I don’t know about this place…

I definitely do NOT like it here!

What?!  You’re still making me get in? I already told you I don’t like it here!  Take me out immediately or I will make an even bigger scene!

Ahh, much better now that I’m away from that giant cold bathtub!

We’ll keep trying; the girl lives in Texas and her momma loves the beach and the lake, so she had better get used to playing in the water!

Well… we tried.

This past weekend, we attempted to start Hadley on “solid” foods!  Her pediatrician actually gave us the go-ahead at her 4 month appointment, but after doing some research, I decided to hold off a little while.  Hadley really wasn’t showing a lot of signs that she was ready, and the fact that her tummy would get so upset if I had dairy made me think her digestive tract just wasn’t quite ready for more than breast milk. 

In the last week or two, however, the girl has been SUPER fussy if we are eating in front of her.  She has been studying us like crazy when we eat or drink anything, and the other night, I was holding her while I was eating and she was literally LUNGING at every bite I took!  So, we decided to give it a whirl. 

We started with oatmeal (I had read that plain rice cereal has no more nutritional value than processed white flour, so I wanted something a bit more nutritional).  I mixed up a little with some breast milk until it was just barely thicker than liquid. 

Here she is, all ready for some oatmeal!

First bite!

Dad – is it okay that I’m eating this?

Hey!  Where you goin with that?

Ummmm, I’m not so sure about this stuff.

Here, let me just take that spoon for you.

All in all, her first experience went pretty well.  She actually swallowed a tiny bit and didn’t seem to hate it!  However, I tried to make it a tiny bit thicker the next couple times and she has not been a fan.  I also made some sweet potatoes for her to try – I’ve got a post almost ready to show you how! 

Pinterest

I’m sure you’ve all heard of Pinterest by now, but on the off chance that some of you haven’t, I wanted to spread the word!  I am pretty obsessed with it already – it’s such a great way to get inspiration for anything!  Picture all of your bookmarks/favorite pages in one place with perfect little thumbnail pictures to represent them!  And then imagine a glimpse into your favorite people’s bookmarks and a way to search for things by category! 

Here’s a screenshot of one of my boards (For the home…).  It’s where I save inspiration for home decorating & organization. 

Here’s a glimpse at my main page with my different “boards” that I’ve made.  You can follow people who have similar taste and they can follow you so you can share ideas! 

It’s super addicting, so if you don’t have time in your day for anything else, I’d highly recommend staying away!  However, if you want to try it out, let me know and I’ll be glad to send an invite your way to join! 

If you’re already on Pinterest, leave me a comment with your name on there so I can follow you! 

Hadley’s 5 month pictures

And because I know there are some grandparent’s waiting on more pictures, here are the 5 month “official” pictures! 

Sorry for the photo overload!