Choosing to make Noah's food has been a very fun yet challenging thing. I love knowing that he is getting all of the best and freshest ingredients possible. The hard part is staying motivated to cook in bulk and prepare all of the food. It just takes so much time and commitment.
Don't get me wrong, Noah is totally worth it, but on a Sunday afternoon when all you want to do is lay on the couch and rest while the little one is napping, its hard to want to go and prep, cook, puree, and put all of the food into containers. But I said I was going to do it so I just keep on keeping on.
Puréed Baby Food
I posted quite some time ago about making homemade baby food when I was first getting started. After making food now for about 7 months, I will share a few things that I have learned.
Things that you need:
1. A good food processor!! This is a must. We bought the Ninja and love it but I know that there are lots of good options out there. If you are really wanting to make your own baby food, you need one that holds a lot. It makes it much easier when trying to make food in bulk.
2. Lots of containers. I got mine at the Dollar Tree. They hold about 2oz which is pretty much a perfect size. I got rectangle ones for veggies and circle ones for fruit. This makes it super easy to distinguish the difference since a lot of fruits and veggies look similar. Why not label you ask? You go through containers very quickly once baby starts eating food. I just felt like it was a wast of time to label and have to worry about either getting the same food in the same containers each time. Make it easy on yourself mama!
3. There are lots of rules you will find when it comes to feeding your baby. There are certain foods that they shouldn't have until they are older, and certain foods that cause gas ... it goes on and on. So I just did a little research on things that would be good for Mr. Noah. I just kept trying things one at a time to make sure that he didn't have any sort of reaction to anything. Here are a few things that I have read/learned in the process.
- Avoid until one year: peanut butter, honey.
- Introduce slowly: dairy. (I started introducing Noah at 9 months)
- Make baby gassy: broccoli, cauliflower,
- Things I made: sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, butternut squash, acorn squash, avocados, peaches, pears, apples, chicken, beef.
Introducing Table Foods
In the last couple months I have started adding new and whole foods into Noah's diet. And by whole, I mean cut up into small chewable pieces versus puréed.
Noah has been starting to eat more things off our plates or things that we've been eating. I am careful to make sure that it's not anything that is too seasoned or too spicy. This has been a huge relief. And eating out as a family has become so much easier.
I still prep a lot of food especially for him. I have started prepping a lot of food at the beginning of the week that can be divided up for all of his meals throughout the week. It's the same concept as when you purée, you cook your foods how you normally wood, let them cool, cut them into small pieces, and divide them into your containers. I use a lot of the same containers that I used for the puréed food since I have slowed that down some.
While Noah is continuing to learn to pick things up (he is getting very good at grabbing Cheerios with his finger and thumb), I still feed him some puréed food too. It's hard to tell, until you get him out of the high chair, how much went in his mouth and how much is in the chair. Or now that he's learned to feed the dog, it really is important to make sure he is eating enough of what he needs.
I am definitely not a pro but I am proud that I have kept it up and continued to make homemade food for Noah. It makes me happy knowing he is getting good food and I think he's pretty happy about it too!
Noah's Daily Eating Plan
So here is a sample of what Noah might eat throughout the day. Note: He is 10 months old and I will continue feeding him formula until he is 1 year or so.
7:25 am - cherios to keep him from screaming while his breakfast is being fixed
7:30 am - piece of toast, a scrambled egg, + puréed peaches.
9:30 am - 4oz bottle before napping
12:30 pm - ham, cheese, + black beans
2:30 pm - 4oz bottle before napping
5:30 pm - rice, turkey, puréed peas, piece of an apple
8:30 pm - 6-8oz bottle before bed
xoxo, Britt + Noah
