Taking it on the road…

I know that when beginning to make homemade baby food, one of my main concerns was how feasible it would really be and if I could incorporate it into our daily routine easily. Part of this concern included whether traveling would be a hassle when dealing with Lorenzo’s homemade baby food.

Well, I can now say that for a weekend getaway, it is totally doable. This past weekend Cary, Lorenzo and I took a weekend trip, which included a 6 hour drive in each direction. I made sure to pack an arsenal of goodies for the drive and all his favorites for throughout the weekend.

Things you will need for taking homemade baby food on the road:
1) Cooler
2) Ice/dry ice/ice packs
3) Cooling rack (optional)
4) Bottle warmer (optional)

These are the basic essentials to making sure the food will stay fresh.

Now, when choosing ice, I personally prefer dry ice. Dry ice is great because depending how you pack your cooler you can keep food both cold and frozen, if needed, without the watery mess. However, if you go with regular ice, I like to use a cooling rack at the bottom of the cooler so the water will collect at the bottom without soaking or leaking into any of the food. Also, depending on your baby and how often he is nursing or drinking a bottle, having a car bottle warmer can be useful when on the road. For us, it made it so we didn’t have to stop quite as much, helping us get to our destination a little quicker.

As far as food is concerned, this is what I packed for a 3 day trip:

1. A medium size container of pre-made barley. Which you can substitute with any other grain that your baby may prefer for lunch and    dinner.
2. A medium size container of pre-made oatmeal for breakfasts.
3. A medium size container of pre-made mashed potatoes.
4. Three baby cube containers of peas. These happen to have been freshly made and not frozen.
5. Two baby cube containers of zucchini, one of which I thawed for Lorenzo to have for lunch on the road with barley cereal and one that was still frozen for him to have over the weekend.
6. One baby cube container of frozen sweet potato.
7. One baby cube with oatmeal and mashed banana ready for Lorenzo to eat for breakfast on the road.
8. A ziplock of toasted o’s/cheerios, and a baby cube container to have handy in the car for on the road.
9. Two bowls
10. One little plate dish
11. Two spoons
12. Small knife
13. Fork for mashing
14. Two bottles of pumped milk for the road
15. Sippy cup of water
16. Large bottle of homemade apple juice and a small bottle ready to drink on the road
17. Two plums, for snacks
18. Two bananas, for breakfasts
19. Fresh food feeder
20. One medium size container with bite size melon pieces for a snack on the road

The key to making it a smooth trip, as far as the homemade baby food was concerned, was packing the food in a way so I had some food ready to go on the road, and the rest packed well with ice to keep at a proper temperature until we were able to get it into a refrigerator.

*If taking frozen foods, make sure that those are really packed well with ice to keep frozen till you reach your destination. Otherwise, if it thaws it should be eaten immediately or thrown out. *

The part of the trip spent on the road was actually the part that I was most nervous about because I wasn’t sure how Lorenzo would handle being in the car seat for so long. Luckily having an array of tasty goodies for him to choose from, and his bin of toys right next to him so he could reach and grab toys at his leisure, really helped. I had already prepared a baby cube with food ready to eat for breakfast and lunch so I wouldn’t have to deal with any mess on the road. I also had snacks like the bite size melon and toasted o’s, which entertained him a lot. Because it was pretty hot, he also drank a lot of his water and apple juice throughout the road trip. We only had to make two stops for diaper changes, and during one of the stops I took the opportunity to nurse him. It was really helpful that we took the bottle warmer for the car and were able to heat up a bottle for him at the last leg of the drive when he was starting to get hungry and didn’t want any more of his snacks. It tied him over just enough for us to reach our destination without needing to stop again.

All-in-all it was a successful and easy trip incorporating Lorenzo’s homemade baby food. After this trip we are definitely feeling more confident and eager to get out on the road again.

All natural baby apple juice

Ingredients:
apples (8-10)
1-2 c water
*for a more dilute recipe you can use less apples or more water

1) When choosing apples, make sure to mix and match different types of apples so the flavor balances out better. I like using some golden delicious, gala, and red delicious. The key is in picking apples that are sweet enough so it’s naturally sweet and no sugar is needed.
2) Wash, core (to make it easier to make applesauce when the juice is finished), and cut apples into quarter slices
3) Place apples in a heavy bottom stock pot with water, cover and bring to boil
4) Once it begins to boil turn heat down to medium and allow to simmer for about 20-25 minutes, or until apples are soft
5) Strain/sieve the apples from the juice
6) Chill and serve!

This recipe makes enough that I tend to only refrigerate because Lorenzo goes through it pretty quickly.

If you want to make a bigger batch, you can double or triple the recipe and then jar the apple juice so it’s ready to go whenever you need a fresh jar. See my post on jarring for tips. If jarred properly, shelf life can be as long as 2 years.

After making the apple juice you can then make baby applesauce from the already cooked apples. This recipe is the recipe that keeps on giving.
You’ll just need to peel off the skin and then puree in preferred food processor appliance.

OR if your baby is beginning to enjoy more texture, just mash and serve.

Ingredients:

As many fresh carrots as you’d like to make
Water

1) Wash and peel carrots. The carrot peel doesn’t mash well and can be difficult for baby to digest, so it’s always a good idea to peel carrots.
2) Cut carrots into medium size chunks
3) Place in a pot with a steamer basket and water
4) Steam till tender. (Time will vary depending on how much you make. Do a knife or fork pricking test every few minutes till reaching desired softness)
5) Place in preferred appliance and puree, adding fresh water as needed (do not use water from steaming due to possible nitrates)

* For babies that are already enjoying more textures, skip step #5 and simply mash the carrot for more texture.
Lorenzo is starting to want more texture in his food, so these days I am doing more mashing than pureeing. He likes to eat his carrots with a little bit of rice cereal mixed in.

*Carrots are a sweet vegetable so feel free to experiment with mixing with other fruits and vegetables like apples, peas, squash, and sweet potato.

*Soon Lorenzo will be trying some chicken, which is also a great match for carrots.

*As with most other homemade baby foods, you can make a big batch, if you don’t want to keep making a fresh batch every couple days, and freeze it. I like to use the Baby Cubes for freezing.

Applesausicles…yum

Ingredients:

applesauce
ice cube trays

Now that summer is approaching the perfect treat for your baby, especially if they’re teething, is a refreshing frozen treat.
I’ve found that for Lorenzo, he loves all things frozen, especially fruit.

To make the applesausicles all you have to do is take some of your homemade applesauce, divide it up in ice cube trays and freeze. I like to fill the cubes only about half way so the cubes will fit in my Fresh Food Feeder, which is great because then he can easily hold it himself. I usually like to run the Fresh Food Feeder under a little water to get the net moist for him. He seems to appreciate that.

This recipe has been one of my personal favorites because it can be done with just about any fruit. We’ve also done Pearsicles and Nectarinsicles, which Lorenzo has loved! Hope your baby has a happy summer with these.

Great first “green” food

Ingredients:

Peas (frozen or fresh, not canned)
Water
Rice cereal (optional)
Breastmilk (optional)

1) Place peas in a microwave safe dish with a little water
2) Microwave till they are cooked and softened
3) Reserve water from peas
4) Process peas in preferred appliance
5) Add reserved water as needed to reach desired consistency

*I tried mashing peas to have a thicker consistency but the skin of the peas doesn’t mash well, pureeing works best with peas until baby is able to eat whole.
*For a richer thicker “meal”, mix with rice cereal. This is currently Lorenzo’s favorite!
*And if you really want to give it even more of a boost you can add a little breastmilk and serve.

*For storage, I kept some in the fridge to use right away and froze the rest with Baby Cubes. By the way, it is safe to freeze a previously frozen food as long as it has been cooked before refreezing.

Baby Cubes 2 Oz. Baby Food Storage Contains no Phthalates, Bisphenol-A, PVC

An apple a day…

Ingredients:

10 golden delicious apples (peeled, cored, and ¼ sliced)
(When choosing apples, I prefer the golden delicious because they are sweet and become nice and soft)
1 1/2 c water

1) In a large sauté pan with lid, add water and allow to come to a boil
2) Add apples and allow temperature to rise again to a boil
3) Reduce to a simmer (med/low heat) and allow to simmer for about 25 minutes covered, and 15 minutes uncovered at the end to allow for some evaporation.

• Check periodically to make sure it doesn’t dry out too much. Add water little by little if necessary if evaporation occurs too quickly

4) Once apples are at desired softness, pour into a blender/food processor/or magic bullet and puree.

• Reserve water from apples when done cooking to add as needed when pureeing
• be careful with steam build-up when pureeing

5) Let cool, and serve warm or cold

~This recipe makes approximately 30 oz.
~For storage you can keep some in the fridge and freeze or jar the rest so it lasts longer.
~When freezing, you can either freeze in ice cube trays, jars, or Tupperware OR I like to use Baby Cubes, which are individually portioned freezer cubes specifically designed for baby food/breastmilk. It’s great because you can control how much you want to defrost from one day to the next.
~For proper jarring instructions, see my post on Jarring

Who doesn’t love a good day!

Today was one of those really good days. Lorenzo and I were in great moods, which is a rare occasion for BOTH of us at the same time, for the whole day!

Something to know about Lorenzo is that he doesn’t babble like your average baby. He actually sings, although maybe it’s more like a piggy squeal, whatever it it, it’s super cute and he’s very proud of himself when he does it. As we went about our routine of me enjoyed my cup of tea and toast while we played with his toys in the morning, there was this great moment we had. We got into this imitation groove. We just sat together and I would squeal and then he would squeal, then we’d both crack up. We did this for what felt like forever. After a while we didn’t even have to squeal anymore, we would just look at each other and start cracking up. It was a great way to start the day!

On top of Lorenzo and I having a great day, Lorenzo also had a great time with his grandpa and his uncle Colin today. While I went to work grandpa took Lorenzo on his usual walk, but today was special because there was a “community celebration” going on. Which meant free food and a concert. When I arrived to pick up Lorenzo at the “celebration” his uncle Colin was feeding him his homemade squash and applesauce, and as you can see by the picture, there’s no way this boy could have been happier in this moment.

Let’s hope for more great days like this…

Ingredients:

1 squash (Acorn, Kabocha, Butternut) washed and cut into 1-2” cubes
Water
Breastmilk (optional)

* I personally used the Kabocha, or the “Japanese pumpkin”, which is a rich, flavorful, and sweet squash. The Acorn and Butternut are also great, and considered great squashes to introduce as first foods.

1) Once squash is washed and cubed place in a large pot with a steamer basket and water
2) Steam for 20-25 minutes, or till desired softness
3) Give the squash a cold bath to stop the cooking process and allow to dry and cool before handling
4) Once cooled, with a knife, peel shell off the squash meat. It’s always easier to do this after it’s been steamed.

5) Place meat of the squash in preferred processor appliance for pureeing
6) Add water as needed to reach desired consistency
7) Serve warm. Add breastmilk right before serving to make a little smoother and creamier (optional)

*Because squashes are generally a larger vegetable, you’ll end up with quite a bit of baby food from one squash. I like to save some in the fridge, and freeze the rest. I personally like using the Baby Cubes so they’re already individually portioned out for defrosting.

The week from hell!

This last week was one of the most challenging weeks yet in Lorenzo’s almost 9 months of life. It was one of those things where there were multiple issues that we were dealing with. It all started when one night Lorenzo decided that no matter what, he had to sleep in my arms. I tried and tried to get him in his crib, which he’s usually pretty good about, but to no avail. I would nurse, rock, walk, hum, and just hold until I could do the limp arm test to see if he was really asleep. Once the limp arm was confirmed I would gently move toward the crib and begin to lay him down. It was like he had some kind of motion detector that sounded the alarms whenever I even moved toward laying him down. He would immediately wake up and start crying with an occasional “mu-mu” in between sobs. There was nothing my husband or I could do, so I took him to bed with me.

Now, I know that that alone is a bit controversial…the whole sharing a bed with your baby. However, for us, it is what we feel most comfortable with when our baby is as upset as he was that night. After taking him to bed and just letting him nurse we were all able to get a little sleep.

On the next day we were all a bit groggy but we had survived the night. Then all of a sudden Lorenzo began vomiting whenever he nursed. He just wasn’t keeping down his milk. He also didn’t want any of his solid food, which is unlike him. By the afternoon a fever was creeping in. That night turned into another sleepless night. We gave Lorenzo acetaminophen and after many failed attempts at the crib, he slept with me another night.

The next day Lorenzo’s fever kept creeping up until it finally hit its plateau at 102.2 degrees. He was fussy throughout the day and just wanted to sleep a lot. At least on this day he was finally able to nurse and keep down his milk. And for all you concerned parents, yes, I did call the pediatrician and all we could do was wait it out for at least another day.

Then the next night came along…

I knew we were in for it again when he woke up about 7 times between his 7 o’clock and 10:30 pm. So, again, he slept with me in bed. There’s only so much my patience and back can take in a night when it comes to putting him in and out of the crib, walking and rocking him to sleep. However, to my surprise, when I took him to bed with me this night and gave him the “cure-all”, the boob, he didn’t want it. I was shocked! He was squirming and crying and straight out upset.

Cary and I took turns walking him in our pitch black living room, trying to soothe him and get him to sleep. Then Cary brilliantly asked, “could he be teething?” The bells went off, the light bulb when on, OF COURSE! I couldn’t believe it took that long to figure it out! I got some infant numbing gel and rubbed a little on his upper gums, which were the next in line to pop out. Sure enough, about 30 minutes later I was sitting on the couch, Lorenzo in my lap facing forward leaning back on my chest, and suddenly I could feel his little limp head start to slide. He was finally asleep! It was the wee-hours of the morning and we were finally off to bed.

The next day when we were playing with him and there it was, a gleaming sharp little tooth poking out of his upper red swollen gums. We gave a sigh of relief seeing that little tooth. We felt like champions after surviving that week. Not only did we survive his teething and sleepless nights, but on top of it all he probably had gotten some kind of bug that cause the vomiting. What a week from hell!

I know that not all of you may agree with the numbing gel for the gums, but man, I couldn’t have made it without it!
When Lorenzo got his first bottom 2 teeth, it was like nothing happened. We never noticed any real change with him. But now we definitely know what we’re in for with the next ones. I’ll be ready and waiting with my numbing gel! Come and get it you bastards!

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana

• Mash and serve. How could food preparation be any easier!
• As baby gets older and you feel it’s appropriate, you can give your baby a piece big enough to hold and suck on. This of course could be a choking hazard, so make sure to be attentive if you decide to try this.
• You can even take it one step further for a teething baby and cut the banana in half and freeze so baby has a yummy teething toy.

Banana is one of the first suggested fruits when beginning to introduce solids to your baby. Here are a couple key pieces of information that I was glad I knew about banana.

First of all, although it’s sweet and delicious, it can cause constipation. I know, it seems wrong that one of the first suggested foods to introduce may cause constipation for your baby. Go figure.

The trick is to start slow and just be aware of your baby’s diaper activity. When I introduced banana to Lorenzo, he LOVED it! We managed to evade constipation, at least this time. Part of my method for success for Lorenzo’s continued bowel happiness was making sure he got enough water. If you sense that your baby may be experiencing some constipation a couple of things you may want to try are:

1) cutting back on the banana
2) make sure baby is getting enough water
3) balance baby’s diet by giving something that will help baby get those poops movin’ (*see my “constipation” blog for suggested foods)

Secondly, banana is one of the easiest foods you’ll come across as far as prep goes. No cooking necessary! Personally, I like to serve banana fresh if it’s going to be a meal, although it can also be a handy teething toy when cut in half and frozen.

Lastly, the banana is extremely versatile. You can add it to all kinds of fruits, yogurt, cereals, and even vegetables to keep things interesting for your growing foodie.