For the Love of Carrots

Robert has a serious love affair with carrots.  He's liked them since the first puree, and I'm in full support of his carrot habit.  However, after making plain carrot puree several times, I felt it was time to mix it up a bit and add a new flavor - enter nutmeg.  He's been a champ with other spices, like cinnamon and even a small amount of pepper on the unexpected Christmas salmon.

As I grated the nutmeg into the carrot puree, I had a fleeting "Chicken of the Sea" moment when I wondered if I was exposing him to a nut akin to peanuts and he was about to go into anaphylactic shock.  I brushed it off and later reassured myself with a quick google search of "what age can babies have nutmeg?"  This reassured me that I had not just doomed myself with the spice.

After steaming and pureeing the carrot, I used a microplane to sprinkle a small amount of freshly grated nutmeg into my bowl.  I mixed it will, and the aroma of fresh nutmeg and sweet carrots was delicious.  Robert agreed!

Bringing Back Squash

The holidays have been downright crazy.  We've had parties, hosted our own party, and travelled to see Nana and Granddad.  With all of the excitement and Robert's burning desire to learn how to crawl, we've been eating a lot.  Those 2 oz food portion containers that I thought were going to keep my life well organized are next to useless because he'll eat 3-4 containers in one sitting.  I've graduated to storing food in regular Pyrex dishes and spooning out generous portions as needed.

One item that we've been focusing on is the dreaded squash.  Our first attempt did not go over well.  Most ended up in the trough in his bib.  Fortunately, the Farmhouse Delivery folks sent a delicious winter squash with our bushel, and I combined this with an organic leek.

• Squash and Leek Puree 
• Peel squash and roughly chop.
• Slice about 2-3 inches of the white portion of a leek and rinse thoroughly to remove dirt.
• Steam together for about 15 minutes
• Puree, adding enough cooking liquid to make into a soft mush

Robert didn't know what hit him.  He loved it and kept opening his mouth for more.  I paired it with a simple spinach and potato puree and sole - some of his favorites - to keep the meal colorful and tasty.  

Christmas Dinner

We're spending Christmas with Nana and Granddad, who unfortunately is in a rehabilitation hospital after a serious infection this all.  He's not allowed out for the holiday, so we brought Christmas dinner to him and ate in a conference room in the facility.  Not the best Christmas ever, but certainly better than not seeing him at all!

Robert was pretty cranky after the travel, strange environment, and only two short 30 minute naps that day.  I brought a bottle and prepared myself to have one unhappy munchkin on my hands, though I tried to keep him as happy as possible my carrying him in our Ergo baby carrier while we sat down to eat and visit.  I didn't count on him watching me eat mashed potatoes, dressing, asparagus, and salmon with a ravenous, desperate look on his face.  Finally, in a weak moment, a put a little mashed potato on my fork and gave him a taste.

You would have thought I gave him baby crack.  He started craning around, desperate to get to my plate and get more.  Finally, I let him out and gave him to dad, who started giving him huge spoonfuls of mashed potatoes and salmon.  At six and a half months.  Did I mention these potatoes were loaded with butter and milk?  There was nothing to do at this point other than enjoy his absolute glee in eating these flavorful foods and hope for the best.  After about ten minutes, he slowed down and I was able to get him to take the bottle to at least have some fluid with this gargantuan, rich meal.

I wish I had pictures, or even better - a video, to show his excitement.  Unfortunately, he didn't poop for  two and half days after this feast, so we won't be repeating immediately.  I think the fatty fish and excess of dairy are a bit too much for him right now.

Rotor-Routing Breakfast

My little man just seems a little backed up.  It is amazing how much of my brain's capacity is now spent thinking about his poop.  Especially now that he's eating solids.  I was told that poop changes, but I really had no concept of what I was getting myself into when we started this gastroventure.

After consulting with the Internet and, more importantly, my sister who has seven kids (aged 10 and under, with no multiples.  Yes, she's been pregnant for a decade.) I decided that a multi-pronged attack was in order:

1. More water.  While I was giving him opportunity to drink water during meals, I was relying on breast feeding during the day to keep in hydrated.  I decided to give him opportunities through the day to have water, too.
2. Prune juice.  Just a little, mixed with the water, and only sometimes.  He's not horribly constipated, just a little uncomfortable.  I also discovered that he's not a big fan of prune juice (shocker - who is?) and I didn't want him to shy away from the bottle.
3. De-clogging foods.  Apples, pears, and apricots in particular.  This is especially challenging because my previous apple attempt didn't go over so well. 

So how to get a kid to eat apples when he doesn't like apples and poop when he doesn't want to poop?  I decided to a bait-and-switch tactic.  I steamed a pear, then reserved the water that it was steamed in to steam an apple.  Voila - pear infused apple.  I paired a cinnamon-sprinkled, pureed version of this with just a touch of Bulgarian yogurt, which I have found always produces a healthy BM.  

Hopefully this will work.  If not, I will have one squirmy, uncomfortable little man on my hands.

**UPDATE**  Problem solved.

Deconstructed Omelet

Last night we had breakfast for dinner.  Jon is out of town, so there's no need to get fancy.  I had a tasty omelet stuffed with braising greens with sweet potato hash.  Robert had his own version of a deconstructed omelet -egg yolk and pureed greens.  His side was mashed sweet potato.

Sadly, when I introduced egg a week ago, I had to look up how to boil an egg.  As it turns out, its pretty easy - just put water in a pot, put your egg(s) in it, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Plunge in cold water when it is done.  I've heard that yolks are ok starting at 7 months, but we're introducing some items early, this one included.  Robert absolutely loves the mashed yolk.  I've even used it to sneak in some other foods that he's not excited about.  Once he's used to the yolk + new mystery food, then I'll switch it up on him and just give him the new food.  So far, so good.

The braising greens were from our Farmhouse Delivery bushel, but it was pretty heavy with broccolini, which I know he loves.  The taste was quite bitter, but I mixed just a little breast milk with it, and he gobbled it up.

And what could be easier than mashed sweet potato?  I confess, I stuck this potato in the microwave and didn't even steam it.  When it was done, I portioned out 2 oz bits and mixed in a small amount of breast milk to soften it more.  It was also therapeutic to mash everything together with a fork.

It's Christmas Time

Even though Robert is completely un-indoctrinated into the spirit of Christmas, I’m still trying to be festive.  There are so many tasty red and green foods to try, especially as he starts eating more substantial meals.  My first foray into Christmas cooking was by accident.  I wanted to try the Red Lettuce Mix from the Beaba Babycook Book because I received a gorgeous head of lettuce in my bi-weekly bushel from Farmhouse Delivery and because this was listed as a good early food.  As it turned out, I also had a scarlet turnip in that bushel, though I thought it was a less exciting, normal turnip.  I augmented my bushel with chervil (found with the fresh herbs) a small fingerling potato, and a sole filet, which conveniently was part of our regular dinner the night before. 

First. the Red Lettuce Mix:      

• Tender inner leaves from a head of red lettuce (or green – I’m under the impression it doesn’t really matter.)
• A small potato, chopped roughly
• A sprig of chervil
•  Breast milk

I put the lettuce and potato into the Babycook, steamed at level 3.  Then I discarded the cooking liquid and added the chervil and a bit of breast milk until it was a very smooth blend.  According to the cookbook, the baby should be able to suck this out of a bottle.  We tried, but without success.  It was quite popular when I fed him with a spoon.  This was also well received the next day after being heated slightly.  (Disclaimer - I tried this, and I thought it was disgusting.)

The turnip was a surprise.  I peeled it, then cut it in half to find its deep red insides.  It almost reminded me of a watermelon with a green/white outside and red surprise underneath.  I just roughly chopped it, threw it into the steaming basket at level 3, and blended well afterwards.  This was so good that I cooked another one in the Babycook for me for dinner.  

I've read mixed information on when to introduce turnips.  The Babycook Book says to wait much later - around 18 months, but I've also read that some kids love the taste early.  I think I got one of those kids.  

Our protein was a simple pan-cooked piece of sole.  The night before I made rolled sole for us, but saved a plain fillet for Robert.  After sautéing mushrooms, greens, and garlic in a pan, I used the pan for the fish for just a little extra flavor because sole is just bland without any outside help.  This was our first fish, and Robert’s eyes lit up when he tried it!  I put a piece of fish in the blender just to break it down a bit, but I didn’t puree it.  Definite winner.

 

The leftovers were just as festive and delicious as the actual meal.  We had this for lunch the next day:

First Foods

I really wanted to be one of those moms who exclusively breastfed until my baby was six months old.  Robert had other plans.  Starting around four months, he watched us eat attentively, mimicking our chewing faces, and looking longingly at most any foodstuff.

I resisted, and my husband supported me because he wanted to be around when Robert took his first solid food bites.

Then one day I was eating a banana with one hand and holding my little man in the other.  He managed to reach out, grab a handful of banana, and make contact with his mouth.  He seemed pretty pleased with himself, and so the solid food adventure began.

I read the amazing Bringing Up Bebe while pregnant, and really liked the idea of introducing food in a more French way.  (Disclaimer - I minored in French in college and have spent not an insignificant amount of time exploring different regions of the country.)  I am envious of the cafe culture, long lunches, and obsession-bordering-on-worship of high quality, very tasty food.  And, honestly, the obesity statistics in the US are downright scary.

I armed myself with a Beaba Babycook Pro and not much else.  After the banana incident, I pulled it out of the pantry, read enough of the manual to realize that I needed to run a few steam cycles before using it to prepare food, and decided on green beans and squash as our two starter foods, mainly because I had some local produce on hand from Farmhouse Delivery.  It seemed like fresh and locally sourced food was a good idea.

Green Beans

• Wash and place in basket, steam at level 2
• Blend with a small amount of cooking liquid.  I didn't use much to keep some texture to the beans. 

Squash

• Wash, peel, and roughly chop before placing in basket.  Steam at level 3.
• Blend with a small amount of breast milk until creamy

I wanted to explore different colors and textures, which turned out to be a good idea.  Robert felt very strongly that mushy food wasn't for him.  He gobbled up the green beans, but turned his nose up at squash.  Poor kid - now I'm going to keep introducing squash until he accepts it.