Leafy Greens (particularly asian ones)

Lexi seemed to be content with the variety of veggies and fruits that I chose for her. I would mix and match them with either rice or pastina. (Of course I didn't start the pastina till she was 8 months, I think). Lexi still only has 4 teeth, but I would recommend starting pastina whenever your child has a few teeth and can really mash things up with their gums. So I stopped making new foods since I had such a huge variety already.

After a while I got bored with the same things, so I decided to try some leafy greens.
Now in the Asian culture we have many leafy greens to choose from (not just spinach, kale, collards, etc.), and they have a more mild taste than most of the common leafy greens that you see in the regular supermarket.
Now if you have an Asian market around you I would recommend looking for these veggies, They are my favorite! =o)

I used Shanghai Choy (Pictured below)


and baby Bok Choy. (Pictured below)


These tend to be more bland in taste, but not completely tasteless. I would stay away from mustard greens and Chinese broccoli as these greens tend to be bitter. I don't think the babies will like these. But of course, you are more than welcome to try them.

Process:

• As you can see, the veggies have layers (kind of like celery) which gives plenty of areas for dirt to hide in. I peel away each of the layers and place them in a colander.  Run them under water to rinse them, making sure each one has been rinsed. 
• I get a pot of boiling water ready.
• I blanch/cook the veggies for a few minutes, until they are tender. 
• Put them in the food processor.
• Puree until the veggies are cut into very tint pieces. 
• Put in ice trays and freeze.

I thought that these were a nice change to the typical greens that you see in the supermarket and they do not change the flavor of the other foods when mixed. They do offer some good vitamins as well.

• Calcium: 74 mg
• Iron: 0.56 mg
• Magnesium: 13 mg
• Phosphorus: 26 mg
• Potassium: 176 mg
• Sodium: 46 mg
• Zinc: 0.13 mg
• Vitamin C: 31.5 mg
• Thiamin: 0.028 mg
• Riboflavin: 0.049 mg
• Niacin: 0.350 mg
• Pantothenic Acid: 0.062 mg
• Vitamin B6: 0.136 mg
• Vitamin B12: 0 mcg
• Folate: 46 mcg
• Vitamin A: 3128 IU
• Vitamin E: 0.06 mg
• Vitamin K: 25.1 mcg

 

 

**FOR ADULTS TOO!!!

So if you want to try something new, even for yourself. These are some great veggies. (If you are making them for yourself, which I recommend: they are my favorite!, you can just blanch them slightly and then add them to stir fry's or just on the side with some soy sauce. I also use them when I make some chinese noodle soups. Yum! If you want me to post some recipes for using these veggies for adults, LET ME KNOW! =o)  

Have fun!!!

-Mindie

Melon

So one day I was thinking about making some honeydew for Lexi to eat. So I went to the store and started to try and choose one. They just happened to not be good that day. I was about to abandon the idea, and then I found something called a melorange. I was thinking... "What is this?" So I googled it on my phone and it came up that it was like a cantaloupe, but it was sweeter. And I thought, great! Personally, I don't really like cantaloupe anyway since its not that sweet and juicy. I bought and and figured I'd give it a try. I started to make Lexi her food, and I tried a piece of it just to make sure. It was pretty good.

So this is how I made it: (I think this is okay for all types of melon as well)

Melon (melorange)

• Cut up the melon into small pieces. They don't need to be too small, but not too big. 
• Get a medium sized pot of water ready with it about 1/2 was full.
• Cook the pieces for just  a few minutes, until tender but not mushy. (Like you can squeeze it without it falling apart.)
• Put the pieces in the food processor and puree to desired consistency.
• Put into ice trays and freeze. 

Lexi actually liked them! =o) But she still preferred that I mixed her fruit and veggies together.

I was going to try and make nectarines and peaches for Lexi, but it wasn't the season to make them, so I haven't actually given them to her yet! Since she's almost a year old (OMG!) I don't think I need to really make the "baby food". So I won't be writing about those fruits since I didn't have any experience with them. Though, I wish I had! =o)
I'm sure the process is very similar to making melon, just blanching the fruit a little to make it softer.

=o) "Happy Cooking!" as Jacques Pepin says!

-Mindie

Apples and Pears

 **I have realized that I haven't stated which month to start feeding the baby solid food. This is up to you, your pediatrician, and how your baby is doing. I started Lexi at around 4 1/2 months because she seemed to just want more than just milk. My pediatrician REALLY didn't want me to start until 6 months... but I went ahead and did anyway. Lexi is just fine, and she did great! =o) She had great head strength, her hands were always busy, she was sitting up, and she opened her mouth when I brought the spoon to her mouth. All of the recipes so far are for the 1st stage (4-6 months).


I started off with veggies because for some reason, Lexi did not like fruit at first, bananas and store bought apple sauce. So I held off on trying fruit till a little later. And even when I did start making it she only ate the fruit when I mixed it with other things.
The only rule to mixing things is that you mix with other foods that the baby has already tried and passed the "4 day wait" rule. That way, you know which foods caused the reaction, if any.

Anyway... onto Apples!

Apples:
I have used fuji and gala apples (mixed). I felt that these were a little sweeter than macintosh and granny smith. Though you can use whatever apples you like. Since Lexi was already so picky, I just went safe and used sweeter apples. I also was lucky that it was apple picking season in NJ, so Lexi got a real treat with freshly picked apples.
As I stated before, I tried the store bought apple sauce, and if you want to go that route, make sure that you READ the ingredients. Buy NATURAL apple sauce, no cinnamon (the baby shouldn't have spices till I think around 8 months). Make sure the only ingredients is/are apples (you may see ascorbic or citric acid in it, this is okay since that is just used to help with shelf life.)

• Peel, core, cut apples into chunks.
• Place slices or chunks into a pan with just enough water to slightly cover apples and boil/steam until tender; be sure to check on the water level and stir.
• Place cooked apples into the food processor and RESERVE the cooking liquid just in case.
• Puree until desired consistency is reached. (You may want to use a potato masher, but I think the consistency is not as smooth, you may want to do this in the later months.)
• Store in ice trays and freeze. Then place in plastic bag and label/date.

*You can bake the apples, but I would wait till the baby is in the second stage (6-8 months)

• Core apple and leave peel on
• Place a little bit of butter (if baby is ready for or has had dairy) on the inside of the cored apple (sprinkle a bit of cinnamon in the apple if your desire and if baby is ready for or has had cinnamon)
• Place in a pan with just enough water to slightly cover apples, should be about an inch of water.
• Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes or until tender; be sure to check on the water level.
• Check to see for softness.
• You can either puree in the food processor, or cube up to serve as finger food. 

Pears:

In the store you'll see different types of pears. I used Bosch pears since they are best used when cooked. Again, use whatever you like, but these tend to be better cooked and sweeter.

Use the same method as apples to cook/make the baby food, but only steam them.


Have fun!
-Mindie

Carrots and Peas

Hi Everyone! Sorry about not getting to post yesterday... it was a little busy. Somehow days off/weekends tend to be busier than the weekdays! =o)

Anyway, So I decided to talk about carrots and peas today since I didn't post yesterday.

Carrots:

I know that Gerber has the nice packaged diced carrots (for crawlers), which are fine, but I think they taste weird.  They are nice and mushy, but again... they taste weird, maybe a little metalic-y? I don't know, I can't pinpoint it.

So with carrots I made diced/cubed ones and pureed carrots at the same time.
Make sure that you buy ORGANIC carrots in this case. I read it somewhere that carrots is one thing you should buy organic if you can.

To start making the puree or diced/cubed you will need to cut up the carrots.

• For the puree, you can just cut them into chunks and be done with cutting. (For the diced/cubes, obviously you need to cut them into cubes.)
• Get a pot of boiling water ready. (If you want to steam but less water in so the steamer basket can sit above the water.) DO NOT SALT THE WATER!!!!!!!!!
• Put the carrots in and cook till tender. (Test by taking one out and lightly smushing it with your finger, if it smushes, then its ready.) DO NOT THROW the cooking water out!
• After cooking, let the carrots cool a little before putting the food processor. (Or stop here if making dices/cubes. And just place in ziploc bag, label, and freeze.)
• Puree until the desired consistency is reached. The cooking water may be used to thin out the puree. (The puree may not be totally smooth, but get it as close as you can.)
• Put in ice trays and freeze. Then pop out and store in labeled freezer bags.

Peas:

• Peas you can again either steam or boil. I used frozen peas since it was much easier than getting fresh peas. But your more than welcome to use fresh. Only thing with the frozen peas though is that they say thawing the peas before cooking it will help to make the skins less noticeable in the puree. I tried it and it didn't seem to work.
• Follow the same directions as the carrots.  (Again, save the cooking water just in case you need to think out the puree. 

So I think we're good for today! =o) Have fun cooking!
-Mindie