adventures in baby food making.

i thought i would write a little update on how solid foods have been going with finn the past month and a half!

you might remember that i started out making my own brown rice cereal.

i did this for a little bit, but i eventually switched to earth's best organic whole grain rice cereal, seen here:

i couldn't quite get my own brown rice ground up fine enough. it was really thick. this rice cereal is really inexpensive (around $2), lasts forever (we're still on the same box), and is really easy to make.

i mix finn's rice cereal with pumped breast milk, or you could mix it with formula if that's what you use.  also, thanks to a great tip from another mom (hi michelle!) i always mix a few spoonfuls of organic applesauce in it as well.  i just buy a big jar of regular organic applesauce (not any special "baby" kind) and use that.  it sweetens the cereal naturally and finn is much more fond of it that way.

i also like this cereal from earth's best and use it very often:

but if there is any gluten intolerance in your family i would stick with rice!  finn really likes this cereal though!

i introduced new foods every few days with finn.  i started out buying little jars of the earth's best organic stage 1 baby food and then once finn tried it (and i got a good look at the consistency) i started making my own baby food with the foods i know he liked.

here's what i found out:

carrots are super easy to make your own.  you can use peeled whole carrots or the baby carrots.  just put them in a pot with a little water and boil the heck out of em.  really overcook them.  then i put them in a food processor (this one- love it!) with a little water until i get the desired consistency.  finn loves carrots and they save really well!  (i just used washed baby jars from the food i tried with him first to save the baby food i made myself).

bananas are also really easy to make yourself.  i add pumped milk to them in the food processor.  the thing about bananas is they don't save very well, they turn brown.  this is the same with most fruit.  if you want to get fancy you can add citric acid or a lot of lemon juice, but with fruits i have just been serving them immediately.  another thing that i discovered is that if you're mixing foods with breastmilk, the breastmilk breaks down the fruit/cereal/whathaveyou over time.  if you put your baby food mixture it in the fridge semi-thick and take it out the next day, it will be really watery.  so it's better not to store your homemade baby food with breastmilk in it.  either serve it immediately or add it later.  it took us a while to figure that one out!

peas are very easy to make as well, but the pain in the butt part is the hulls.  when you buy jarred peas (which finn LOVES) i think they remove the hulls, or the outer part of the pea.  it's just the creamy whipped insides of the pea.  when you make your own peas, it's a pain to remove the hulls.  i don't do it.  i just puree the whole pea.  but the hulls are hard to break down and don't grind up as fine so they are kind of chunky.  i also heard they are harder to digest, but finn hasn't had a problem with them.  i will say that the canned peas have a much nicer consistency.

potatoes are something we recently tried (baby yellow ones) that i boiled with carrots, removed the skins and pureed.  they turn out so smooth and creamy with just a little water in the food processor!  finn really loved them.  i added carrots with them for a little extra nutrients.

avocadoes are a recent try as well.  i pureed half an avocado a little baby oatmeal, applesauce, breastmilk and a little banana.  finn really liked it.  i know avocado is really nutritious and it was super easy and had a nice consistency.

finn has also tried cantaloupe that i threw in the food processor and he liked that as well.  things like pears, sweet potatoes and squash he has had canned but i haven't made myself.

one thing that i found during these food trials is that bananas and the iron-fortified rice cereal both made finn constipated.  i bought a couple little jars of earth's best organic prunes and mix a few spoonfuls of that in with his cereal or whatever he's eating if he's a little backed up, and it really does the trick!  keep that one in your pocket!

finn's go-to meal is normally baby cereal (rice or oatmeal) mixed with breastmilk and applesauce.  that is what i feed him most often.  probably one meal a day.  for a second meal i'll give him carrots or bananas or potatoes or whatever i've made and have on hand.  he normally just gets two meals a day, but sometimes three.  i learned that since he is still young so it's more about getting a taste for new things and developing his palate than it is filling him up completely (that's what i'm for!) :)  this is a great article.  i think i've referenced that before.

so starting solids with finn has been really fun, and making some of it myself has been really fun and cost effective as well.  i don't know much about what he can try in a few weeks when he turns six months, and i don't know much about finger foods, etc.  is it nine months when you start giving them finger foods?  i would love some feedback on later feeding stages and options!  thanks guys! xoxo