Carrots & Apples

So, some of you might be wondering “Really? How long do we need to freeze food for the baby?”  Well, the answer, in my opinion is “as long as you would like to.”

Let’s say you want to feed your baby kiwi or mango like I did today and you know there’s no way they can eat a whole one of either especially since you likely want to serve them with other veggies and some protein.  You don’t want to give them a little and toss the rest or save it in the refrigerator only to forget it as it slips behind all the stuff you have in there.  What to do?  Cut them up into bite-size chunks appropriate for your baby’s age, serve the amount you wanted and freeze the rest using the cube method.  Better yet, make a bunch and freeze it like you would with puree and have it when you want it, on the fly.

I believe that the key to an adventurous eater is variety.

Whatcha think?

Mango cut into chunks and frozen.

A cube of mango included as part of a carrot, peas and rice lunch. All organic {of course}

Organic kiwi prepared just as the mango was.

Soooo, last night I made some more food so today’s menu can have a few items that we ran out of.

BREAKFAST:
- 2 cubes oatmeal
- 1 cube banana
- 1 cube mango
- 7 ounces milk

SNACK:
- a few banana fiddlesticks
- water

LUNCH:
- 1 cube chicken
- 1 cube corn
- 1 cube carrots
- 1 cube banana
- 7 ounces milk
- water

SNACK:
- about 1/3 cup papaya cut into small pieces
- 1/2 of an apricot cut into small pieces

DINNER:
- 1 cube blueberries
- 1 cube peas
- mango cut into small pieces
- 1 cube chicken
- 6 ounces milk

What does your baby’s menu look like?

I just came across this great cheat sheet on www.kidspot.com.au - it’s a great veggie cooking cheat sheet - NICE!

Sorry…I didn’t post today’s menu in advance of the day.  Here’s what Truett’s dined on so far…dinner is still to come.

BREAKFAST:
- 1 cube of blueberries
- 1 cube of banana
- 2 cubes of oatmeal
- 7 ounces of milk

SNACK:
- Organic puffs
- Cut up mango

LUNCH:
- 1 cube peas
- 1 cube mixed veggies (corn, green beans, carrots)
- 1 cube rice
- 1 cube banana
- 6 ounces of milk

SNACK:
- Fiddlesticks by Plum organics in banana and in carrot/apple

DINNER:
- 1 cube of corn
- 1 cube of peas
- 1/2 avocado cut into small pieces
- 1 cube rice
- 7 ounces of milk

Full Baby = Happy and Healthy Baby

I thought it would be fun to show you how I’m pulling all these items that I’ve shared how to make into a complete week’s menu broken down day-by-day.  So, here’s what I’m feeding my 11 month old tomorrow.

BREAKFAST:
- 2 cubes of frozen organic oatmeal
- 1 cube frozen organic blueberries
- 1 cube frozen organic banana
- 4 to 6 oz of milk depending on how hungry he seems after the solids

LUNCH:
- Approx 1/4 cup of cut up organic mango finger food
- 1 cube frozen rice
- 1 cube frozen organic corn
- 1 cube frozen organic peas
- 1 cube frozen organic pear
- 4 to 6 oz of milk depending on how hungry he seems after the solids

DINNER:
- Approx 1/4 cup of cut up papaya
- Approx 1/3 of a cup cut up organic avocado
- 1 cube frozen organic free range chicken
- 1 cube frozen organic mango
- 1 cube frozen organic mixed veggies
- 4 to 6 oz of milk depending on how hungry he seems after the solids

Bon Appetite!!

Again…just back from Hawaii and the family is feeling tropical, trying to extend that vacation state of mind.

Papaya…there is no end to this amazingly beautiful and tasty fruit on Maui so we had our fair share and when we got home we wanted more!!  Lucky for us, in San Diego {and with the amazing produce available all over these days you probably have them too} there is seemingly no shortage of them.  They are available year-round but April - July is the peak so, really, there’s no better time than the present.

Perfectly Ripe Caribbean Red Papaya

We got one, a HUGE one, and waited a couple of days until it was at it’s peak - super sweet and soft - and then cut into it.  While the kids and I squeezed lime on ours to make it extra yummy, for the baby I just cut some up in bite-size pieces for him to feed himself sans lime the way nature made it.

These pieces looks deceptively large…but the dish is just 3 inches in diameter :)

Selecting a papaya:
Select a fruit that’s smooth, well-shaped, unbruised and otherwise not dinged up. Choose a papaya that’s mostly yellow (at least half) with as little green as possible.  Skip papaya that have soft mushy spots.  Often the market sells papaya that’s more firm and green than you’d want, leave these on your counter for 3 or so days they should be good-to-go.

How to prepare papaya:
Cut lengthwise, remove the seeds and scoop out the sweet goodness.  When serving to your baby, cut to desired size and serve right away so that the sunlight doesn’t compromise all the amazing Vitamin C.

Why we love papaya:
Besides the obvious, the taste, we love Papaya because it’s orange colored flesh is rich in beta carotene and loaded with Vitamin C.  Papaya is rich in enzymes called papain and chymopapain which helps with the digestion, particularly it breaks down the proteins from the food we eat into amino acids.  Papaya is said to boost the immune system and help with digestion.  Read more about this yummy fruit here.

Aloha and mahalo!

Rice, rice baby!!

This is so easy you won’t believe you haven’t done this already - or maybe you have and shame on you for not sharing this with me.

Tonight we had rice, organic brown rice mixed with jasmine rice…cuz we needed to finish off the brown.  We had extra…surprise, surprise…if you’re anything like me, you always overestimate how much rice people will actually eat.

Instead of tossing it like usual, I froze some in the cube trays.  Excited to try this with Truett tomorrow.

arigato!

We just got back from Hawaii and I’m wishing we were all still there.  We had tons of mango and papaya while we were there and when we got home that’s all I could think of…it’s in season and so fresh (June is when the fruit is at it’s peak), beautiful in the market and top of my mind so I got a few and as you can see….Truett wanted some too!

{give me the mango these little morsels on my tray aren’t cuttin’ it - nice try Mom!!!}

Alright, alright…let’s get to it.  And the good news is it couldn’t be easier.

STEP 1: Clean and peel the mango. 

STEP 2: Chop the mango into small enough pieces to get as much as you can in the processor to puree.

{this picture just screams YUM and that’s the only reason I added it :)}

STEP 3: Puree the mango to the consistency you think is right for where your baby is at with his solid food eating.  Truett is 10 months old now so I left it a bit chunkier than I would have it he was a “newer” solid food eater.  I’ve given him finger food mango too, but only when it’s super super ripe and practically melts in his mouth {aka…no chewing required}



STEP 4: Separate the puree into the cubes and viola, mango that’s ready to add to any food combo.  Freeze and store in a labeled bag for up to approx. 2 months max for best flavor.

AGE FOR PUREE: Minimum 6 months
PREP TIME: 10 minutes…depending on how many mangoes you have to peel

Why we love mangoes:
They are delicious, full of vitamin A (the orange color indicates a great source of beta carotene), C and D.  An interesting fact about mangoes is that they are anti-viral, it’s been shown that pouring mango juice into a test tube actually deactivates that virus (source: Super Baby Food) - COOL!!