My big boy is getting so independent!

 

I'm trying out a new blogging tool called "MarsEdit". I'm not sold yet. Luckily they offer a 30 day trial period so I can see if I like it or not. I feel Windows Live writer was so much more self explanatory which is what this computer illiterate needs. Ugh! I hate learning curves! So bear with me as I learn the ropes.

 

A couple things about the video, 1.) He stole my spoon and would not give it back, hence the ginormous spoon he's using instead of a baby spoon, and 2.) Not sure why he's using his left hand to eat. So far he switches back and forth and hasn't shown any particular hand preference yet. And have I mentioned how crazy I am about this kid yet? Well I am.

 

Later gator,

Linds

A cookie or a cracker or granola bar or….?

Well as you may know if you are a regular reader of my blog, ever since having Eli, I’m on a health food kick. Wait, no not health food, whole food—that’s a more accurate statement. I’m not worried about fat content, in fact despite all these “low fat” food options, we are still losing the battle of obesity in this country  since we tend to feel we can eat more of it because it’s after all “low fat!” (but that is a whole different discussion for a different blog and NOT the point of my post so lets move on!)

So guess what? I, me, this girl has been cooking!! Can you believe it? Who’da thunk it? I always hated the idea of taking so much time to prepare something only to have it consumed in a fraction of the time it took to prepare it (you’ve already heard me complain about this part). But I LOVE the feeling I have knowing there are no controversial additives in my food and especially not in the food I feed my completely-dependent-on-me-to-make-wise-decisions-for-his-benefit son. I’m seriously about to go batty as I learn about new safety reports on foods and products geared toward babies/kids! For example:

- The recent report of johnson &johnson’s baby shampoos containing cancer causing ingredients.

-The fact that MOST kids sunscreens contain “oxybenzone” which us fair folk thought was helping prevent melanoma but is actually more likely increasing our risk.

-High levels of arsenic found in ORGANIC baby foods and formulas! Are you freakin’ kidding me?!?! Here you go the super expensive organic route thinking you’re doing the best thing for your precious baby and you still end up getting screwed .

Needless to say, I’m not a huge fan of the FDA. I seriously could go on and on but I’m bumming myself out and I’m sure if you’re human you’re feeling pretty discouraged too. Sorry about that. Misery loves company, thanks for joining me. Ignorance truly IS bliss. If you didn’t know about the stuff I mentioned above its like that awkward moment of deciding to tell an acquaintance (can’t be close friend because that’s too easy) they have a boogie hanging. Do you do it and risk their obvious brief embarrassment (or resentment in this case) or NOT do it and they continue walking around with a big ol’ goober flapping in the breeze and nobody bothered to tell them and then they are even MORE embarrassed (angry) later? Which is worse?? I don’t know.

Ok enough of that….

Now for something to smile about! A cookie! --or a cracker or granola bar or whatever we decide it is. I stumbled upon a “healthy” oatmeal raisin cookie that I just made, like right now. I have cookie crumbs all over my computer to prove it. This is a recipe I wouldn’t mind giving Eli as a meal it’s that “healthy”. I think it’ll be my go-to crunchy slightly sweet snack. This is mainly for you Jeri (who just had a beautiful baby girl by the way! Congrats momma!) I thought of you when I made these. I changed it up a bit from this recipe since I didn’t have some of the ingredients on hand. I used organic coconut oil instead of canola, whole wheat flour instead of the whole wheat pastry flour, 1/4 C whole milk instead of powdered milk, and I only had 1/2 C of honey so I used 1/2 C of organic agave nectar as well. Yummers! After you try it you’ll realize why it’s a stretch to call it a cookie because it’s not all that sweet like a cookie typically is. So just call it a healthy snack and you wont be disappointed.

Another SUPER yummy, SUPPER simple recipe to make are these puppies:

Recognize these? You find them in the energy, or protein bar section of the grocery store but they have no preservatives and only like 3-5 ingredients making it the best choice among them for a snack on-the-go from a whole foods perspective. But they are itty bitty with a hefty price tag of $1.25-ish each. Yikes! I found a recipe for these on one of my favorite food blogs “100 days of real food” and gave it a try earlier this week and was uh-mazed! If you google “larabar recipes” you’ll find a bunch of websites out there that offer the different kinds of larabars. I made the cashew cookie one and a key lime pie one from a different website. I loved them both (and so did the ever pessimistic food critic hubby. Eli of course couldn’t shovel it in fast enough!) The best part? No cooking involved! Just measure a few ingredients, throw them in your food processor and turn it on for a few minutes. Voila! I put the blob onto a piece of wax paper and then used another piece of wax paper on the top (because its sticky) to press it flat into a square, cut them into “bars”, wrapped each one individually in their own piece of wax paper and put them all in a zip lock baggy in the fridge for snacks throughout the week. Yay me!

Let me know if you try either of these recipes.

Ok, back to the olympics

-Linds

Trying this better eating habits thing…

Darn kids change everything. After having Eli, my whole view on life has changed, (I would sure hope so!) Suddenly, I found myself caring more about this little human being than I have ever cared about anything else in my entire life. I would do ANYTHING for this kid…including, gulp, cook. (I tried so hard to type that last word without grimacing.)

Anybody else get an urge to wanna pat that bumper?

I’m not sure why, but I’ve never enjoyed cooking very much. Something about putting all that work into something that will only last minutes, I find disheartening. (I give mad props to those of you who are elaborate cake/cookie decorators! How do you do it knowing your hard work and creativity is going to be gobbled up and GONE in a fraction of the time it took to prepare it! Gah! I can’t stand the thought.) That’s why I’m a crafter. You get to keep these things and love on them for-e-VER .

So back to my point of writing this blog post. Naturally, as with anything you hold precious to your heart, you research ways to keep it in pristine condition. You don’t let that vintage car that you meticulously wash, wax, and maintain regularly just sit out in the driveway exposed to the elements, do you? No WAY! You  don’t want to jeopardize the paint job (Ha! listen to me talk like I’m a car expert ). Well same thing for the mind and body of my little one. When it came time to feeding him big boy foods, it got me thinking about my own eating habits and how much processed foods I eat . I don’t want him to eat the junk I eat! That, coming from a person who always considered herself to eat relatively healthy and not knowing anything about “whole” foods vs heavily processed foods. Boy was I wrong. I am NOT good at eating veggies, or varying my diet. I crave salt, sugar and fatty foods regularly. And here he was, eating anything I was willing to put anywhere near the vicinity of his little hands and/or mouth. Oh the power! (If you really want to know just how truly bad you eat, you should check out 100 days of real food . But then again maybe not, ignorance is pure BLISS!)

I feel God has given me a gift in Eli being a good eater so I need to take advantage of it. Even if that means getting out the pots and pans and spending a couple of hours in the kitchen at night after he goes to bed cooking wholesome, whole food recipes for him to eat for the week. Surprisingly, I’m liking it . It’s fun experimenting with new wild and crazy recipes that pack a nutritional punch. And let me tell you, nothing beats the satisfaction I get from watching that kid gobble it up as if I’m a gourmet chef . Muuuuah! Love you Punkin! Look at what he ate today:

A mixture of asparagus, sweet corn, sauteed onion, garlic, zucchini and quinoa. He loved it!

If any of you mommas have babies at home or baby sit babies (Hi mom!) here’s an AWESOME website www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com that I reference daily! If you only look at one thing on that page, check out the 10 ways to save time in making your own baby food. Even if you’re crazy busy, this can work for you, (unless you eat out every day of the week for every meal, then it isn’t a miracle worker!) It gives you all sorts of advice on new foods to introduce and how to prepare them. There is an all natural cake recipe that I plan to make for Eli’s first birthday smash cake with no added sugar . And if you have a kitchen aid mixer with the grater attachment, (I don’t, I just covet) I recommend the baby chicken fingers with apple. Here is the recipe directly from the website:

Infant finger food recipes - Baby Chicken Fingers With Apple (age 7/8 months+)

8 oz (1 cup) ground chicken

1 medium carrot 1

medium apple

1/2 garlic clove
1/2 small onion
1 small egg yolk, beaten
1 oz (1/4 cup) fresh breadcrumbs
pinch crushed, dried thyme
pinch freshly ground black pepper
*Peel and grate the carrot, apple, garlic and onion. Place into a mixing bowl, along with the ground chicken. Add the beaten egg yolk, breadcrumbs, thyme and black pepper. Mix well. Take small balls of the mixture and roll into 8 little "sausages". Place on a grill pan (broiler) and heat under the grill for 10 mins on each side. Allow to cool. Serve, or store some in the freezer for future use (if you haven't already eaten them!)

Yumm-O! Make a huge batch because you’ll be dipping into these puppies as well and before you know it, you’re bargaining more cheerios for the last bite :/

Oh and don’t forget to check out the dirty dozen and clean 15 when giving baby produce.

Let me know if you try any of these recipes and what you think!

I leave you with Eli’s chompers:

-Lnds

“Big boy” foods class…

Well today we went to our “big boy” foods class hosted by our pediatrician’s office. We all sat at tables and they put cut up finger foods on paper plates for the kiddos to eat off of. I’ll bet you can guess what happened next…? Each one got ahold of that plate and yanked/tipped the contents onto us mommas and floor. Oh jeeze. Everybody ended up just dumping the food onto the table (which she had previously scrubbed down knowing this would most likely happen). There were sampling’s of rice puff cereal, mango, pear, sweet potato and avocado. Eli ate everything and asked for seconds. He even took the avocado. She did a little overview about when to start solids, good foods to try, and unnecessary advice given by friends and family that should be avoided. So here are my takeaways:
-Babys can turn orange if given too many foods with beta carotene in them, like sweet potato, carrots and winter squash. (woops!)
-Rice cereal isn’t a necessary “transition” food and certainly shouldn’t be given before 6 months. It has nothing to do with helping the baby sleep through the night.
-As long as the food is cooked enough and of a soft consistency that a baby can gum, they can and should be given what we are eating. No need to make separate meals for the baby. Baby’s don’t need only bland food. They can  have spices and seasonings, provided they are not hot.
-Cows milk given before 12months is a concern not just because of it’s high rate of allergy development but because it can cause stomach bleeding. Babies simply don’t have the ability yet to break down cows milk before 1 year. BUT, you CAN give them foods cooked with milk (or eggs) in it because it typically isn’t in concerning quantities and because it changes its makeup once cooked. Good to know.
-She also said that it wasn’t really necessary to wait 3 days in between introducing new foods unless there is a family history of an allergy to certain foods or food group.
Over all I felt that most of this I had already known based on my own reading and research. My only concern with feeding him foods I’m currently eating is the amount of salt in it. Not that I add a ton, but I don’t always (actually quite rarely) cook completely from scratch where I control the amount of salt put in. From doing my congestive heart failure teaching at work, I know that 90% of the salt we consume on a daily basis is hidden in our foods. The average man consumes over 10 grams of salt and woman over 7 1/2 grams! (Heart healthy recommendations are less than 2 grams, just sos ya knows) Yowza!!! The quicker the food is to make, the higher the preservative content and therefor salt content. So even if I pass on the table salt, he’ll still be getting quite a bit of salt through adult foods if I don’t make them completely from scratch. Because of this, I think I’ll continue to buy organic baby food or make my own unless I know exactly what’s in the food I’m eating. I don’t want to set my child up preferring salty foods like I do :/
-Linds

I think Eli likes avocado…

-Linds


p.s
Ok, so I lied. I’m pretty sure I’m going to hell because I laughed so hard, I nearly peed myself. You notice how his mean AUNTIE steals his beverage when he goes for it?? His face clearly says, “give me the damn cup, I NEED to get this taste out of my mouth!” Yep, definitely going to the place below. In an attempt to redeem my good momma status, I DID give him a large nanner so he still loves me  
Sorry if the above exorcist moment made YOU vomit :/

Eli’s first “official” big boy food: Sweet potatoes. This one’s for you mom :)

I had gone to the Fresh Market last week and picked up an organic sweet potato for when I was going to start making Eli’s food. My baby food book says to make sweet potatoes (or yams) a staple in my baby’s diet because it’s a “nutrional powerhouse”, packed with beta-carotene, fiber, vitamins A & C and minerals iron & copper. Sure, why not. I didn’t want it to go bad and I can freeze it for up to 3 months, so I decided to make it tonight and see how he liked it. Can you guess if he did or not??
Heeeee did! He insisted on feeding himself though, so needless to say, his dinner ended with a bath. I didn’t realize what a messy process big boy food is! Yikes. Take a look at this kid:

Sweet potato on his hands, pants, bumbo, sleeves, socks and of course, face.

I enlisted the help of daddy to take a video of this “first”. It’s over 2 minutes long so I apologize for that but if you stick it out until the 1:40 mark he laughs when I say I have a self sufficient eater. I just thought it was funny. (I know you will see it to the end mom…and Steph )

Ok, now must get into full crafting mode to finish up all these Christmas gifts for my family now that Eli’s in bed!

-Linds

Mmmm. Sweet potatoes!

My plan is still to wait until 6 months to start “big boy” foods, but my book on making your own baby foods talks about how to assess if your baby is ready or not to try food. A couple signs it says to watch for: 1.) your baby shows interest in the things YOU are eating, 2.) He is wanting to put everything in his mouth and 3.) he is able to grasp at things to put in his mouth. Those are at least the things I can remember from the book, since it’s in Eli’s closet right now and he’s sleeping so I’m just going from memory. Well it seems like it was just overnight that he’s grown in so many ways! It’s exciting and heartbreaking at the same time (you moms of young ones know what I mean, I’m sure.) He is not rolling over, but the kid is a Wiggle.Worm! I now watch him rotate in his crib at different hours of the night until he’s inched himself around into a complete circle! He rolls onto his side all the time, he pushes up on his knees while on his belly, lifts up his butt while on his back, and he rides his bike ALL the time (a joke between the hubby and I—he kicks his legs frantically like he’s biking up a hill, ha ha.)
Well anywho, the point of all this is that very recently he seems so ready to eat big boy foods. He stares at me while I eat, watching the food go from his shirt my plate to my mouth. He his honing his pincher-grasp skill (It tickles me to watch him concentrate while picking up something) and has actively grabbed at food on my plate if within reach. So the other day, Auntie Stephie let him try some of her mashed potatoes and he liked it! Today I let him have some of the gooey part of my homemade sweet potato fries and he loved that too. He would fuss at me if I took too long to give him another bite! Here he is taking his first bite:

See the little stinker grabbing my hand and pulling it to his mouth?!

Mmmm, this is gooood!

My baby boy is growing up :/

-Linds