Is there such a thing as delayed, post-partum nesting?
Probably not, but I’m going to say I have that anyway. I’m not a huge fan of
being pregnant. With both kiddos, I had lingering morning sickness that hung on
for a while, and I grow really large babies it seems, so both times I felt extremely uncomfortable for most of the second half of the nine months because I get so huge so quickly. As much
as I am very, very grateful that I
have had the blessing of carrying two beautiful healthy babies (to the point
where I feel bad about admitting that I don’t like pregnancy), I just don’t
feel that glow that so many mothers talk of. Suffice it to say, the period before
both Aliyah and Isaac arrived involved a lot of worrying and exhaustion, rather
than craftiness and nesting.
When Aliyah first started solids, I tried making her food a
few times. I can’t even remember why, but I gave up after I had initially
tried and shortly after I bought baby food. In my mind I just assumed that making her baby food
was more trouble than it was worth.
I’m not sure what it is with Isaac—perhaps it’s because he’s
the second baby and a lot of my first-time mom anxiety has diminished. (Example:
pacifier falls on the floor? Pick it up and pop it back in second kid’s mouth.
With first kid…I would never dare. ) This time around I feel more comfortable
in my skin as a mom, and as a result I’ve been able to have some fun doing
things I put on the back burner for Aliyah. (Not to worry, she has had plenty
of advantages over her little brother. It all evens out in the end. J)
Making my own baby food has been one of the adventures I’ve
embarked on as a second-time mom. I wasn’t sure if it would end up like last
time where I would give up shortly after, but I knew I wanted to try again. I
researched like crazy, and everything I read made it seem quite simple. Then one
weekend on a trip to Costco, I passed by an immersion blender on sale and decided
that the homemade baby food stars had aligned and I needed to take this as a
sign.
My tools for making my homemade baby
food include:
- Reasonably priced blender. It doesn't need to be a heavy-duty, expensive one. You’ll be boiling or steaming most of the foods before-hand so they will easy to blend. (Here’s the one we have: CuisineartHB-155PC Smartstick) I like the immersion blender because it's really quick to rinse off after you puree a food, rather than having to clean out an entire machine.
- Ice Cube Trays: For separating and freezing 1 ounce portions of food to store. I bought some extremely inexpensive BPA-free ones from Target (99 cents each). These thinner plastic ones make popping out the cubes a little tricky, so I would buy ones with slightly thicker plastic. I only have two, but when I make big batches of food I could use a few more trays in order to freeze everything all at once.
- Peeler: To peel off the skin on the veggies and fruits (though you can leave the skin on fruits if you want. They puree well into the final food, only leaving little specks of skin.)
- Spatula: Optional. For me, it makes it easier to spoon into the ice cube trays.
Making your homemade baby food is super easy. Here’s how:
- Peel veggies. You can also peel the fruit if you want. I did in the beginning, I don’t anymore for fruits.
- Cut into small cubes. The smaller the cubes, the faster they will cook to the desired softness in order to puree.
- Boil or steam for about 5-10 minutes or until soft (depending on the food. Pears cook quickly, sweet potatoes take longer.) Keep the water so you can add it to create your desired thickness when you blend. Also, steaming is known for retaining the most nutrients.
- Put into blender or bowl for immersion blender and blend. Add water as you see fit. Usually the less thick the better if they are young. (But you also don’t want it to be too watery so they can’t get the hang of eating.)
- Use your spatula and separate into the ice cube trays. Cover with aluminum foil and stick into the freezer.
- After cubes are frozen pop them out and separate into plastic bags. Label with food and date.
- Thaw at room temperature or microwave and give to baby.
Isaac has officially been eating pureed foods for about two
months now. We started out with store-bought baby oatmeal in Georgia at Christmas time so
Oma could get a chance to feed him his first solid food. He took it well, but he seemed to think the
spoon was a bottle or nipple and mostly just wanted to suck on it. The first
couple of times at home that I tried feeding him baby oatmeal, he ate a bit,
but didn’t seem too interested.
There are a few foods that require no blending at all. One day
I had a ripe banana on the counter and decided to put it into a plastic bag and
mash it up with my hands. I added a bit of breastmilk, mixed the two together
in a bowl and gave it to Isaac. He loved it and ate it all up. I haven’t tried
yet, but avocados are also supposed to be easy to just mash and give to baby.
I usually set aside a couple of hours every other weekend and make numerous batches of different types of food. So far we have made and been successful with sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots, pears, apples, peaches and blueberry and peach mixed together. He’s been a great eater and my hope is that this will create a more diverse palate as he grows into a toddler and preschooler--or at least somewhat less picky than his pre-school, sister is. She is a fairly healthy eater, but her food likes are pretty limited. She’s a picky, (semi) healthy eater.
There’s something I really enjoy about making Isaac’s food.
I haven’t figured out why yet. It is slightly more reasonable, and we waste less because of the ability to size out the one ounce portions. To be perfectly
honest, I don’t really think that making homemade baby food is all that
healthier than buying store bought foods. According to my research, baby food
is some of the purest food on the supermarket shelves, since it’s so simple. I
do know that making his food gives me a sense of accomplishment. Perhaps it’s
my inner farm-girl budding through. Being in a large metropolitan setting, I
sometimes feel as though I am searching for a bit of the country. Maybe making
Isaac’s food allows me to stay a little closer to my farming roots.
