Thursday, April 19, 2012

Starting Solid Foods with Baby and Making your Own Baby Food


Knowing when your baby is ready to start solid foods
At Addison’s four-month wellness check-up, our pediatrician asked if Addison seemed ready to start eating solid foods. The telltale signs for determining if your baby is ready for solid food include if your baby can hold his/her head up and control head movements, sit-up with support, seems unsatisfied after milk feedings or is starting to demand more frequent milk feeds, starts putting things in his/her mouth, seems interested in what you are eating during mealtime, and starts waking up in the middle of the night as a result of hunger having slept well previously.  Not all of these signs need to occur, but many should.   Babies typically start eating solid foods between 4-6 months, but the large majority of a baby’s nutrition for the first full year should come from the nutrients in breast milk or formula.  The purpose of introducing solid foods is mainly so babies become familiar with different food tastes and textures as a building block for when solid food constitutes most of their diet after they are a year old.
 

Making Your Own Baby Food
Addison seemed ready to begin solid foods at five-months, and our pediatrician said that she should try three different foods by her six-month wellness check-up.  I have always known I would make my own baby food, because I love to cook, and I love to know exactly what’s in the food I eat and the food I serve my family and friends.  It’s also much cheaper to make your own baby food compared with buying premade food in a store.  Making baby food is easy, and I already owned all of the necessary tools.  

To make baby food all you need are some good wholesome ingredients, a steaming basket, a pot with a lid that fits the steaming basket, and a food processor or blender.  Since most baby food recipes make more than your baby will eat in the two days it will keep in your refrigerator, it is a good idea to freeze what’s leftover so you can pull it out and have fresh food for your baby on a day when you don’t have time to make it.  I try to avoid using plastic containers for food storage because of the chemicals contained in plastic material.  I looked everywhere for one-ounce covered portion containers not made out of plastic that I could freeze leftover food in. I couldn’t find any, so I decided to use a plastic covered ice cube tray (which makes one ounce portions) to freeze the food, and then once frozen, I pop the individual portions out of the freezer tray and store the food portions in eight ounce glass food storage containers (like Pyrex) labeled with the type of food and the date it was frozen (in general, frozen baby food should be consumed within one month of freezing it).  To de-thaw the food for your baby, just take however much food you want to serve your baby out of the freezer, and de-thaw it in your refrigerator over night.  The benefit of freezing food in one ounce portions is that you can feed your baby a little bit of a few different foods to diversify the different foods that your baby gets at one meal.  Also, less food gets wasted if portions are frozen individually.
When you serve your baby a new food for the first time, it is a good idea to serve that food to baby exclusively for three days in a row. That way, if your child has an allergic reaction to the food, he or she will have eaten it in isolation, so you know exactly what food caused the allergic reaction.

Recommended First Foods (6-7 months)
Vegetables (steamed or baked): beets, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, fennel, parsnip, peas, potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, rutabaga, squash, spinach and zucchini

Fruits (steamed or baked): apple, apricot, berries, pitted cherries, pear and plum

Fruits (raw but soft or very ripe): apricot, guava, mango, banana, avocado, fig, melon, nectarine, papaya, peach, persimmon and plum

Other: whole grain rice cereal, oatmeal, millet and barley

Fluids: breast milk, formula, water

(Information taken from The Top 100 Baby Food Recipes by Christine Bailey published in 2011 by Sterling Publishing Company NY, NY)

Baby Food Recipes

Sweet Carrot Puree

What you need:
5 medium size organic carrots washed, peeled and sliced into even-sized pieces.

What you do:
Steam the carrots in a steamer basket in a pot with a lid with one inch of water in it for 10 minutes or until the carrots are tender.  Put the steamed carrots in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.

Baked Butternut Squash or Pumpkin Puree

What you need:
1 small butternut squash or pumpkin cut in half length-wise.

What you do:  
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Scoop seeds out of squash or pumpkin with a spoon and put cut-side down on a baking sheet. Pour enough water in the baking sheet to come ¼ inch up the side of the squash or pumpkin (this will add a “steaming” effect when baking).  Bake squash or pumpkin until tender when pierced with a fork (45-60 minutes).  Remove squash or pumpkin from oven and let cool slightly. Scoop out flesh from inside of squash or pumpkin into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.

Pear or Apple Cinnamon Puree

What you need:
3 organic pears or apples peeled, quartered and evenly chopped
Dash of ground cinnamon

What you do:
Steam the apples or pears in a steamer basket in a pot with a lid with one inch of water in it for 8-10 minutes or until the apples or pears are tender.  Put the steamed apples or pears and a dash of cinnamon in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency. 

Sweet Potato, Broccoli and Cumin Puree
The reason to combine these two vegetables is because broccoli has a very strong flavor, so many babies do not like it at first. The sweet potato adds a sweetness that most babies enjoy.   The cumin is a great accent flavor for these two vegetables.

What you need:  
1 small organic sweet potato, washed, peeled and diced into ½ inch cubes
5 organic broccoli florets
Dash of ground cumin

What you do:
Steam the sweet potato in a steamer basket in a pot with a lid with one inch of water in it for five minutes, and then add the broccoli to the steamer and continue to steam for 8-10 more minutes until both vegetables are tender.  Put the steamed vegetables and a dash of cumin into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.  Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.

Beet and Red Plum Puree
To some, beets have a slightly bitter flavor. Combined with sweetish-tart red plums, this is a delicious and energizing combination. 

What you need:  
2 organic red beets washed, peeled and diced into cubes
1 organic red plum peeled and diced into cubes

What you do:
Put the beets and plums into a small saucepan and cover with water.  Bring the water to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  If you want, you can save the water (which will have turned bright red) to use as a natural food coloring!! Once the beets and plums are cooked, put them into a food processor and puree until smooth. Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.

Pumpkin Pie Root Veggie Medley
This sweet and creamy puree is a great way to get your baby to eat lots of vegetables!  Addison wasn’t crazy about eating carrots pureed by themselves, but she loved this combination of carrots, sweet potatoes and parsnip!

What you need:
1 small to medium size sweet potato washed, peeled and cubed
2 organic carrots washed, peeled and cubed
1 parsnip washed, peeled and cubed
Dash of dried ground Pumpkin Pie Spice
Tip: make sure that the veggies are cut into evenly-sized pieces so they cook evenly

What you do:
Steam the veggies in a steaming basket in an inch of water in a saucepan with a cover for 10-12 minutes.  Once the veggies are soft, remove them carefully from the steaming basket and transfer them to a food processor. Add a dash or two of pumpkin pie spice and puree until smooth. Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.
 
Apricot and Carrot Puree
Since Addison didn’t love eating stand-alone carrot puree, I wanted to find other things to combine carrots with that she would like. Apricots are great because they give a sweetness to the puree that babies love.

What you need:
2 organic carrots washed, peeled and chopped
¼-1/2 cup unsulfured dried apricots

What you do:
Put the carrots, apricots and 1/3-1/2 cup water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until tender.  Remove the carrots and apricots from the saucepan and keep the water. Put the carrots, apricots and some of the water into a food processor and blend until smooth. Before serving, add breast milk or formula to desired consistency.


Thursday, April 12, 2012

Time for Spring Cleaning! Make Your Own Natural Cleaning Products

Why? Because it’s safer, faster, better and cheaper than using store bought cleaning products!

It’s no surprise that many of the toxic substances in your home reside in cleaning products that are usually kept in linen closets and below the kitchen sink.   First of all, if you have a baby or small kids, make sure you move cleaning products out of places where they are easily accessible by little ones.  Better yet, toss out store-bought cleaning products and make your own! You may ask yourself, why would I do that when I can just buy my cleaning products at the store? My answer is that it’s actually easier and cheaper to make your own cleaning products, because the ingredients you need are probably already in your cupboards!  Also, making your own cleaning products from natural ingredients is safer for you and your loved ones.  Since my 6-month old daughter, Addison, is starting to move around on the floor a lot and put everything she gets her hands on in her mouth, I find I am constantly cleaning our house.  Since Addison is learning about things by putting them in her mouth, I do the best I can to make sure I’m not using toxic cleaning products. 

To make your own natural cleaning products, you really only need 7 ingredients
 
1.)  Baking soda (cleans and deodorizes)
2.)  Unscented Soap (in liquid or bar form)
3.)  Freshly-squeezed lemon juice (kills bacteria)
4.)  White Vinegar (cuts through grease and removes mildew and odors)
5.)  Rubbing Alcohol or high-proof clear grain alcohol, like vodka (disinfects)
6.)  Olive oil (moisturizes)
7.)  Essential Oil (such as tea tree oil) if you want a natural perfume for your cleaning product

Save money and help protect the environment by using sponges and old t-shirts as rags to clean, instead of paper towels.

Homemade Natural All-Purpose Cleaner
What you need:
1 cup water
½ cup White Vinegar
10 drops essential oil (optional)

What you do:
Mix the ingredients together in a spray bottle (I re-use spray bottles from previously bought cleaning products).

Best Uses:
In the Kitchen: Counter tops, stove top, inside and outside of microwave, appliances, floor
In the Bathroom: toilet, sink, shower, bathtub, floor

Don’t worry about your house smelling like salad dressing because you are cleaning with vinegar. Once the vinegar solution dries, the smell goes away.

Homemade Natural Glass and Window Cleaner
What you need:
1 cup rubbing alcohol or high-proof clear grain alcohol (like vodka)
¼ cup white vinegar
¼ tsp unscented liquid soap
Water

What you do:
Combine alcohol and vinegar in a gallon bucket. Add enough water to make ½ gallon, and then add soap.  Mix together and pour contents into a spray bottle.  Pour remaining mixture into a tightly sealed container and label and store for future use.

Furniture and Wood Polish
What you need:
1 cup olive oil
½ cup lemon juice

What you do:
Put olive oil and lemon juice in a container with a lid and shake well to combine.  Apply to furniture or wood with a clean rag. Let sit for a few minutes, and then wipe with another clean rag. Your furniture will be shiny and smell lovely in no time!

Cleaning with Baking Soda
Believe it or not, baking soda (yes, the same white powder you use when making cupcakes and cookies) is a great natural cleaner! It’s mild abrasiveness and natural deodorizing agents make it a great replacement for harsh commercial cleaning products.   
Here are a few easy ways that you can rid your house of grime with this miracle substance!

·      Clean grimy bathroom build-up by simply adding baking soda to a clean wet sponge or cloth and scrub away.
·      Keep bathroom drains from clogging by pouring ½-3/4 cup baking soda into drain and follow with just enough hot water to wash the baking soda down the drain.  Let the baking soda work its magic in your drain for at least two hours (or overnight), and then flush the drain with hot water.  Note: this method of cleaning with baking soda does not free up clogged drains, its best used to routinely keep drains clear.
·      Add baking soda to a clean wet sponge to scrub food particles or grime out of kitchen sinks.


For more great natural cleaning product recipes, visit: 
www.diynatural.com, www.organizedhome.com