Peas and Oats and Pears, Oh My!

Pears, Peas & Squash

Maybe it's because I couldn't breast feed my boys. Or maybe it's because I want to keep their little bodies as clean and pure as I can for as long as I can. Or it could be about the money. It could be all of those reasons, and on some level, it is all of them. But mostly, it's about me loving to cook for the people I love. And feeding them. Man do I love to feed people. So it was pretty much a no-brainer that I was going to make all of our baby food when the boys reached that point.

As we rounded the corner on their 6 month birthday, my excitement started to grow. I can't explain it, really, why I was freakishly excited to steam fruits and vegetables. I mean, it's steaming. Not roasting or braising or searing. Not very sophisticated or even fun. And let's not even talk about the fact that it's unseasoned. But still, I was giddy with excitement. I went shopping for a new steaming basket, extra big ice cube trays and containers. I pulled out my handy dandy Cuisinart boat motor and lined all of the tools up in a row, making sure they were ready for the big day. And I researched which fruits and vegetables had the most calories vs. vitamins vs. fiber vs...everything.   And I waited.

And waited.  And waited...because everything I've been given says wait until they are 6 months old.

But really, what's a couple of weeks going to do?  Right?  So I stopped waiting.  And I fed my babies solid food.

And for the most part, they loved it!  Their first solid food was peas.  Bobby was a pea freak.  He loved them.  He demanded I keep feeding him and when I stopped to feed his brother, he protested by pounding his little hand on his tray.  Jack, on the other hand, would have happily let me feed his brother all of his peas.  While he didn't hate them, he certainly didn't love them like Bobby did.  But he tolerated them, and that was OK with me.

Bobby says, "Mama!  Stop taking our picture and FEED ME!"  Jack says, "I'll happily give you 1000 smiles if you just forget about those peas."

Over the past few weeks the boys have tried peas, squash, pears, green beans, bananas, sweet potatoes and apples.  They are about to try chicken, peaches and Brussels sprouts.  I really hope they like the sprouts.  We eat those a lot in this house.

They've done really well with all of the food so far.  Bobby had a small rash after eating the apples, but both the pediatrician and me think it was a heat rash and not an allergic reaction.  We're really hoping that neither boy is allergic to anything, especially because Bobby already has one allergy we have to worry about (milk).  I think Bobby's favorite food so far is actually the peas, and Jack's is apples.  They both love the banana and like the rest just fine.  Neither are psyched about the baby oatmeal I give them sometimes, but if I swirl in the fruit of the day, they gobble it up.

Making the food is ridiculously easy.  It takes less than an hour for me to make 3 trays of food, which right now lasts a little over a week.  And knowing that what I'm giving them is clean, preservative free, natural food makes it even easier for me to justify the effort.  And truthfully, making the food is actually cheaper than buying the small containers of store bought baby food.  Even when compared to buying organic.  (I think the exception to this is going to be the chicken.  That was really expensive today when I bought it, but I don't think I could feed the boys jarred chicken anyway, just because of my own ick meter.) 

Home made baby food for the win!