Baby Food

So, there are these women that I look up to so much. The ones who are the health nuts, who don't let their children eat any preservatives, no fast food, no sugar, no chicken nuggets, no dirt, no dog food, :). These women's kids usually talk in full sentences by like a year old, can count to 100 by two, are geniuses by 3... The ones who give their fully undivided attention to their children. I look up to you... but I could never be you. I'm not saying taylor doesn't get my attention... well, as I'm typing this she's pulling every dvd we own off the shelves... but she's not harming anything and I'm busy typing, so I'm letting her (I pick my battles.)

Anywho, a dear friend of mine is always telling me how easy it is to make your own baby food and such, but I don't think I have time to do this. I know it'd probably be healthier, and I do look up to her for being able to do this, but I just haven't done this. I don't feel guilty for not doing this, cause taylor was getting plenty of nutrition from gerber... but anywho.

Recently, taylor has refused baby food. She wouldn't eat the number threes very well, and would refuse the number twos. So for like a week or two, I felt like all she ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was cheerios, or crackers, or gold fish... The only actual form of fruit or vegetable she got for that whole time period was applesauce I think. It was kinda worrying me.

Taylor hasn't gotten teeth yet, NONE. And I was thinking, she can't real food without teeth, but she refuses baby food... What the heck can I do? And so I thought of my friend... who makes her own food... Could I do that? So I got online and looked up some websites. They were a little more extreme than I'm willing to go as far as being a health nut. But they gave me some great Ideas...

So loaded with my new ideas, I went off to the store with Taylor. We bought a bunch of fruit and vegetables, a couple other things (yes, I got more cheerios, crackers, and gold fish for backup.) When we got home I started cutting and cooking. We cut up mango, cantaloup, kiwi, squash, zuchini, and a sweet potato. I put them in the individual cup things you can buy in the baby isles. I froze some and put the others in the fridge. And they have been wonderful! Taylor loves them, and has no problem eating them without teeth. I did bake the squash, zuchini, and potatoe (at 350 for like 10-12 minutes.) They are the perfect finger food and I am no longer worried about taylor's fruit/veggie intake.

Just a side note also... I was afraid that this would be way more expensive than baby food, since real fruits and veggies can tend to be kinda pricey... but you would not believe how much I was able to get, and how long they are lasting. It is way cheaper than buying those dollar gerber meals all the time, though I did get some of those... but still... I'm very impressed with how much I was able to get out of what I bought.

I also read she can eat a few other things. I know my SIL Krystin was having some ???'s about Isaac's eating... So I thought maybe my new found finger foods could help some other people. Maybe in a year I'll have forgotten this stuff and need to look back on it. Anyways... Here's some good food ideas I found/came up with for baby's/toddlers... teeth or no teeth!

Eggs (yolks only til 1 year)
Chopped Fruit (mango, melons, kiwi, apples, pears, peaches, plums, grape halves, bananas, blue berries, papaya)
Cereal (the trusted cheerios! A lifesaver)
Toast with Jelly or cream cheese
English muffin with Jelly or cream cheese
Yogurt (some websites have recipes for homemade... I'm not that good though.)
Quesadillas (with shredded cheese and beans)
Green beans
Black beans
Black Eyed Peas
Kidney Beans
Navy Beans... taylor loves beans and it's almost all the protein she gets.
Peas
Carrots (I did read something about how in some areas fresh carrots contain too much nitrate and the longer they sit in a fridge, the more nitrate they contain... so I bought canned... )
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Cubes of Cheese (small... not big enough to choke on)
String Cheese
Chopped Sweet Potato
Chopped Zucchini
Chopped Squash
Chopped Potato (Taylor won't eat mashed potatoes... I guess it's the texture)
Cottage Cheese and Fruit or crackers
Macaroni and Cheese (Taylor loves this one... )
Waffles
Pancakes (she ate a whole one the other night for dinner with chopped mango on it. I was so proud!)
Ravioli
Rice
Beets
Broccoli
Asparagus
Avocado
Cauliflower
Cherry Tomatoes (chopped up)
Breakfast Burrito

I'm not all health nutty now. Taylor still eats french fries when I get them... and sometimes she's just not into eating her veggies or beans, and so i give her some crackers or cheerios... but atleast she's eating better than she was.

Now... as far as meat and protein goes... I'm still a little nervous about her not being able to chew tough meats up... So I don't usually give them to her yet. But, i'm gonna try some out this week.
Like ground beef in with her chopped veggies... or small bites of chicken nuggets (since they're not real tough meat) and the egg yolks.

I'm not nearly as healthy as I'm making my daughter... Maybe next I need to worry about me. But atleast I've got my vitamins right now. I hope maybe if you're in the same situation as me, i've given you some ideas to help out with the baby food stuff. I'm glad to have written all these ideas down too, so that when I'm having a brain fart and can't figure out what to make, I can look on here and come up with something. I'm proud of myself for being just a tiny bit more like all the super mom's out there I look up to so much. Anywho... Just wanted to add this on here. :)