Monthly Archives: March 2015

First foods for Mathew

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Mathew’s first taste of applesauce.

When Mathew was transitioning to solid foods, we looked at the options: premade foods or making our own. We looked at a variety of factors involved: quality, ingredients, chemicals, ease, and waste. We concluded that making our own baby food met all our needs.

  • We had the most control over what ingredients were put into the food.
  • There was very little waste. Many times a little one will not finish the contents of the jar, so it is put in the refrigerator and after a couple of days in the refrigerator, it must be thrown out, and the jar needs to be recycled. There can be quite a bit of waste and energy involved.
  • It was incredibly easy.

The general philosophy to starting a little one on solids is to try one food at a time for four days in order to make sure there is no allergy to that specific food. Then try another for four days, and so on and so on. You do not want to combine foods until you feel confident that there are no food allergies.  I made Mathew’s food in small batches and filled an ice cube tray with the leftovers. Once frozen, I put the food cubes in a bag and labeled it with the food name and date. An ice cube tray contains 14 cubes or 14 meals. After a month or two of trying new foods and freezing them, you have quite a stockpile of food cubes. Then you start combining them. I bought a baby food mill to process the food but soon realized that a hand blender created a better and smoother consistency.

Mathew was never a big eater, and still isn’t, so this method was ideal. I made and froze food every fours day for a month and a half and then fed him from the freezer. By the time, we worked through all the food cubes in the freezer he was ready for real solid foods.  Basically, I spent about 20 minutes, twice a week, preparing wholesome nutritious food for Mathew. Then after a month and a half of making food, I simply defrosted cubes. They traveled great, I would pack our outing bag and put the frozen cubes in a container, and by the time Mathew was ready to eat, they were defrosted.

Each child has its own preference, so experimenting is best. When Mathew was 7 months old, we tried his first food – applesauce – very appropriate since his Dad grows apples. We used Empires and unfortunately he was not thrilled, possibly too tart. Later on, we tried Matsu, which he preferred.  For the next couple of months, Mathew tried a new food once a day at dinner; it felt like he was simply humoring us, since he really didn’t seem excited about eating. Within 4 months, he appeared to enjoy eating and was ready to eat real solid food. Just in time since, the freezer was empty.

Mathew loving his beets!

I started with fairly simply foods and processed what we were eating. We were hoping to create a food connection and family meals.

  • The first foods Mathew ate:
  • Applesauce *
  • Rice cereal mixed with breast milk
  • Sweet Potato *
  • Pearsauce *
  • Apricots *
  • Carrots
  • Bananas
  • Beets *
  • Avocado #
  • Yogurt
  • Kiwi
  • Asparagus
  • Oatio’s

* LOVED!                                                                                                                                  # hated

I always hear how expensive a baby is, well there are ways around some of the expense. Breastfeeding and making your own baby food is easy and very inexpensive.

Making bird feeders

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2 cardinalsI don’t think anyone will disagree that the northeast has had a brutal winter. Moreover, I am sure it’s not quite over. Although, most of us humans have the luxury of living in a shelter with heat, our feathered friends do not. We try our best to keep the feeders full every winter but their appetites are furious. This winter we’ve gone through 3 times the amount of bird food we usually do during a winter. Sometimes they go through all four feeders in a single day. I have to admit there were days the weather was too nasty to even go out and refill the feeders. Sorry birdies.feeding birds

As the days warm up and become more hospitable for humans and critters alike, we’ve decided to give our feathered friends a treat. Mathew and I decided to supplement their diet by making pinecone feeders.  This is a fun and easy activity to do with children of all ages.

All you need is:

Pinecones (opened are preferred)

Peanut Butter (or lard if peanut allergies are a concern)

Bird Seed

Stringbird feeder suppliesSimply coat the pinecone with peanut butter (or lard). pinecone coated with peanut butterRoll the coated pinecone in the birdseed until it is completely coated. coating pineconeTie one end of the pinecone with a foot or two of string, and hang it in a tree.hanging pinecone feeders

Enjoy watching all your feathered friends visit their new source of food.

Peanut butter is a nutritious treat, high in calories and fat content. Many birds seem to enjoy it, including Nuthatches, Chickadees, Woodpeckers, and Jays. That is, if the squirrels leave them alone. squirrels like pinecone feedersSome people are concerned that peanut butter will stick to the birds’ mouth, but this is not problem. If you are still concerned with how sticky the peanut butter is, blend it with cornmeal or flour to make it crumbly. Peanut butter sold in grocery stores is safe for human consumption; therefore, it should be safe for birds especially because cold or cool temperatures keep it fresh. However, it should not be used in warmer weather, as it could go rancid.