Ahh, young ones...too little to appreciate the things that adults, mostly moms, find not only interesting but something we'll read books on, watch intensely as the "experts" speak about AND listen with the utmost attention as other moms offer their unique experiences in this realm. Yes, following pregnancy, childbirth and breast feeding ranking next highest is BABY FOOD!
I remember as a new mom, this period of nurturing was quite the quagmire of information and decision making. The feed your baby ONLY this and NOT that for THIS period of time for WEEKS on end mantra was staunchly ingrained. Start with ONLY rice cereal, NEVER egg whites and ALWAYS cook everything. Don't follow the rules and your child may get DEATHLY ill or worse DIE from anaphalctic shock! I also remember a confrontation I had with my then pediatrician on this subject who felt the need to enlighten me that I was wasting my hard earned $$ on organic baby food and that Beechnut was her personal recommendation. Gee thanks doc. Did you learn all that in your one semester nutrition class in school?
Thankfully, there were some resources outside of my less-than-helpful pediatrician who advocated homemade baby food AND organics. Refreshing! Some had really cool ideas as to how to streamline cooking and using variety to incorporate baby into the family meals. No longer did moms have to resort to jared food and even more controversial...were able to go beyond the recommended "expert" menu...booo, hisssss! Uh-oh, I feel a flogging coming on.
As my family has grown, I am grateful to have found that niche support group to encourage natural methods of feeding because with more children it became a necessity to not only feed them what WE were eating, but to also do it conveniently for on the go times. I also learned during the years, that other foods were also ok to start as "first foods": hard boiled egg yolks, avocados, raw bananas, milled grains (not processed white rice), incidentally not on the approved "expert" list. Feeding baby should be as normal as one would feed an adult (nutritionally conscious of course) just in smaller portions and in ways they can consume solids. Interestingly, most food allergy scares stem from immune system disruptions caused from damaged DNA from vaccines. Are you wondering where the epidemic of peanut allergies have come from? Or fear of feeding egg whites? Many of these proteins are found in the vaccine manufacturing brew, which when injected into the body creates an allergic immune response. Crazy. I could go on and on, but I won't...whew.
Jared baby food is not horrible (especially organic), but there is better. I'm still amazed at how little moms know about making their own concoctions and the fear of trying. I want to reassure you...it really IS simple and NO you won't kill your child if you try. Homemade baby food is so much more nutritious because it is fresh and since it's frozen in small batches for short-term storage, there is little nutritional loss. Also, incorporating milled grains or whole grains that are cooked and blended add fiber and essential nutrients that are stripped out in manufactured cereals. Also, no fancy kitchen tools are needed except for maybe a few ice trays. I was given a baby food blender 10 years ago which has been my favorite fancy tool for the job, but not entirely necessary. If you can mash with a fork then you can make homemade baby food!
So, here's a quick tutorial on making squash baby food. "Squishy" is one of the many love names for our baby William...hence the 'squash for suishy' title...thought you'd like to know.
Pop a whole squash (of varying varieties) into preheated stove in an oven safe dish and bake on 350 until soft (usually around an hour).
Cut open, dig out seeds and squash and place squash in blender with water for desired consistency and blend or mash until smooth. Can leave chunky for older babies.
Save seeds for older family members. Wash seeds in a brine mixture for a few hours, pour in strainer and rub seeds with fingers to remove pulp. Spread on towel to dry. Mix with oil or butter and scatter on baking sheet. Use any recipe for flavor...butter garlic powder and sea salt is very yummy and roast for 10-15 minutes until browned. Curry powder is also a hit for those who like to kick it up a notch. Seeds also can be eaten raw OR in our case fed to chickens and doggies for a treat!
Spoon mixture into ice cube trays, on baking sheets in round spoon fulls, glass jars or whatever is available and place in freezer. Once frozen the cubes can be emptied into containers/freezer bags for longer storage. To thaw, place in a pot on low/medium heat (sometimes adding a little water). Avoid the microwave like the plague as it destroys the nutritional content of most foods, we tossed ours several years ago and haven't looked back. When leaving the house often I'll pop several in a baby dish with lid and let them thaw naturally. The best thing about homemade baby food is that it's economical. A large $3-4 squash can fill 1-2 ice trays for several meals. You can also mix your cubes with others for variety. Also, there's little waste as you can pop out a cube according to the serving size your baby needs. When making the family dinner, blend what is appropriate for baby, place in ice trays and viola! It's really that easy.
Very cool! Great way to save yourself time and feed our little Squishy <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 Auntie Karen
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