Hello Everyone,

I know I promised to write more and I am sorry I haven’t kept that promise. Being a mom and working full time is not very easy, I am able to write right now because I am working from home today. Sloane’s nana is visiting, it is always great fun to have her here. So if you follow me on instagram (@worldsforgottengirl), you know that I have been making my own baby food. I think I have written about that too. I wanted to share some of the food I have made and the very obvious reason why I have chosen to make baby food despite how time consuming it is.

Sloane is really just like her father, not only does she look like him, she also eats like him, in the sense that she enjoys everything. This has made it easy and fun to choose what I make (with approval from her pediatrician of course). Sloane is 7 months now, she is sitting and has been getting on her knees but hasn’t crawled yet. She has such a beautiful personality already. When we laugh at something she does, she does it over and over and looks to see our reaction. She gives high 5s now.

I made 6 different recipes this past weekend for Sloane. Some are very basic and some have as many as 6 ingredients. Oh and before I get to that, I’d like to take a moment to give a major shout out to egg yolk. Sloane absolutely loves egg yolk. I think it has something to do with the fact that it has a fluffy texture but also dissolves very easily. She will eat egg yolk for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I let her. Egg yolk contains most of the good stuff that comes with an egg. Egg yolk contains most of the folate, vitamins and iron, in addition, it also contains two nutrients that support eye and brain health, lutein and zeaxanthin. I try to not give her too much as we all know too much of anything can be irresponsible.

As I have stated before, I made 6 different recipes. Last time I made her food, I used mostly breastmilk to puree it but this time I used both breastmilk and coconut milk which is a better option than cow’s milk (Sloane’s pediatrician recommended to not give cow’s milk until at least 12 months). Coconut milk contains a lot of good nutrients too. I’d to also say that Sloane is mostly still breastfed. She eats solids twice a day. Alright on to the good stuff, the only thing I forgot to do was take individual photos of the cooked food.

• Chicken, red, yellow and green bell peppers, quinoa and parsley puree.

I steamed this for about 20 minutes until the chicken was cooked and I added 3oz of organic chicken stock.

• Oats, quinoa, prunes, apricots and pears & cinnamon puree.

I cooked theses with 3 cups of water and pureed with coconut milk and breastmilk. This is very good to help with bowel movement as that can get uncomfortable once babies start solids.

• Turkey, squash, carrots, spinach, sweet potato & parsley

I steam anything that doesn’t have oats or quinoa so I can preserve as much nutrients as possible and also because it will be pureed anyway. I added 2oz of organic chicken stock. Bill actually tried this after I pureed and loved, but not before he asked ‘this doesn’t have breastmilk right?’ I did not add breastmilk to this recipe if Bill ever asks you. (He’s going to proofread this so I should probably add it after) Sloane has tried this and honestly I couldn’t get the spoon to her mouth fast enough.

• Oats, apple, mango & cinnamon

This was a very basic recipe. I pureed with coconut milk and breastmilk

• Salmon, Bok choy and plums

This is one of Sloane’s favorite from the last batch so I made it again. I pureed this with breastmilk.

• Carrots, Spinach, Peas, Squash & parsley

If you can’t tell by now, cinnamon and parsley are my thing. I use fresh parsley. I pureed this with organic chicken stock and breastmilk.

 

I was lucky to have my mother-in-law this past weekend and she helped with Sloane while I made the food, it is an all day process. She also helped with packaging the food. I have this great squeeze station and pouches. I try to use organic for everything I make for Sloane. The only thing that is not organic was the fresh mangoes because the mangoes at Whole Foods are so good! Here are a few pictures;

 

Now to the very obvious reason why I decided I will make my own baby food. Store bought is made at extremely high temperatures and so most of the nutrients are lost. The high temperatures make the food last longer on shelves. The photo below is a comparison between homemade and store bought. I am also not naive about the fact that not everyone has the time or energy to make their own baby food and doing what’s best for you and your baby is the most important thing.

Thank you for reading. Be kind to people and check in with your family and friends, you never know who might really need to hear a familiar voice.