How to Make Green Beans Puree for your Baby

You can use fresh green beans (you’ll have to cut the stems off) but I find it easier to buy a bag of cut, frozen green beans (I get organic but it’s not necessary).

I start with just a quarter bag or half a bag because your child might not like them

I use any steamer (I use a microwave steamer) and use about 1-2 ounces of water and if it’s a quarter bad I steam for 3 minutes in the microwave (eat one to see if it’s soft enough). For a half a bag I do about 5-6 minutes. It varies by microwave of course so you have to just eat a few beans along the way to see if they are soft enough.

I wait for them to cool a bit. Then I run them through the food processor or blender. I use the water it was steamed in to add. The more water you add, the smoother the consistency. The younger the baby, the smoother you want it. For the older baby you can make it less smooth. For an 11 months old baby you can just steam then and serve for the baby to eat with his/her hands.

When they are pureed to a smooth texture I spoon it into the ice cube trays and freeze and then pop into a zip lock bag and write the contents and date

Enjoy!

How to Make Sweet Green Peas Puree for your Baby

Green peas are one of the best first foods because they are naturally sweet. You can use fresh peas but I find it easier to buy a bag a frozen peas (I get organic but it’s not necessary).

I start with just a quarter bag or half a bag because your child might not like them

I use any steamer (I use a microwave steamer) and use about 1-2 ounces of water and if it’s a quarter bad I steam for 3 minutes in the microwave (eat one to see if it’s soft enough). For a half a bag I do about 5-6 minutes. It varies by microwave of course so you have to just eat a few peas along the way to see if they are soft enough.

If you use a steamer pot then put the frozen peas in the basket. Put a bit of water in the pot. Let the water boil first, then lower to simmer and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes until very soft.

I wait for them to cool a bit. Then I run them through the food processor or blender. I use the water it was steamed in to add. The more water you add, the smoother the consistency. The younger the baby, the smoother you want it. For the older baby you can make it less smooth. For a 10 months old you can just steam then and mash them with a fork and let him/her go to town and make a horrible mess with their fingers!

When they are pureed to a smooth texture I spoon it into the ice cube trays and freeze and then pop into a zip lock bag and write the contents and date

Enjoy!

Everything You Need to Make Your Own Baby Food...

1. You need to realize that making your own baby food is a lot of work. Hopefully, this (and my recipes of how to prepare certain foods) will help reduce a lot of the trial and error that I went through when I did this for Liam (my first born) for you but there will still be some trial and error no matter what. It is, however, much tastier than even the organic jar food and much cheaper to make your own food. Keep in mind though that if you end up with jar food (part-time like myself or full time because you are sick and tired of making your own food) that it does not make you a bad mom or even less of a good mom than the moms who make all of their baby’s food at home
2. 
   Another thing to keep in mind is that when you start baby foods, especially the cereals, babies tend to get constipated (especially those who never had formula and are only breastfed). The remedy for that is to give some baby prunes every day (I love the Gerber organic ones) or a mix of an ounce of water and an ounce of prune juice every day or an ounce of water and an ounce of white grape juice every day. That’s what we have to do with Aiden. Liam never got constipated. I have no idea how to make your own baby prunes. I would imagine it would involve the usual method and then straining on top of it and that is just too much work! You can also do the cereal together with breast milk and with baby prunes or baby pears all mixed together, warm it up a bit before serving and you kill two birds at once!
3. Know that there are things you will have to give from a jar such as carrots, spinach and all of those types because even the organic ones can have too much nitrates in them. That is another reason to try to use only organic produce when making your own food as they usually have very little nitrates in them. The baby food companies have to screen them for nitrate levels and have the equipment for doing so and we don’t. So those are considered unsafe to make at home.
4. 
   A steamer pot or a microwave vegetable steamer. I highly recommend using the microwave version. I used steaming pots with Liam (my first son) and it was so time consuming in terms of cleaning and all and the microwave steamer is just as healthy and SO MUCH easier when it comes to cleaning because it’s small so you only rinse it in between veggies/fruits and pop it into the dishwasher when done! A good steaming pot is this one http://www.farberwarecookware.com/cs/Satellite/Product+-+Farberware+Classic+Series+3+Qt.+Steamer+Set/mProduct/1192055216775/farberware/1198793760705/mProduct/CookwareDetailEcomm.htm (you can find it at Bed Bath & Beyond and use a coupon). The microwave steamer that I like is this one http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=13032211 but you can also get something like this http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=16574414 and you will also have a microwave rice cooker (but I prefer the above one because it is small and easy to rinse and pop into the dishwasher). I am considering upgrading to this one though http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=15797720 because it just seems better and can be used in the oven as well. I did not see it in my Bed Bath & Beyond so it might only be available online. The reason for a steamer is that steaming is the one method that maintains the most nutrients. Boiling takes away a good chunk of the nutrients.
5. You will need flexible, silicone ice cube trays, preferably with covers so that nothing gets on the cubes of food you will be freezing to store; also, if you get the ones with the cover, you can stack them in the freezer. The covers are also nice because when you pop the cubes, you pop them into the cover tray and then slide them into a zip lock bag to go back into the freezer. These are the ones I like and they do have them in the store http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=11894224 I have 6 of them because with Liam I used to make a whole lot of food on the weekends but 2-4 will be plenty. They are dishwasher safe. I am sure there are lots of other perfectly good ice cube trays, I just happen to really like these
6. 
   Depending if you will be making one thing at a time or several things at a time and depending on the quantities you plan on making (like if you are a working mom you will probably make a whole lot on the weekends) then you would want either a mini food processor (for small amounts at a time) or a full size food processor or full size blender. I prefer using a food processor but blenders work perfectly fine as well so if you have a blender there’s no need to run out and get a food processor and vice versa. The little food mills they sell you at baby stores and baby catalogs are absolutely useless. With Liam I made a lot at once and different things at once but with Aiden, with having less time I find myself using the mini food processor and just doing things whenever I have a bit of time.
7. Various sizes of zip-lock type bags and a Sharpie to write on the zip-lock bags the date and contents

How to Make Zucchini and Yellow Squash Puree for Baby

How to Make Zucchini & Yellow Squash:

Wash, peel, and cut into cubes or circles. Steam. Usually after boiling it’s about 5-10 minutes on low/simmer depending on the amount for it to be soft enough. You will have to check with a fork.

If you use a microwave steamer (which I recommend doing because it is a major time and work saver) then you probably only need to steam for 2 minutes but you will have to check because it will depend on how powerful your microwave is.

Wait to cool

Blend/process and you are done

How to Make Butternut Squash for baby (and other squashes)

How to Make Butternut Squash/Spaghetti Squaesh/Acorn Squash…:

Ask the produce person at the grocery store to cut it halfway lengthwise. They will gladly do it for you.

Use either a disposable aluminum pan or Pyrex large enough for the squash that you have.

Scoop out all the seeds and nasty stringy stuff. The put them with the open side facing down so that they don’t dry out. Add about ½ cup of water. pre-heat oven to 350F and bake for anywhere between 40 minutes to 1 hour or as long as necessary. Acorn squash is the smallest I think so it would be closer to 40 minutes and spaghetti and butternut squashes would be close to an hour. For example, the butternut squash I made today was bigger than usual so it took an hour and five minutes.

The way you know if it’s cooked enough is that you put a fork through it and it goes in easily. You then want to wait for it to cool down before you do anything else

Once it has cooled down enough you can run it through a blender or food processor. If the consistency doesn’t become smooth enough use some of the water from the pan you baked it in to smooth it out some more. The benefit of that is that the water it was cooked in now has the nutrients as opposed to just using fresh water.

When he’s about 8-10 months old you will no longer have to run it through the blender. You’ll be able to just mash it with a fork for him.

You can scoop it into the ice cube trays, freeze over night and then pop them out to a freezer zip lock bag and just microwave before you serve so it’s not too cool.

Once you have cleared him for allergies for each of the squashes you can start mixing them together for a more interesting flavor and can start mixing with other things he has been cleared for allergies. Butternut squash is really good with chicken for example but that doesn’t come till about 7-8 months.

And the Allergy Saga Continues

So we got baby Aiden tested for allergies yesterday. For those of you who are just starting to read about our lives, you should know that Liam has life threatening allergies to peanuts and sesame to the level that he should not be touched by someone who ate anything with nuts and sesame and has not washed his hands and brushed his teeth before touching him. Those allergies make life very difficult when purchasing groceries and when being anywhere outside of home where it is safe for him. Any tiny mistake can result in the loss of his life.

So for baby Aiden there are some good and bad news. The good news is that none of his allergies are as life threatening as Liam's. The bad news is that is allergic to 18 things thus far. We have only tested him for 22 things because there's just so much you can do at one time on such a young baby.

So he is level 2 (Liam's allergies are level 4 which is the highest) for salmon, tuna, cow's milk and goat's milk. That means I can't have any of those in anything for at least 4 months and then I can try to add one thing at a time in very small quantities and document any reactions.

His level 1 allergies are for beef, eggs, apples, avocado, barley, corn (which is in everything), oats (meaning he can't have cheerios), rice, mustard, peanuts, and soy. That means I have no milk source other than coconut milk which tastes nasty to me. For all of these I have to be on a small-quantity, rotation diet. So I can have some rice once a week, 1 egg per week, and so on and so forth and document the reactions.

I have to keep a food log of everything I eat and everything the baby eats (he is starting solid foods). He will also have to be on a rotation diet. I have to document every strange poop or new eczema or anything that is out of the ordinary.

Not really sure what kind of milk other than my own milk I'll ever be able to put him on. The options out there are goat's milk, rice milk, almond milk and soy milk. We haven't tested him for almonds but since we can't have anything with almonds in the house because of Liam that's not an option even if he is not allergic to it. And he is allergic to the rest of them.

I went grocery shopping today and it took so long to read all the labels for all the additional stuff to nuts and sesame. It was difficult and exhausting.

It is very frustrating to open the fridge and pantry and know that there's very little that I can eat. And what I can eat today I can't eat more than once per week.

I am mostly scared of the things we have not tested him for yet. I hope nothing is going to be a level 4. To be constantly afraid for the life of one child is enough to live with and we hope to at least not have to be constantly afraid for Aiden's life as well

I am currently overwhelmed and a little bit depressed. I'm supposed to have a healthy diet because I am breastfeeding yet I can't have the things that are the healthiest for me.

Ok, I am done venting. I just need to take the time to process this and get used to this and not to starve in the meantime.

Random Thoughts

I was planning on writing some about how much I appreciate my husband and glad to have one that helps with the kids and all. I know too many moms who have to do it all on their own and I couldn't even imagine having to do that. It would be so physically draining and emotionally, well, I don't even want to go there. But tonight I'm a bit pissed off at him... I have some sort of a stomach virus so I am not at my best. I didn't get much sleep last night between being in the bathroom and nursing the baby.

This morning we had Liam's first Gymnastics Extravaganza! Let me explain...

I signed Liam up for extra classes at his day-care for gym and music. Thought it would be good for him to expend some of that endless energy he has in a gym class and music is something ALL kids just LOVE. Well, he has been taking this gym class since February or March I think and today they had a show at our town's cultural center. We had no way of knowing if he was going go clam up and be all shy or be a star performer. Turns out he was a star performer. Whereas all the other kids were attached to either mommy or daddy and not at all happy about performing in front of an audience, our little (or should I say BIG) boy Liam was loving all the attention and being in the spot light. Pictures and videos will be on his blog once they are done uploading (link to the right). I have to admit it was really emotional and wonderful to see my baby be so confident and sure of himself and having no trouble being in the spot light, especially since I hate being in the spot light and I freeze when I have to speak in front of an audience. He made us really proud.

After that we got home and I put the baby down for a much needed nap seeing how he missed his morning nap because he was so excited about watching his big brother perform. After that I had to put Liam down for a nap. Maybe now someone who is reading this is wondering why daddy isn't putting one of the kids down for a nap. I wonder that myself sometimes. I seem to do so much more. The baby won't really calm down enough for anyone other than me and sometimes for his babysitter Lindsay. It probably has something to do with the fact that he gets to nurse before nap or bedtime. And Liam just doesn't take daddy seriously enough when daddy says no more reading or talking or whatever it is that Liam does when it's time to go to sleep. I think Scott doesn't get the whole being firm but kind thing that I do. I don't feel Liam ever feels like I'm the bad cop - I just do as I say and he knows I mean it. Anyways, I got to take a short nap with the baby later in the afternoon which was nice but then my stomach virus hit me again. So you would think that if mommy is so sick and has a 2.5 year old and a 4.5 months old to take care of, that daddy would decide that going away for the night is not such a great idea. Scott had a surprise birthday party for a childhood friend in Northern Virginia to go to tonight. He gets to go and have fun, spend the night at a hotel with two childhood friends and drink and have a great time while VERY sick mommy gets to stay at home with two kids who don't sleep through the night. You would think that it would occur to him that going away isn't the greatest idea. But NO! He thought I would get through it ok I guess. You see, I know exactly what was going through his mind. He probably thought that because I was walking around and getting stuff done that I was not that sick. He doesn't get that mommies just keep on going because we have no other choice. When he gets sick he gets in bed and doesn't really come out until he gets better. When I get sick I keep on going because I have a husband and two very young children who depend on me. So in his mind he isn't doing anything that bad by leaving me home alone for the night with them. In my mind, well, let's just say I am beyond angry.

So the sitter who helped me through bath and bed times left and I am here, writing this in between sprints to the bathroom. I am praying really hard that both boys will cooperate and will sleep well. I am praying that Liam won't wake up when the baby is nursing. I am praying that the baby won't wake up to eat while I'm in the bathroom and can't get to him. I am just praying for this night to go ok. And I plan on taking a really long shower and nap tomorrow when Scott gets home. But I also know myself and know that I won't let myself rest because there's always so much that needs to get done.

So I was planning on writing a really positive post with how blessed I am and how much I appreciate having a husband who helps a lot, but I'm too darn mad to do that so it will have to wait for another day.