First Foods

I am so excited to start this series! When Asher started eating baby food I did not have my blog. I wish I did because I homemade all of his baby food as I now do with his squeeze pouches. I was able to pull out some of the same recipes that I found all crinkled in a drawer. 

Aubriella is just about 4 months old. We will be introducing her to foods really soon! I know everyone has their own opinion as to when a baby should start foods. I always check with my pediatrician. Plus every child is different. My kids are hungry babies. Constantly hungry! My pediatrician recommended at 4 months we introduced foods to Asher. All I can say is from my experience, Asher was a completely different baby once starting foods! Not only did he start sleeping longer, but just his whole demeanor changed. He became more content, happier, and so pleasant to be around! Aub's is definitely following in his footsteps!

Asher never cared for the rice cereal. Rice cereal is suppose to be a good beginner food, but there is also a lot of debates about how nutritious it really is. Once again I can only speak from my experience and my son did not like it, so we skipped right over it! I plan to do the same with Aubriella.

There are so many options for first foods. I'm going to share 4 of the first foods I try with my babe's, how to make them, and how to store them.

The first food is PEARS. This was Asher's absolute favorite. He still loves pears to this day. Pears don't have a strong flavor which makes them desirable. They also are fairly easy to digest.

Directions:

• Peel the skin off 2 pears
• Decore them & cut into hunks
• Place in a sauce pan over medium heat w/ 2 TBSP of water
• Cook until tender
• Remove from stove & place in blender
• Blend until smooth ( add 1 TBSP if the puree is too thick)
• Place puree in ice cube trays & allow to cool on the counter

Apples: Pretty similar to the pears process
Directions:

• Peel the skin off 2 apples
• Decore them & cut into hunks
• Place in a sauce pan over medium heat w/ 2 TBSP of water
• Cook until tender
• Remove from stove & place in blender
• Blend until smooth ( add 1 TBSP if the puree is too thick)
• Place puree in ice cube trays & allow to cool on the counter

Pears & Apples w/ Cinnamon
Directions:

• Peel the skin off 1 apple & 1 pear
• Decore them & cut into hunks
• Place in a sauce pan over medium heat w/ 2 TBSP of water
• Cook until tender
• Remove from stove & place in blender
• Add 1 TSP of Cinnamon. Blend until smooth ( add 1 TBSP if the puree is too thick)
• Place puree in ice cube trays & allow to cool on the counter

Sweet Potatoes
Directions:

• Peel the skin off 1 sweet potato
• Cut into hunks
• Place in a sauce pan over medium heat w/ 2 TBSP of water & 1 TBSP butter
• Cook until tender
• Remove from stove & place in blender
• Blend until smooth ( add 1TBSP if the puree is too thick)
• Place puree in ice cube trays & allow to cool on the counter

Once all your puree's are cooled in their ice cube trays on the counter, label & cover them with plastic wrap. Place ice cube trays in the freezer & allow food to freeze overnight.

The following day you can label baggies and dump the cube into baggies. These cube's are good in the freezer for 3- 6 months. 3 months is more desirable. 

Thawing: The night before I will get what foods I want to feed my baby the next day. I will place them in separate kiddie bowls and cover with plastic wrap and place them in the fridge to defrost. Then when I am ready to feed my baby I will warm the puree for 7 seconds in the microwave. I then stir the puree and check for hot spots. 

When introducing baby food make sure to only introduce one food at a time. I allow 3 days of introducing the same food before I introduce another. In those 3 days I'm checking to make sure my baby does not have a reaction. Making sure there's no rash, constipation, diarrhea, or any other signs of a food reaction.

If you are using rice cereal try mixing one of the fruit puree's in with the rice cereal!

Again I am not pediatrician, you should always consult with them first. I am just sharing my recipes and my personal experiences! Enjoy!

* You can also put these recipes into squeeze pouches*