Spice it up

As mentioned in our sweet potato post, I have used spices on Derrick's food.  We don't care for bland foods, so why would he?  I am not talking spicy as hot and spicy, but just something with a little bit of flavor.  I will be avoiding salt and sugar because that is what is best for baby.  I went online to find a good resource of information on which spices would be good for Derrick to eat.  At Wholesome Baby Food, they suggest a list of baby friendly spices as well as what fruits and veggies they would go best with. 

I have included that list here.  Enjoy making food with a little pizazz :)

Derrick vs Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  This holiday is purely about food and family, and I anxiously await it every year.  I was very excited to share this day with my little boy.  When looking at the menu for dinner, we were limited as to what we could give Derrick since he has no teeth and was just 7 months old.  So turkey and cranberry sauce were out, but Derrick did enjoy his mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Derrick did end up sleeping through Thanksgiving dinner, but he enjoyed his food while the rest of us enjoyed our pie.  :)

Derrick vs Bananas take 2

Slippery foods.  They are the enemy of a new eater.  Poor Derrick tries so hard with his little hands and he just can't get a good grip on these foods.  Luckily I read online about "breading" the slippery food with rice cereal.  Well, it worked like a charm!  Derrick was able to get a good grip on his 'naners.

He picked the banana right up and put it right in his mouth.  He did hit his nose a few times, but shhhh, we won't tell. We love our bananas!

Derrick vs Sweet Potatoes take 2

We decided to tackle the orange veggies again with sweet potatoes.  This time, I boiled the sweet potato just as if I was going to make mashed potatoes, hoping to avoid the skin on the outside that I found with the butternut squash.  I had been reading about offering the baby some spices on food to make them more enticing.  I decided to sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon on the potatoes.

He ate these potatoes up.  This was the most energy and desire he has shown for any food so far.  (except water in the sippy cup)  I will be adding some extra flavor to other veggies in the future!!

Derrick vs the sippy cup take 2

We decided to try a different type of sippy cup for Derrick.  This one does not need you to suck to get the water out.  Derrick really likes to drink water and will cry and reach for his sippy cup.



But he struggles with the whole concept of the cup - because, well, he is only 6 months old.  Our pediatrician said as long as he gets it by the time Derrick is a year old, we are fine.  Not that we were worried.  So we do help hold it for him so he can get a little water, then we give it to him to see if  he can do it.  Hey, this is what practice is for right?



 
He likes to chew on the spout of the cup as he drinks, which leads to a very wet baby, but a very happy baby :)

Derrick vs Avocado

One of the foods I have read about giving to a new baby is avocados.  They have great nutrients and have no allergy risks.  When I gave the avocado slices to Derrick, I forgot about how slippery it would be for him to pick up.  He held a piece I handed to him, but quickly dropped it and didn't want to try again.  He did take bites of the avocado when I held it up to him.

Next time I will try to coat the slices with some rice cereal to give Derrick some grip.  Overall, even though he didn't feed himself directly, he ate quite a bit.  I was impressed.  Yummy

Derrick vs rice

We don't go out to eat often, but when we do, we try to go out for food that we cannot make ourselves at home.  Typically that leads us to international food favorites - sushi and thai.  Right now Derrick does not sit well in the massive restaurant high chairs, so he just sits on my knee.  This hasn't made BLW easy to 'follow' at restaurants.  I end up feeding him bits of my rice from my meal.  So, I thought I would try rice at home. 

I cook jasmine rice because of my love of thai food.  Jasmine has a great fragrance and is sticky.  This makes it very easy for a new eater.  The rice just stuck to his hand and he didn't have to worry about picking it up with his fingers.  This was a success!

Wordless Wednesday Feature

Derrick was featured on the Natural Parents Network's Wordless Wednesday blog entry.  Congrats to my little man! 

Check out the Natural Parents Network blog entry here

Derrick vs Butternut Squash

Orange veggies.......you can probably tell we like them.  They have been our most popular offering to Derrick during these first few days of BLW  We are just offering him what we are eating, but Derrick isn't overly thrilled with these nutrient dense offerings. 

I have been reading up on fresh food preparation,  preservation, and storage. I caught an article on the best way to prepare veggies to not lose nutrients.  I was surprised to learn, microwaving lost the least amount of vitamins from the veggies.  Apparently the quick cooking allowed more nutrients to stay in the veggies.  Steaming was a close second.  So I thought I would give microwaving the squash a try, especially since we were having our squash in the form of a a curry, and I am not ready to expose Derrick to a more complex food yet.  (Plus our pediatrician said to wait until he was 9 months for something that complex.)



Well, the one downside to microwaving is that it leaves a thin 'skin' on the veggie.  (I had already pealed and chopped into fry like shapes)  Since Derrick wasn't thrilled with this offering, he didn't put much of an effort into gumming his food.  We got the "you've gotta be kidding" face again, as he just kept licking his veggie.



With a little help from mom, he would eat bits off my finger and he seemed to enjoy it.  We will keep at it with the orange veggies :)

Derrick vs Bananas

We will add bananas to the list of successful foods.  We tried to let Derrick hold the banana, but again, it was very slippery.  He was happier to move himself towards the banana I was holding and take a bite of it on his own.



Another successful food for Derrick.  :)
Yummy!

Derrick vs Pears

Pears were a good food for Derrick.  He really seemed to enjoy eating them.  We peeled the pear and cut it into wedges.  We microwaved it to soften them up.  We tried to let Derrick hold the pears himself, but they were too slippery for him to get a good grip.  Instead I held the pear and let him move toward it and bite himself.



I think we will try these again very soon.  Hopefully he can learn how to pick them up on his own soon

Derrick vs the sippy cup

We did the text book offering of water.  Well, Derrick thought the sippy cup was a fun toy.  I am glad I got the "no spill" version.


With help from me, I tried to get him to drink from it.  Derrick thought it was a new toy to chew.  No drinking occurred.  When he was done, I tried to take a drink from it.  Boy, do you have to suck hard.  Wow.  With Derrick never having a bottle, I don't know if he will ever suck on the sippy cup hard enough to get any water.


We will try another style cup next time

Derrick vs Carrots

We are going to have to declare carrots a BLW fail.  The carrots were peeled, quartered length wise, and steamed until they were soft enough to gum, but stiff enough to hold in Derrick's hand.  Derrick reluctantly took the carrot we handed to him and made the same "ew, what is this?" face from yesterday.  He licked the carrot and a piece broke off in his mouth.  He spit the piece out.  Well, actually it flowed out of his mouth in a river of drool.


Derrick ended up being more interested in eating his bib......


We will have to try carrots again.  I think we'll take a break from orange veggies for awhile.  But not too long, as I have read that you should offer kids something 10-12 times before you can say they "don't like" something.

Derrick vs Sweet Potatoes

Today was our first day of solid foods.  It was a big milestone for both us and Derrick.  We peeled the sweet potato and used a mandolin to cut it into french fry stick shapes.  Then the sweet potatoes were steamed until soft.

Derrick's very first taste was interesting.  He took a bite and swallowed, but was very confused by what he was doing


Derrick tried a few bites and we had a few swallows, but his reaction wasn't overwhelmingly positive.  Not sure if he "liked" it or not, but we'll keep on trying



Not much of a mess either, but that was mostly because he didn't 'play' with his food too much.


Happy eating!