Food glorious food!

I waited until Baby J was more than ready for food to start solids. I actually waited until I attended Bump Club and Beyond's first Baby Food Making class in April. J was 6 months and 3 days old. I needed help and wasn't afraid to admit it.

I also openly admitted in front of all five classes during the series that I likely was not going to make my own baby food---even though we were having a Baby Food Making Class Series. I figured that if I didn't cook dinner for my husband and I, how was I going to find time to make J a series of purees?

To mu surprise, I found the classes inspiring. I attended all five in the last series and learned something new every time. From the correct order of introduction for their digestive tract, to what to introduce at what age, to great ideas for when J is older that we can enjoy as a family---the classes were incredibly eye opening. Guess who is now making her own baby food? ME! (sometimes...)

I have found it very easy to throw bananas, roasted sweet potatoes (with the peel off), avocado, or steamed carrots in the Cuisinart Food Processor or Beaba Babycook and make a big batch of food for J. I spoon it into ice trays or my Innobaby storage containers and put it in the freezer for later use. When I use the ice trays, I let it freeze, and then pop it out and put the cubes in big freezer bags. The Innobaby containers provide enough food for two meals, which is great for when I forget to take food out of the freezer. I like knowing what is in the food that is going into J's mouth---no additives, no preservatives.

I am not a full convert though---trust me, I, like many of you, don't always have the time to make Baby J her food. I also am very forgetful and often forget to take out the cubes to let them thaw so we can use them for lunch or dinner. But this is the reason why we use store-bought baby food too! Here are some great new(er) products that we have found conducive to our busy, on-the-go lifestyle.

NurturMe: I just discovered this awesome product. The product comes in what looks like a "powdered" form, but it is actually naturally grown and quick dried, in order to maintain more nutritional value. They come in light weight, palm-sized pouches. That are SO easy to throw right into your diaper bag or purse. All you have to do is add water, formula or breastmilk and the dried food turns into a consistency that is perfect for baby. Since I could not transport my frozen baby food to Michigan last weekend, this was a great alternative and PERFECT for restaurants when we went out as a family. PLUS, NurturMe makes the only peas Baby J will put into her mouth.

Square One Organics: If you can't make your own baby food, this is one of the next best things. Square One Organics is found in the frozen food section and is basically a store-bought version of what I make for J at home. Owner, Denise Henderson, started this company when her twins were diagnosed with allergies nearly ten years ago. She is a HUGE proponent for making your own food (Denise helped design the curriculum for our Baby Food Making Series at Whole Foods Market). The best part about this line is that it is based off of a "super food" philosophy. Most of the foods carried in the line are not those that I would make on my own, so it is great to be able to introduce them to Baby J. Included are papaya, mango, and pumpkin---which also can be seasonal in certain parts of the country.

Plum Organics: After taking Baby J through the airport on my own last week, this product is a MUST for any mom's diaper bag. There are no bowls, and really you don't even need a spoon. (However our friends at Boon Inc. make a great dispensable spoon for this product.) Being that I am always on the go, this ready made food is perfect for eating anywhere---particularly when you are in a place that may not afford you the luxury of a high chair or utensils. J sucked the food down in under 10 minutes and licked her lips with delight when she was done. These packets come in a wide variety of flavors. Their line extends beyond the food pouches and also into a great variety for tots including blends, puffs, finger foods, and more.

Bottom line, feeding your baby doesn't have to be a chore. There are so many incredible products out there now, it actually is a ton of fun. Even if you don't have the time to consistently make baby food, I highly recommend giving it a try once. I know that my food processor had not seen the light of day until I took it out for J. So at the very least, I found a new use for it. :)

After selling out in April, Bump Club and Beyond's Baby Food Making Series presented by Whole Foods will be back in July and October of this year. Stay tuned to BumpClubandBeyond.com for more information.

Food Introduction for Babies 8 Months Old

By: Denise Henderson

Founder and Mom

Square One® Organics

At this point your child’s digestive system is maturing and a bigger variety of foods are good to be introduced. Continue to use the Square One® Organics Superfood Guide for suggestions on what new foods to introduce. In addition to continuing the daily avocado routine, here my top 3 things to keep in mind during for this age group.

1. Two more SQ1 resource materials can be helpful: The Square One Organics Food Family Awareness Chart http://www.squareoneorganics.com/awareness.php. This chart shows you which foods are members of the same food families. As you introduce foods, try to work inside a handful of food families. Dr. Nimmagadda recently wrote an article for Square One® Organics about how children may react similarly to foods inside the same food family. To read Dr. Nimmagadda’s complete article, click here. Second, download The Square One® Organics Daily 8 Month and Up Journal by clicking on the image below!

2. Pincer practice and spoon grabbing! Yes, these two things are part of the age territory. Here are some tips. As part of my feeding gear, Iwould always have a number of plastic table spoons on the twins’ highchair trays so they could practice their spoon grabbing skills. They see us feeding them with a spoon and they just want to try too. It can get messy but that’s how they learn! For Pincer practice try some ripe avocado pieces and/or soft tofu pieces on the highchair tray.

3. My favorite foods for this age group are - Mango, Quinoa and Broccoli – Mango because it is an excellent source of Vitamin A and C. Mango is also a superfood for immunity and the heart. This is an important food for your baby to learn to love that way as they get older and start school it will be part of your “stay healthy” food routine.

Quinoa makes its way onto my favorite list because it is Gluten-Free, has

the highest protein count of any other grain on the planet and posses all of the essential amino acids. Again, thinking ahead to the school cafeteria which is often times a nut-free zone, makes the choice of Quinoa a smart one. Some cooked Quinoa in a thermos with organic butter and sea salt makes for a wonderful protein serving for lunch. To really boast the protein count of the meal, add some organic peas to the mix.

Finally, Broccoli, is one of my favorite supergreens because is such a multi-tasker.

Broccoli is a superfood for bone, heart, brain, immunity and antioxidant. It is an excellent source of Vitamin A, C and Folate. Imagine getting all of those vitamins and minerals in one food. This makes it a great food for your baby to learn to love early so that it can continue to be part of the “stay healthy” food routine for a lifetime. For more food facts check out http://www.squareoneorganics.com/superfoods.php

BABY FOOD: HOMEMADE OR STORE-BOUGHT???

From BCC's Resident Mom Expert, Julie Schwartz Heller

A lot of people ask me if it's “worth it” to make your baby’s food as opposed to buying it at the store, so here’s the lowdown… I enjoy cooking and always thought it would be fun to make baby food, and since my sister was able to do it for my nephew while working full-time, I figured I was up to the task.

My daughter Zoe has a healthy appetite, so when she maxed out at 32 ounces of breastmilk/formula per day (the limit my pediatrician suggested) at around 4 ½ months, my husband and I decided it was time to introduce solid foods. We had little luck with rice cereal and oatmeal, so our pediatrician suggested that we try apples or another fruit or vegetable. I wanted to introduce a vegetable before a sweeter fruit like apples, so I steamed and pureed butternut squash and like magic, Zoe downed her entire serving in just minutes!

I was lucky enough to get a food schedule from my sister that provided a good order for introducing new foods, beginning with yellow and orange ones that are easier to process and working up to greens which can be more difficult to digest. I made everything from simple mashed bananas and avocados to steamed green beans and baked sweet potatoes to pureed peaches and cherries. I also pureed garbanzo beans, essentially creating homemade hummus, and I poached and pureed chicken breasts.

When Zoe grew older, I began making sauces and creating full meals such as homemade macaroni and cheese with broccoli, chicken with apples and sweet potato, butternut squash pasta, and quinoa with broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, with a bit of help from a book titled First Meals by Annabel Karmel. Zoe is now 20 months old and I am proud to say that the majority of her food is still homemade.

I am often asked whether it is more economical to make baby food or to buy it, and the answer is that it depends on the type of food. Certain foods like squash, potatoes and bananas are far cheaper to make yourself, but other foods such as peaches, pears and apples can be cheaper to buy prepared, especially when it comes to the organic variety. I often make simple things for Zoe such as apple cinnamon oatmeal and macaroni & cheese with veggies instead of buying the boxed versions, and I find that these are not only more nutritious, they also make a smaller dent in my grocery bill. For example, I make the oatmeal with Whole Foods 365 Organic Quick Oats, Trader Joe’s Organic Unsweeted Applesauce and a dash of cinnamon. For approximately 15 cents I give her ¼ cup serving of this homemade version, while a leading brand of organic apple cinnamon oatmeal costs 45 cents for the same size portion. While 30 cents may not seem like a huge hit to your bank account, if Zoe eats this meal roughly 4 times a week, that’s a savings of $62 per year, and if I substituted this meal everyday for a leading brand of organic yogurt which costs about 75 cents, we would save $219 per year!

Another consideration is that while you can make most baby food with a food processor and ice cube trays, your existing kitchen supplies may contain BPA and you may therefore end up investing money in new BPA-free items such as the Beaba Babycook which steams, purees and reheats food, and Babycubes in which you can store and freeze food.

I found that Target had the cheapest and widest selection of organic baby food; however I could not always find the exact foods or combinations I wanted to give Zoe. For me, the largest benefit of making my own baby food was that I had complete control over the portion sizes and combinations. There were very few foods Zoe did not care for when she was younger (that all changed once she became an opinionated toddler!), but when I came across a food she did not like, I was successful in mixing it with something she loved, such as bananas and avocado, zucchini and apple, or green beans and sweet potatoes, none of which are available in store brands. I must admit that I greatly preferred the consistency and smell of my homemade food over the jarred equivalents, particularly in the case of combinations containing cereal, pasta or other starches or grains.

A few final thoughts regarding homemade food…1) you know exactly what is in the food you make and likely have less risk of contamination; 2) you don’t have to worry about certain issues such as whether the store bought jars are lined with BPA; 3) certain fresh fruits and vegetables are not available throughout the year, although I found frozen ones to be a good year-round option and often cheaper; 4) while jarred food can be stored and served at room temperature, homemade food generally needs to be refrigerated or frozen within an hour, and thus prior to serving it needs to be thawed and warmed; and finally, 5) it is VERY time-consuming to make baby food, and you run the risk that your child may spit it out! I’ll never forget when my friend told me she spent a couple of hours making her son homemade chicken nuggets to end up with just a few pieces that he quickly tossed on the floor!!!

The bottom line is that if you have the time and enjoy cooking, then why not attempt to make your baby’s food…but if you don’t fall into both of these categories or it just doesn’t sound like fun to you, then you can’t go wrong with store bought food either. Happy feeding!