Friday, May 27, 2011

Baby Ruby

I received an email today from a dear friend of mine telling me about a sweet little three-month-old baby girl who has been diagnosed with liver failure, and is in need of a transplant.  My heart aches for baby Ruby and her family.  A fundraiser is being held for the Taylors to help with the burdening and ever-growing medical expenses.  Please visit Ruby's blog for more details on how to help.  Of course a very powerful form of help is through prayer, so be sure to keep this baby girl in your thoughts and prayers.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Homemade Baby Food Favorites: Butternut Squash

One of the first foods that I made for my baby was butternut squash, followed by acorn squash.  Oh boy did she love it--still does!  Click here is some great information on making butternut squash puree for your baby.  A great way to make cutting butternut squash easier is to microwave the squash for 1 minute.  I like to cut the top off of the round bottom, then half each piece, so that when you are done cutting, you should have four pieces.

A delicious way to prepare butternut squash (acorn squash too) is pair it with apples.  Mmm... my baby just loves that!  Make sure that you have introduced both butternut squash (or acorn squash) and apples.

When baby is 8 months+ try adding some cinnamon or nutmeg.  Delicious!

**After you have scooped out the seeds from the squash, don't throw them away, make a yummy snack for yourself!  Lets face it, mommy deserves good food too.  While the squash is baking, rinse the seeds under cool water, and remove the pulp.  Drain the seeds.  Put into a small bowl, and mix with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, and 1 teaspoon brown sugar.  Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray, and bake seeds in 400 degree F oven for 10 minutes.  Remove seeds from the cookie sheet immediately.  Let cool for about 5 minutes before eating. Enjoy!**

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Homemade Baby Food Favorites

I am going to share with you some of my (and my baby's) favorite baby food recipes.  When it comes to making my own baby food, I have sampled everything myself, so I know its yummy!

I will kick off my recipes category with one of my favorites: Apple-Blueberry-Cherry Puree.

I first introduced this puree to my baby when she was 8-months-old.  I had previously introduced apple sauce to my baby at about 6 months, but cherries and blueberries need to wait.  As I stated in my baby food post, I introduced each ingredient alone (or paired with something such as pares or apples that I know don't cause any sort of an allergic reaction) before combining them all together.


Apple-Blueberry-Cherry Puree

Introduce: 8+ months

Ingredients:


  • 2 peeled, cored, chopped (chunks) apples (use sweet apples such as gala, red delicious, golden delicious, braeburn)
  • handful of dark sweet cherries (I used frozen)
  • handful of blueberries (I used frozen)
Steps:

  1. In a skillet, simmer the apple chunks, cherries, and blueberries in a small amount of water (I use bottled) over low heat until apples are tender.  About 15 minutes.  Flip apple pieces over half-way through.
  2. When the apples are tender, put all of the fruit into the blender.
  3. Puree.
  4. Add water if thinning is needed.
  5. Mmmm!
This is so yummy, I was going to freeze the left-overs, but I just couldn't do it.  I ate the remainder of the puree, it was that good!