Homemade baby food

The little guy is napping, so this is a good time to enjoy that cup of hot cafe au lait I made 3 hours ago but didn't have time to drink.

The other night we let the little guy feed himself dinner for the first time, but he didn't quite know what to do with the peas.  He kept squeezing them in his fist before attempting to put them in his mouth.  I ended up pureeing the rest of the peas, so he won't be feeding himself for a while.

So far, his repertoire of food include:

• pureed peas, carrots and haricots verts, apples, nectarines, mangoes, apricots and peaches.

• mashed banana, avocado and roasted sweet potatoes

• edamame, cheddar cheese

The majority of the time I serve them straight up because it's easier, but every now and then I like to mix it up.  Below is are a couple of recipes. 

Green Bean and Pea Puree
1/2 lb of haricots verts or other green beans
2 cups peas
3 cups water

Bring the water to a boil in a large pot with a steaming basket.  Chop the beans into 1-2 inch pieces and place them in the steaming basket along with the peas.  Cover and steam for 8 minutes or until soft.
Puree the beans, peas and 2-3 tbsp of water (I use the water from the steampot) in a blender to desired consistency (you may need more or less water).

Apricot-Mango Puree
1 large ripe mango
6 apricots
1 medium fuji apple (to give the puree a denser texture)
3 cups water
 
Bring the water to boil over the stove in a large pot with a steaming basket.  While water is heating up, peel, cut and quarter the apricots.  Peel, core, and chop the apple into 2 inch pieces.  Place the apricots and apple in the steaming basket and cover.  Steam for 3 minutes or until fork-tender.  While the apricots and apple are steaming, cut and cube the mango. 
Puree the apricots, mango, apple pieces in a blender to desired consistency.

Little chefs

I make all of the little guy's baby food.  It's pretty simple- I just cut up and steam vegetables or fruit gotten from the local farmer's market, then puree in the blender with a little of the water used for steaming (or fresh water for the carrots due to nitrate levels).

I can't believe I didn't do this for the first two children when they were babies.  It's much more economical and better for the environment than buying jarred food, and I like using organic produce.


Little momma and the big guy wanted to help make the little guy's food.  They requested to help make the pureed carrots on this week's menu.  Because the carrots were huge, we only needed to peel and steam 2 of them to make a few days worth.

Here they are peeling, cutting and steaming the carrots:

I love that they get such joy out of making the baby's food.  They really are great helpers.  And here's the little guy enjoying the finished product:

New obsession?

What started out as a thrifty and green way to redecorate my daughter's bedroom is quickly becoming a Saturday morning ritual.  I think I am an estate sale junkie. 

Surprisingly, the rest of the family seems to enjoy hitting up the estate sales.  I give them the option of coming along, and they actually seem to look forward to it.  Little momma enjoys looking for vintage items (she thinks she has an eye for it).  The big guy likes to look for puzzles and books.

This weekend we may graduate to church rummage sales.  That one may try the hubby's patience.

A few things we've picked up at the estate sales:

All of the items were under $5 individually, and the patterns were actually part of a 10 for $1 lot of vintage patterns.

Redesign on a dime

It's time for little momma to have a big girl room.  We will be ridding her room of her old Ikea disposable furniture to replace with this:

and this:

and this:

In the spirit of being thrifty and green, we purchased all of the above at an estate sale for just $75.  As you can see from the photos, they are in great condition considering their age.  I think the few scratches and imperfections they have give them character.  Or maybe I'm too lazy to try to refinish them.  Take your pick.

Taking our cue from the furniture, little momma and I are going with a vintage feel with the decor.  This should be fun!