Tips From the Moon

While we are waiting for "Tips from the Coop" to return...I thought perhaps we would like to hear a few "Tips from the Moon"...Moon being my sister Marianne...funny nickname, long story!

FUSSY EATERS

I have two fussy eaters...one is three years old, the other is eight months old. They are obviously fussy in different ways, but both often make eating time a bit difficult! I really tried to feed my three year-old a variety of things so she wouldn't be a fussy eater...either I didn't do a good enough job, or it just didn't work. She will not eat any fruit unless it's in the form of a fruit snack. She will eat some vegetables but is very picky. I continue to try to introduce/hide new foods to make her diet a bit more well-balanced, but it is not easy! My eight month-old has major texture aversion. I know that she is young and can grow out of it, but add to it that she has a very sensitive gag reflex, and I am dealing with a lot of throw up when I try to introduce chunkier foods. Hence, eating time is a bit difficult.

I just picked up a book from the library by Annabel Karmel called The Fussy Eaters' Recipe Book. I've only had it for a couple of days, but I like the information I've read thus far. Some of her tips that I think might work for me...

• Make healthy junk food. I've got a hot dog, corn dog, chicken nugget lovin' kid. This book has some great recipes for homemade pizzas, chicken nuggets, and even ramen noodles.
• "Disguise vegetables by blending them into a tomato sauce and serve with pasta. You can double-bluff by leaving a few chunky vegetables in the sauce for your child to pick out, then he'll never suspect that ther are still some in there." Brilliant!
  
• She says that the key to getting your child to like eating salad is to have a good dressing. There are some great dressing recipes that even sound good to me!
  
• "Children like eating with their fingers, so serve vegetables such as corn on the cob with melted butter, or baked potato wedges." That is so true about my child!
  
• Tying right in with the "being prepared" theme of this blog, she also recommends getting your kids involved in growing a garden as they may be more interested in eating foods that they watched grow. I've seen first-hand how Jac's kids are interested in the food from their garden!

As for my baby, I did have a small success the other day. Thanks to Jac's inspiration, I also make my own baby food. The purees are always a hit, so I ground up some cooked chicken and mixed it in with carrots and sweet potatoes and she had no idea that it was even there! I may get her to chew food without gagging yet!!

P.S. Annabel Karmel has some great baby food recipe books too, and I just saw a recipe for pureed lentils and vegetables that actually looked good. Yahoo for food storage and homemade baby food! I've never felt so resourceful!

Homemade Baby Food

I know this post does not apply to everyone...but I just think it is a very "provident" thing to do, so if you have far surpassed needing baby food, pass the info onto a friend.

I personally started to make my own baby food this past year. My motivation was a financial one and I knew I would save TONS of money making my own rather than purchasing it....so I went to the library, checked out a few books on the topic and was well on my way.

I started simple, just copied the "Gerber 1st" Foods and the results were amazing. Not only did I save a lot of money, but my baby LOVED to eat it! This food actually had flavor! I have been just kicking myself that I didn't make my own baby food for my other children.

Here are the basics of what I do...

Steam the fruits and veggies until they are cooked through, puree them up in my blender, and fill up ice cube trays full of food to freeze until a later date.



Once frozen, I label and date a freezer bag and fill 'er up.

I then put my nicely labeled bag into a plastic container that is already full of other labeled bags and stick it back in my freezer.

When I am ready to serve it up, I take one serving (2 food cubes, this is potatoes and carrots) and warm it up in the microwave until it is nice and steamy. Then I just let it cool on the counter for awhile until it is just slightly warm. (Although this picture does not show them slightly warm...more like totally frozen, but you get the idea :)!)

Voila! Lickity split! Yummy, tasty baby food.

This week we will be talking tips, recipes, fussy eaters, etc. So come on back now ya hear!

P.S. Joey, if you are out there...we are missing Tips From The Coop! Come back soon!