g's inauguration day brunch

Garrison LOVES eating. We've started having two solid meals a day. For lunch he usually has some oatmeal (he's not a huge fan of rice cereal), a fruit and a vegetable. For fruit he still has favorites--pears and apples, but he also likes mango and plums. His vegetable selections are usually green beans, a winter squash or yams. He will have 2 ice cubes (I use ice cube trays to portion the food I freeze for him) of fruit and one of vegetable for lunch (plus the oatmeal). Sometimes we'll throw in a few cheerios for fun too (he is a big fan--do all kids love them? They seem like the universal take-along snack for the younger set.) If he finishes everything we'll usually have 1/2 a teething biscuit (he has never come close to finishing a whole one). For dinner he'll have 2 veggie cubes, 2 fruit, some cheerios, and if we're eating something he can have, he'll have a little of it. For desert it's the other half of the teething biscuit. I'm getting a little bored with the selection I have in the freezer, perhaps it's time to do another vegetable, I have been trying to use fresh stuff (preferably what is in season and local), but that's not always possible. I'm not sure what to try next--so many choices. We do still have to go back and try bananas again, I really do want him to like them. Anyway he's a joy to feed, a very neat eater (which to me means he keeps his hands out of his mouth when eating), and eats with gusto. Amos said, "maybe he'll be a chef."

Here's a photo of G enjoying a post-brunch cookie while watching Barack and Michelle walk down Pennsylvania Ave. (note the THREE empty bowls.)

how 'bout them apples?

I'm not the first parent I know who has tried making her own food. Sabrina did for Maddie, and she told me a lot about doing it. It's not a realistic thing if you're going to make food every day, but if you make a big batch and freeze it it's not too bad, in fact it's kind of fun. And, you can (a) make it with locally grown organic produce and (b) save $ over the cost of stuff you can buy in jars (especially when you compare the cost of the organic baby food at the grocery store, not the normal gerber stuff) and (c) have a little fun cooking stuff. My inner cheapskate is very happy about the whole thing.

As with most things I turned to the internet to get some instructions and tips for the whole process. There are lots of people who have written stuff about doing this, and one can buy books. I found the site wholesomebabyfood.com really informative.

My first attempt was to bake and puree one yam. It made a couple of servings for the frigand I was able to freeze 8 more servings in an ice cube tray. After they were frozen I popped them out of the tray and put them in a ziploc in the freezer. I just have to remember to take them out the night before I want to use them.

Today Amos went to the local food coop, the PCC, (Eddie Vedder is known to shop there from time to time) and picked up another batch of stuff for us to cook up for G. He got apples, butternut squash and more yams. Tonight I started on the apples, since the root vegetables should keep longer. I peeled and cut them up and put them in a steamer on the stove. I cooked them until they got soft and then pureed them smooth. 6 apples made 17 servings and cost $8.61, or about $.50/serving (Amos even bought expensive apples). We got 4 yams for $3.50, and I should get about 30 servings out of that or about $.12/serving. And the squash was $2.15, and I have no idea how much that will make. So for the apples and yams my average cost is .25/serving. Compare those costs to the cost of 6 jars of earth's best organic baby food, which online is $4.14 or $.69/serving.