Tired of Shady Practices by Big Corporations

I'm sure our parents all think we have it so easy as parents in our current world, where we have all this technology and information to help us raise our children. Yes, the gadgets are a nice plus for sure, but let me tell you what is NOT easier. Buying ANYTHING.

I just got back from the grocery store. From Kroger, which I used to like as a company in general, but I specifically now do not trust the way the one near me is run. Why? This particular trip I found two unrelated items in different but high-traffic areas of the store that had expired a month ago. And both had clearly been handled by staff due to placement of the item and recent "sale" pricing tags. So basically I do not have the tolerance nor the time to shop at this store anymore because they cannot be trusted to put NON-EXPIRED items on their shelves. And I don't have time to waste if I have to double-check their work.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Have you noticed that just about EVERYTHING in the grocery store has a green label now? That used to be an easy way to zero in on organic products, but now that color means nothing. So you have to look even closer and inspect something carefully to be sure it has the USDA Organic label. Let's go back to Kroger for a minute. They have this "new" Simple Truth line. Guess what - all the packaging is green green green. Is it all organic? Nope. They throw around the term "natural" a lot though with all these products which means ZILCH unless they are referring to meat or poultry. You can go to the Simple Truth website and read all about how the FDA "broadly defines" but does not regulate the term, and then some info on their own "policy". 

All those terms in quotes above are probably giving away my suspicion about all this. Why?

Well, there's an organization called the Cornucopia Institute that publishes ratings on ALL organic companies based on particular categories (dairy, eggs, cereal, etc.) and then gives them a 1-5 (low to high) rating. Guess who gets a 1 in all the categories? Kroger's Simple Truth line. And all the other major large brands who don't feel like sharing their resources and therefore do not even participate the Cornucopia's surveys. So wait, you're called "simple truth" and you can't provide that EXACT THING to your consumers? That is SHADY. You are

See those individual milks? That cereal?
They get a 1 out of 5 rating for organic
products. That's what I want to feed my kids,
the organic products with the lowest ratings.

shady if you need to hide your business practices when it comes to the products I put in my children's bodies.

So, if you are unable to share this information with Cornucopia, then why it is you think I should believe a single word on your biased website, I'm not sure.

It is ridiculous that we as parents (or anyone for that matter) cannot trust these major organizations to be honest and truthful about the products they are trying to sell us. 

And sheesh, can you at least make sure the front items in your food displays aren't expired??

As I am trying to get on top of my resolutions for the year and create healthy meals for my entire family to eat together, I am already exhausted by how much planning and research (and drive time to a myriad of grocery stores) that goes into creating a simple, safe, clean meal.

Happy New Year 2015!

Ahhhh January 1st! A fresh new year! This day feels like the first day of school for me - so much potential for so much NEW.

And yes, I am making resolutions. I know, how lame, but again, I love the POTENTIAL of what I can do in the new year. I do try to be realistic though.

So here are mine:

1.) Have better posture. My back will thank me. This Mom Slouch thing is ridiculous.
2.) Make it a priority for our family to eat dinner together. Dinner will now be at 6:30 every night. If my husband can't make it home in time, he can eat when he does, but I am done cooking and eating after the kids go to bed.
3.) Make it a priority for the entire family to eat the SAME FOOD for dinner. Now that the baby is all about solids, now is the time to feed her everything so she doesn't end up in a pasta rut like her older sister. And I am done being a short order cook. Done.
4.) Limit myself to one soda a week.
5.) Limit myself to one fast food trip a month. This excludes Starbucks and my health-i-fied favorite sandwich at Jimmy John's. I'm trying to be realistic. And fair to myself.

I have some goals for what I want to happen with my diet, my workouts, etc. but those are tired goals so I won't bother sharing those here.

I also wanted to put some cleaning- and organization-related goals on the 'ol resolution list too, but I think those need to be more on the To Do list so they get DONE and then I'll see where I'm at with that plan. A lot to conquer there so I'm worried a resolution of this type might set me up for failure!! 

Anything unique on your list? Did you even make a list? Any New Year rituals you do instead?

Toddler Crafts & Fun for St. Patrick's Day

Our family isn't Irish (except maybe a teensy bit on my husband's side) but I love celebrating St. Patrick's Day. In college this meant heading to Savannah for parades and green beer. Nowadays it's more about crafts, cookies and some creative meal planning. 

I actually put more effort into celebrating than I had planned. Aside from the themed mantle, Bugga and I made Shamrock Suncatchers to decorate our windows. She is very proud of the result and was excited to tell her dad repeatedly, "I made that!", pointing at her masterpieces.

We also attempted the Fruit Loop Rainbow craft that you see all over Pinterest. I think she had fun, but the glue concept was new to Bugga, and she preferred to glue the cereal pretty much all over the page. Oh, and by the way, there are no blue Fruit Loops, so I think that just threw us off anyway.

I tried some new recipes for our St. Patrick's Day Dinner (which I actually made last night because all bets are off on Mondays) - corned beef, colcannon and shamrock chips. It was actually all pretty good, and my husband ate every bite (which is saying something).

Bugga helped me make shamrock sugar cookies - everything from helping me bake them (she mixed the ingredients together and helped with the cookie cutter) to decorating, to of course EATING the cookies.

We had a lot of fun - Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone!

We Made it to One Year!

Patiently waiting for her party to begin. And yes,
of course I made her a tutu.  You can't resist
these things when you have a little girl,
no matter how much you think you will.

...well, I guess it's not like I thought we wouldn't make it to one year, but OH the year we had!!

And I hope you will forgive how long it has taken me to get to this post, but I wanted to make sure all the details were included (read: I had time to get the pictures off my slr).

Like all parents, I am confident that my kiddo is an overachiever so of course we had way more firsts during Year One than I ever expected, and what better way to commemorate all our learnings than with a fun birthday party.

Bugga's first initial decorated with a year's
worth of faces was hung over the main
food table.

Bugga was born in that wonky time period between holidays (well right behind Thanksgiving) so this adds a little wild card to who might be expected to attend birthday events between holiday travel, flu-season, and end-of-year budgeting.

The theme for this momentous event, was....wait for it..."Sydney is ONE!". I know, so far off topic. I saw a few fun ideas on Pinterest (of course) that got my brain churning, and it turned out to be a great way to incorporate all the fun pictures we had taken throughout her first year.

The food spread!

Cupcake "cake" decorated
with M&Ms in the shape
of a 1 (in case it isn't obvious).

We had the party at home, and I just made a handful of finger foods (including many that were toddler-friendly), barbecue sliders in the slow cooker, and a cupcake cake for the masses (seriously, we had a ton left over).

The biggest challenge was the "entertainment" for the party. It is not lost on me that a 1 year old could not care less what happens at her party as long as her basic needs are met (food and getting attention, of course). So I was torn as to what to have planned for the kids to "do" while the parents mingled and talked everything kiddo. Add to that the range of children's ages - we had 3-month-olds all the way up to 7 years. How the heck do you entertain this crowd? Off to Pinterest I went to find ideas.

I decorated with Bugga faces wearing party
hats all over the party space.

Bugga faces everywhere!

And we found the perfect one, and it was perfect for tasking my husband with so he could contribute to the party planning without getting caught up in the details he does NOT find enthralling. What was my solution? A cardboard maze! We still didn't have furniture in our dining room, so it was the perfect place to set up a giant cardboard monstrosity. And Mr. MOMba really got into it, adding skylights, and decorating with polka-dot duct tape and velvet curtains. And the kids loved it. Bugga loved it so much that we kept it in there for the next 6 months until we moved (yep, really slow to go after that dining room furniture, but I swear we will have some soon).

Anyway, enjoy some photos from the big event - maybe someone out there can use this for some planning inspiration! *OK, I really thought we had taken some photos of the cardboard tunnel setup, but I can't find them anywhere...I will update the 'ol blog with some pics should I ever dig them up. ** Update (10/6/2013): Found one!

She was very hesitant in giving her
cake a try. This is the before shot.

This is the after-shot! Not too
 much damage, actually.

Here's our "dining room" - you can see the cardboard tunnel
 around the back, with multiple doors, skylights, etc. - the kids loved it!

Toddler Oatmeal Variation with Warning

A short while ago I posted a recipe for Toddler Crockpot Oatmeal. (You can find the recipe here.) Since we are now living in a colder climate, our mornings are chillier than the steamy Houston mornings. So obviously, oatmeal is a nice fixture to my morning. And being pregnant, this kind of breakfast is also an easy way to get a healthy protein with plenty of fruit into my body before the day barely gets started.

Being a crockpot recipe, I take literally 5 minutes to toss everything into my slow cooker right before I go to bed, and the house smells amazing by the time we wake up.

If you try this recipe around your mini-mes, I feel like I have to warn you. If I straight up ask my toddler what she wants for breakfast, everyday, without fail, she shouts, "WAFFLES!!!" (I have been feeding her the natural organic brand - the one with Cookie Monster on the box - from Whole Foods and she devours one each day. Unfortunately, the best I can do is the boring natural wholegrain style, as the organic version with blueberries are nowhere to be found up here (get with it Canada!)...anyway.) On mornings I know we have oatmeal, I offer some to her, and always get an immediate, "No." Fine by me. Now I don't have to share. Or so I think.

Without a doubt, the second I get an oatmeal-laden spoon into my mouth, Bugga is all over me with her "Bite, bite, bite!" chant. And then proceeds to eat at least half my bowl, waffle long forgotten.

It's good for her so I really am not complaining - but sometimes a pregnant mommy wants to eat all her breakfast too!

Don't say I didn't warn you!

My latest version of this recipe, adding a LOT of blueberries and sliced bananas. Yum!

Food Scrutiny

Like (hopefully) every parent, I am concerned about what sort of food my daughter is eating. I am starting to get pretty frightened over what we don't know about where our food comes from. Every day lately you hear stories in the news about the lack of labeling, GMOs that we don't know about, mistreatment of animals, pesticides, artificial coloring - all of this a part of what we put into our bodies.

Around the time my daughter started eating table food, I have started to turn my household into an all-organic one. As she watches what we eat, and then compares it to what she eats, she points out to me (sometimes literally) that she needs to be able to eat exactly what we eat. Which means what exactly? That my husband and I need to eat more healthy as well.

And prior to being a parent, I have always been highly concerned about what I eat - but it was more about fat and calories than anything else. As I learn more about what all these confusing ingredients mean, it is hard for me to not buy the fat-free version of something in exchange for the full-fat version. I had been programmed so long to think fat is bad.

But honestly, it just goes back to what we've always been told: everything in moderation. A moderate amount of fat in your diet not only requires you to avoid chemically-modified fat-free versions, but fat helps your body absorb the vitamins it needs to be healthy (for example, the type of salad dressing you use determines whether or not your body will actually recognize those vegetables as nutritious).

I'm probably having the toughest time with milk. I was raised to drink milk, and I have always been a big fan. I used to be proud that I could drink a gallon on my own in less than a workweek. But after learning so much about milk and its variations while learning about the ins and outs of breastfeeding, I'm not sure anymore. It definitely seems to have a lot of sugar in it for a beverage. But isn't it good for our bones? Ugh.

Here are some articles I've been reading lately that cause me to be concerned about our food supply:

Why Fat-free Salad Dressings Are Ridiculous

11 Horrifying Facts About Your Groceries

Monsanto Protect Act: 5 Terrifying Things to Know About the HR933 Provision

Listmania: What to Put in Those Picky Toddler Bento Boxes

I have a picky eater, at least at meal time. This usually leads me to spooning banana into her mouth as she plays around the house, or allowing her to carry around a snack cup full of cheddar bunnies. So I searched for the solution and all over Pinterest I kept seeing this great idea for Baby Bento boxes (at least this is what I call them).

Essentially you take an ice cube tray and fill each spot with colorful, healthy foods, then place this artistic buffet in front of your toddler and watch the magic happen. She no longer has to fight me on food because she can pick whatever she wants! It's genius! I want her to enjoy her lifelong experience with food, and I want her to make her own healthy decisions (something I still need to be better at for myself).

What seemed to be a little lacking in all these posts is ideas on WHAT to put in each of these snack compartments, so THAT is what you will find listed below. Pick and choose obviously as YOU please - we all have different opinions on what should go into our children.

It goes without saying that all these foods should be bite-size, right? Please cut them up appropriately. My daughter can handle all these food options, and she (still) only has two teeth.

Do you have additional ideas? I would love to try new things I'm not sure she'll like...from the pic above, she already learned that she actually LIKES cucumber and corn - SCORE! I'll add more as we explore more options!

Baby Bento Box Ideas

Fruit

1. Blueberries
2. Grapes
3. Strawberries
4. Mango
5. Mandarin oranges
6. Raspberries
7. Blackberries
8. Raisins
9. Craisins

Vegetables

1. Green peas
2. Corn
3. Cherry tomatoes
4. Cucumber
5. Broccoli
6. Steamed sweet potatoes

Grains

1. Cheddar Bunnies (Whole Foods organic knockoff of the infamous Goldfish)
2. Wheat Bunnies
3. Cooked conchiglietti (baby shell pasta - we go through BOXES of this in our house since this is the easiest thing to get Bugga to eat)
4. Oatmeal
5. Cheerios
6. Baby puffs
7. Kix cereal

Dairy

1. Yogurt
2. Cheese chunks

Protein

1. Cooked turkey hotdog
2. Mini peanut butter on tortilla sandwich bites
3. Chopped egg white
4. Scrambled egg

Recipe: Toddler Crockpot Oatmeal

I have never tried steel cut oatmeal before and picked up a container at the Trader Joe's that just opened near us. Unfortunately when I got home and read the instructions, I was disappointed to see how long it takes to cook. 30 minutes?? Who has that kind of time to spend on breakfast?? Certainly not a mom. Then I found a bunch of recipes for cooking your oatmeal overnight in your slow cooker so it is ready to eat as soon as you are in the morning. Genius. 

This is healthy for me, AND my still-picky 14-month-old easily took 10 bites of this, which is a lot for her. 

Here is my take on the recipe!

Toddler Crockpot Oatmeal

Servings: 8
Ingredients*

2 cups organic steel cut oats
6 cups of water
3 tablespoons of organic brown sugar
2 tablespoons of organic butter
1 teaspoon of organic cinnamon
2 teaspoons of organic vanilla
2 mashed organic bananas (optional)
organic cooking spray

*This recipe was really easy to find organic items for everything I used, but if you don't have it in your area, the conventional version works the same as far as directions go.

Directions

1. Spray your crockpot with the cooking spray.
2. Combine all the ingredients and mix together.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours overnight to be ready for breakfast in the morning. Yep, that's it.
4. For freezing, portion into serving-size containers and put in freezer. To reheat, put in the microwave for 2.5 minutes at high.

I used a decent-size crockpot since that is the only one I have, and we had enough left over for half of it to freeze for upcoming breakfasts, and another 2 servings (after we gobbled up this morning's bowls) for breakfast tomorrow on what is sure to be a busy Monday morning. Obviously you can use a smaller 2-qt or whatever, but just reduce the ingredients accordingly.

Recipe: Toddler Power Pancakes

Do you have a picky toddler? Apparently we all do. And since I dread most mealtimes right now, fearing the defiant refusal of all things edible, I'm constantly trying to find things that Bugga will eat. And it isn't much. Fortunately she does have some favorites. And luckily they go well in pancakes.

The wonderful thing about feeding your toddler pancakes is that you can pretty much sneak in the pureed version of anything healthy, and as long as there is something they like in there too that dominates the flavor, you should get lucky. Below is the recipe I used this morning, and my kiddo scarfed down two of these bad boys. And I made enough to freeze and use whenever I run out of berries or need a quick snack or meal.

Toddler Power Pancakes

Ingredients*

1 cup of organic whole-wheat pancake mix**
1 organic egg
2/3 cup of organic whole milk
1 mashed organic banana (optional)
1 cup of organic blueberries (optional)
3 tablespoons of organic cottage cheese (optional)

*This recipe was really easy to find organic items for everything I used, but if you don't have it in your area, the conventional version works the same as far as directions go.
**Yep, I could have really gone with flour, sugar, etc. instead of a ready mix but today is more about the add-ins.

Directions

1. Mix pancake mix with 1/2 cup of milk and the egg. 
2. Add optional items and continue mixing until evenly distributed.
3. Add additional milk as needed to get a slightly-runny consistency.
4. Heat griddle or skillet on medium heat.
5. Use cooking spray to ensure pancakes won't stick to your griddle.
6. Add batter to griddle. Once sides start to harden or bubble, flip pancakes to other side.
7. Once pancakes can be lifted easily from griddle using spatula, they are done.
8. Enjoy!

I thought about going all creative and pulling out the pancake shape tools, but honestly, I am still cutting Bugga's food into bite-size pieces so the shapes would be lost on her at this age. Maybe by the end of the year!

Recipe: Healthy Baby Mac

My 13-month-old kiddo - though she started out a great eater and would gobble up anything - is no longer a fan of most foods. Meals are starting to stress me out because the variety is really limited and I'm shocked how fast she will push aside a favorite that she used to eat every meal (like bananas...what??). I thought a healthy twist on macaroni and cheese would include all things she loves (or at least did) right now and maybe give us another option to plain pieces of pasta.

This recipe is both toddler (and baby, depending on your child's eating skills) and grown-up friendly. I actually made two simultaneous batches of this, substituting the whole milk ingredients for skim ingredients. Us parents don't need all the extra fat, so this can be made pretty decent for your waistline versus the classic recipe. 

Though these are the ingredients I used, some of the organic items might not be available in your area, and you can always mix it up to work for you with the types of cheeses and pasta.

Healthy Baby Mac

Ingredients

1/2 lb of organic whole wheat macaroni
1 1/2 cups of cubed organic butternut squash
3/4 cup of organic fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup of organic whole milk
1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic
1 Tablespoon of plain organic whole greek yogurt (this took FOREVER to find - most are low fat)
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 cup of shredded Gruyere cheese
1/2 cup of shredded Pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup of whole wheat breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Sprinkle a coating of the breadcrumbs in each muffin spot.
2. Cook the macaroni as suggested by the box directions. Mine said to add macaroni to boiling water, cook for 5-7 minutes, then drain.
3. Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, add the squash, chicken broth, milk and garlic together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes until the squash is very tender.
4. Pour your squash mixture into a blender and pulse until smooth. Add the yogurt and pepper and pulse a little more.
5. Pour blended mixture into a large mixing bowl, and fold in both cheeses until melted and mixed thoroughly. Then fold in the pasta and make sure all ingredients are mixed well.
6. Spoon pasta mixture into the muffin tin. Sprinkle any remaining breadcrumbs across the top of the macaroni mixture in each cup.
7. Bake macaroni for 15 minutes. If you want the browning on top, turn on the broiler for another 3 minutes.
8. Serve once cooled. If you want to freeze for later meals, pop the muffin tin into the freezer for a bit to "lock" these into cup shapes, then pop out and drop into a Ziploc freezer bag.

I'll be honest, my husband was a little confused by the butternut squash taste in the grown-up (lower-fat) version of this recipe - he's used to what I call "crap in a box" and was expecting the faux cheddar that is typically mixed with the macaroni. I am NOT a mac & cheese fan (I know, I'm weird), but THIS recipe was delicious.

Learning About Food from my Infant

Like anyone else, there are foods I love to eat, and foods I don't care much for. For instance, there are several fruits and vegetables I have either tried and not really liked, or just didn't bother trying since they have zero allure, are rarely available, or are too complicated to prepare.

Cooking healthy food for my daughter has given me an opportunity to learn things I never knew about food. We are still going through the vast list of produce and I have already learned some things.

Squash

There are several different kinds of squash - summer, butternut, winter, acorn, and others. I've never been fond of the standard "squash" side dish you might be offered in a restaurant. Boring, blah, no thanks. Then I baked and pureed a butternut squash for Bugga. She LOVES it. And I tried it - and it's not that bad. It is a great simple sauce for pasta, mixes well with chicken, and has a nice sweet taste. I need to find some recipes to incorporate this into meals for the whole family.

Beets

Beets have always been a mystery to me. They are all the rage on salads in trendy restaurants but I've been too chicken to try them. And now I have a reason: they taste like dirt. But they are pretty, and at least now I have something to back up my distaste for them.





Sweet Potatoes

The first time I had sweet potato was in fry form. And as a lover of all condiments, I tried to eat them with ketchup. Gross. The sweet and savory combination is not my bag. My child, on the other hand, LOVES them - just like squash. They are also as flexible as squash as far as how to use them. And the other night I also revisited the fry concept, but this time just baked them in the oven with olive oil and cinnamon - they were delish!

Pumpkin

I love pumpkin in every shape and form. In my coffee, in bread, in pancakes and of course most importantly...IN PIE!!! But I had never gotten my puree straight from the gourd until now. I am shocked how much pulp is usable from a single sugar pumpkin. I might never buy the stuff from the can ever again. The baby might also be eating pumpkin oatmeal every morning for breakfast for the rest of October as well! And guess what - she loves this too.

Still left to explore: kiwi, eggplant, lentils, parsnips, zucchini...

Baby Food

The last time I posted on here about Bugga's menu, we were just about ready to get started on solids. I started to hear more and more about baby-led weaning (BLW) where babies are given finger-size pieces of foods (versus starting with purees), so I spent a lot of time looking into all the options.

In the end I decided on a combination of approaches, and then handled each food case-by-case. The plan was to puree all foods for the First Taste (I'm referring here to the 4 days in a row I feed her something new to watch for any allergic reactions). Then, if a food would do better as a finger food where she can feed herself, we'd try that next.

We waited until 6 months of age to start Bugga on solids. If there is ever going to be a time where I can provide the most perfect foods for her, this would be it. I really enjoyed shopping for the best organic produce that I could find for my daughter.

I started with avocado, sweet potato, and butternut squash, in that order. Some parents don't always start with avocado, but since my kiddo is a little on the small side and avocado is the only type of produce with natural fats, (oh AND I love all things avocado personally), this would be good for her. She loved them all.

At this point, my daughter is 8.5 months old and has eaten many things, though I am still pretty tight with the reins (it's pretty much all from our kitchen vs. a restaurant or whatever).

For details on how to prepare these foods, please reference the Wholesome Baby Food blog - it is a great resource!

Here is our menu so far:

Always Puree/Mashed (so far...):

• Sweet potato (mashed; tried to do steamed slices but they turned to mush and she couldn't pick them up; these mix well with some fruits and chicken)
• Butternut squash (she liked this a lot, but I haven't made any since the first pureed batch that lasted the first month or so)
• Banana (started pureed/mashed, but now I just slice and then quarter - this is the "stall" food in between bites of whatever she's being spoon-fed each meal)
• Apple (steamed and then mashed - mixes well with chicken and other fruits)
• Peas (steamed then pureed)
• Green beans (steamed then pureed)
• Spinach (steamed then pureed) (**side note - I now just keep frozen cubes of spinach in my freezer after this project for ALL of my cooking - so easy to just toss a couple into regular meals)
• Peaches (baked then pureed)
• Pears (baked then pureed)

Pureed then Finger Food:

• Avocado (mashed and in slices, this is great to mix with other foods)
• Chicken (not sure which list to put this on...I blended the chicken down to teeny bites, then shredded it further and usually mix it with something else - Apples get rave reviews)

Always JUST a Finger Food:

• Blueberries (started these just cut into quarters right out of the gate - and these are already a favorite)
• Watermelon (started with a giant chunk and let her go to town - what a MESS! - pureed versions are really watery, but mixes well with peaches to dial down the tartness)
• Cheerios (as sold - these are great for on the go where you don't want to get into all the mess that comes with real foods)
• Pasta (organic Cavatelli from Whole Foods - these are mini baby shells - the perfect bite-size for Bugga!)

More to come on this as we continue to expand the palette. Bugga had her 9-month well visit with the pediatrician today, and I specifically asked about peanut butter. I can do a separate post on this topic at a later time, but he is fine with us giving that to her when we are ready.

Also, you'll probably notice we skipped the baby cereals like rice cereal and oatmeal. I will probably go "back" at some point and give her oatmeal (because I love mine) but probably won't bother with the rice cereal.

Recipe: Easy Vegetable Udon

I might start posting recipes from time to time, as I am happy to share something yummy, and this is a good place for me to keep things I want to find later. The following recipe was whipped out of nowhere the other night...we are moving soon so I am trying to cook what is in the kitchen (as best I can) so we have less to deal with for the move. So the udon (yes, I have oodles of udon in my pantry) came up, since we can't get enough of it since our trip to China a few years back...

Easy Vegetable Udon

Ingredients

1 T vegetable oil

2 T sesame oil

1 Cup frozen pepper & onion medley (or any peppers and/or onions you have on hand)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 T sugar

2 T soy sauce

1 Cup fresh spinach (or frozen)

1 can chicken broth + 1 can of water

2 generous portions of udon based on your preferences

Directions

Heat the oils in a wok or saucepan. Add peppers & onions and garlic, cooking until soft. Add sugar and soy sauce. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add spinach, broth, and water. Simmer until spinach wilts, or about 5 minutes. Add noodles and cook until heated and tender (careful about overcooking). Serve immediately.

Yum!

Nom Nom Nom (Baby Food!)

Now that Bugga is 5.5 months old we are getting close to a very fun time - solids! She has only tasted breastmilk so far in her short life, but she is VERY curious about everything we are eating. Her neck is strong and she can sit pretty well on her own so hopefully our first attempts will go well.

I am traveling to a wedding in a week and a half, but once I get back, I plan on trying this out.

In the meantime, I am trying to do a lot of research on how to approach this. I thought that another benefit of me staying home with her would give me a chance to put a lot of care into what she will be eating. I now have the time to shop for organic fruits and vegetables, and prepare them myself so I know exactly what she is consuming. However, I just learned of a new food introduction method called Baby-Led Weaning (BLW). I'm not completely sold on it, so the jury is still out on this end while I read up.

Please let me know what route you took, and if you have any great resources, please post the links! Thanks!