Someone asked me this weekend how long I was gonna be making Durham's food. I laughed. As long as he eats it.
Hubs and I were both overweight as kids (and now too, boooo!) and we don't want that for Durham. We want him to love to eat healthy fruits and veggies and grilled meats. We still arent the best eaters as adults, so I want to make sure he always has good options.
I've been getting questions about how we feed Durham and some things have changed since I last posted about it. He's been eating 'food' (other than breast-milk/formula) for 4 months now. And as a word of encouragement for those who are just starting, it does get easier. They will start to like the foods they initially refuse if you just keep trying, the prep and cook times will get shorter, and meal time will be fun.
The biggest question I get from people is how do I find time to make everything. Well, I don't make EVERYTHING just some things. and the more you do it, the less time it takes. Just this morning during nap time I made his food for the week. It took me less than an hour (and I still have time to write this post! haha). I'm not over here making homemade cheerios and goldfish people, I feed Durham store bought food, but fruits and veggies and meat I prefer to make fresh rather than buy a jar (or 2-3 jars per meal is what it would take to feed my fatty).
Breakfast:
Durham's favorite meal! He sleeps through the night (12 hours) and has 8oz of formula when he wakes up, then about 1.5 hours later he has breakfast. Some of his breakfast foods are bananas, oatmeal, yogurt, blueberry waffles, oatmeal bars (recipe below), frozen blueberries (his favorite), or toast smeared with apple sauce. On the weekend when dada is home we usually have turkey bacon or sausage and he eats that too. We haven't tried eggs yet, but soon!
Lunch & Dinner:
I try to include a couple veggies/fruits, a protein, and a grain. Sometimes I get them all, sometimes he will only eat grapes. But, I have found that if I continue to offer them at every meal, he will more often than not gobble them up. Veggies/fruits I buy weekly (sometimes bi-weekly depending on what we have on hand) and I cook a big batch of stuff at the beginning of the week. He can eat on that for about 4-5 days, he also eats whatever we are eating that is baby appropriate (tacos, hotdogs, pizza, chicken nuggets, and hot pockets are NOT baby appropriate). The other days when I don't have something especially prepared he eats fresh fruits, or frozen fruits, and I have a few Plum Organics food pouches on hand if I can't make it to the store because of work or something. He still eats 'some' puree, I've read that a lot of babies start to refuse being fed by a spoon around 8-10months but D still likes it, but most of his meal is 'bites' of food.
Snacks:
This is where I make my own goldfish. ok, not really. haha
I know that snacks can be a tricky subject, one mom I ran into a Target actually commented on Durham's 'junk food' as he was munching on graham cracker bunnies while we shopped. Calm down momma's... let other people feed their kids whatever they want. I don't say anything to you as you pour mountain dew into your toddlers sippy cup. Durham usually eats one snack a day, and a handful of cheerios if we are out shopping to keep him occupied. These are our favorites. He especially loves the Ella's Kitchen cookies but they are super messy so we only do them at home.
Making it & Taking it
I only make stuff that is not super hard/time consuming. I was making his applesauce at the beginning, but pealing, coring and then baking apples (like a million apples) took a lot of time. I confine myself to what I can make in one or two nap times a week so that my time can still be spent with D while he is awake. I steam veggies, and cut up fresh fruits. I cube grilled chicken breast, and do meatballs on the skillet. easy-peasey. Hopefully the hubs and I can overhaul our bad eating habbits in the next couple months so I wont be making as much separate for D, and what we eat will all be a healthy choice for him.
I have a love/hate relationship with food storage containers. I love them and I am always buying them, but I hate to wash them and they take over a big section of the counter beside our sink. I can't help myself. TJ Maxx and Publix both have a great assortment if you are looking for some. This one is my favorite. FIT FRESH. I have two of them and lots of other little containers that fit inside. I can pack two entire meals inside this one box (including snack and spoon) and throw it into the diaper bag. It is a must have!
From what I've read he will be on some form of sippy cup milk and no puree's at 12 months. I'm sure that will be harder on me than him because no bottle and no puree makes me feel like he wont be a little baby anymore. Any advice on how to transition would be awesome, thoughts and ideas are always welcome. I know that there are several momma's reading that are right here with me, or will be in the next month or two... how are you feeling? (Hey Callen, Joshua, Riley, and Cooper's moms!)
oatmeal bars (more like rounds)
1 1/2 cups oats uncooked
2 ripe bananas, mashed with fork until creamy
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat heat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix cinnamon into the applesauce.
Blend applesauce mixture with all other ingredients & let sit for 10 minutes
Drop dough, by spoonfuls, onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet & flatten cookies into rounds or squares.
Bake approx. 30-35 minutes, or until golden & done. (only about 20 minutes in our gas oven). YUMMY!!
