Feeding baby family food

My little girl is 8 1/2 months old now and I'm feeding her homemade baby food. While I have batches of food cubes made for her in the freezer, for the most part I try to feed her what we are eating. I think most moms (and dads, for that matter) start incorporating their meals into baby's diet about the same time.

Introducing spaghetti, warm cereals like oatmeal, and rice are things that are an easy transition. Eventually you'll want baby to eat everything that you do and exposing them to a variety of flavors that are familiar in your family's diet is the best way to do that. Of course, as with anything you are feeding your baby, you should be sure that they have not had a reaction to any foods that you are feeding them. Don't introduce several new things at the same time, and wait two to three days before giving them something else new.

The phase were in right now, I use my food mill the most. (http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/186-3129217-6448065?ASIN=B00006G9LI&AFID=Froogle&LNM=B00006G9LIFood_Mill_with_Carrying_Case&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=B00006G9LI&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001)
These are some things our family has had in the past few weeks that we've adjusted for her little palate. Hopefully it will get you thinking about what your own family eats that you could be sharing with your little one.

Chicken, rice, and veggie soup (broth omitted until the end, then used for thinning)
Chicken taco salad (chicken, cheese, black beans, corn, olives, avocado, sour cream, chips smashed and softened with a little water)
London broil with baked potatoes and sauteed mushrooms (each kept separate)
Pumpkin bread (smashed with a fork, then water added to make a "mush")
Lasagna
Tilapia with rice
Buttercup squash (looks like a flat dark green pumpkin and is so sweet)
Mango and banana
Avocado and banana (I use banana as a sweetener)
Fried rice (we don't really fry it. It has very little oil added and I feed it to her pre-soy sauce because of the salt content)

Don't skip on the spices. While bland foods are easier on a tummy and a palate when trying things for the first time, as baby gets used to new tastes, begin expanding even more. (do leave out the salt- its hard on baby kidneys)

Right now my little girl's favorite thing to eat is a bowl of old fashioned oatmeal (the kind that you cook for 5 minutes) with fruit like apple, peach, or berries stirred in and pumpkin pie spices. It's getting chilly in the mornings, and her tummy gets filled up quick with oatmeal. She takes the longest nap after breakfast.

I use what's in the freezer pre-made for days when we are having something difficult to separate and share with her, or when we are in a hurry.

If you have some things that you've shared with baby that they just loved, I love to hear about it. I'm always interested in finding new things to feed her, and us for that matter!

Quiet Book page 6

Hey! Your shoe's untied!

Another happy page! As you can see, it's not a dress up page-exactly....but one is in the planning process. I really need to stop looking at more great ideas and then I could get the pages done I originally planned to make.

For this page, I totally borrowed the idea from this blog http://craftychiclyric.blogspot.com/2009/07/girls-quiet-book.html. (minus the converse star- I'm not a complete pirate!)

I have also seen on several blogs pages dedicated to seasons, and am in the process of doing the four seasons. More on that hopefully tomorrow.

Quiet book page 5

Took a break from the quiet book to get some shopping and housework done...priorities ruin the fun sometimes!

Here is page five. I used a pattern for this one- Simplicity. I bought the pattern thinking I would do most of the pages that came with it, but then after seeing so many other really cute ideas, I was really only sold on this one.

Next I'm thinking about a dress up page. We'll see what the fabric decides.

Halloween Ghosts

Every year my mom makes these treats and sends them across the country for my kids to enjoy. They wait anxiously for Grandma's package to arrive. I have to admit, she earns extra brownie points for sending enough for my husband and I. We love to make them ourselves as well...but usually resist the temptation and let Grandma cover it for the holiday. It's great fun seeing what creative accessories she's added each year and the kids love picking which ghost they will devour in 10 seconds flat.
(sorry- the ghosts were eaten before I had a decent picture of them. I'll try to find one from last year to post that is up close.)

You can make the Rice Krispies treats yourself, but since my focus here is the actual ghost, I'm not including those directions.

Halloween Ghost Recipe

Rice Krispies Treats
Marshmallow creme fondant
Circus Peanuts candy
Chocolate chips
Gum drops

Cut a Circus peanut candy in half and attach to front of a rice krispies treat at the base for the shoes. Drape marshmallow fondant over top of treat. Push two chocolate chips in front for eyes. Make a hat or other item by smashing a gum drop for the brim and attaching another to the top center. Place on Ghost. Everything is really sticky and you shouldn't need frosting to attach any items.

Marshmallow Creme Fondant

Planning Tip: Keeps well up to 1 week at room temperature in closed container

1 tub or jar (7 or 7 ½ oz) marshmallow cream (such as Marshmallow Fluff or Crème)
2 ¾ to 3 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar

(Tip: Before measuring or stirring the marshmallow cream, lightly coat measuring cups and utensils with nonstick cooking spray.)

Scrape marshmallow cream into a large bowl. Stir in as much sugar as possible, kneading in remaining sugar until a smooth dough forms. (Dough should be stiff yet pliable.) Wrap airtight in plastic wrap until ready to use.
(Originally from a recipe in Woman’s Day magazine in 1980’s or so; I got it from Mom!)

Quiet book page 4

I saw a cute purse idea on this page http://itybtyfrogcreations.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-quiet-book_25.html and probably a few others. My kids have always loved digging through my purse and pulling everything out. I just had to add it!

I put a few things in it we already had, but plan to hit the $$ store sometime before Christmas and pick up a few other things to put inside, like plastic lipstick, bracelets, maybe some rings. I am going to make some fabric car keys for it too.

Chinese Chicken Salad

I've had tons of requests for my recipe for Chinese chicken salad. Here is my version of it. Try different combinations for the dressing to see what your family loves.

1 lb chicken breast cooked and chopped
1 head iceberg lettuce thinly sliced
¼ cup green onions, chopped
2 cans mandarin oranges
½ cup slivered almonds
1 T sesame seeds, toasted
1 package wonton noodles (the cooked type)

Sauce:
¾ C rice vinegar
or ½ C distilled vinegar + ¼ c apple cidar vinegar
1 T sesame oil
½ C either brown sugar, white sugar, or honey
1 T either plum or hoisen sauce

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and heat on high stirring constantly. When sauce begins to boil, continue to stir and heat until it becomes bubbly and foams on top (approx ½-1 min). Remove from heat. Do not continue to heat or the vinegar will evaporate and you will lose the tangy flavor.

Toss all ingredients in salad bowl and pour sauce over it. Serve immediately.
Approx. 6 servings as a main dish

Our family loves the dressing with brown sugar, plum sauce and rice vinegar. The other vinegar combination make for a nice tangy taste as well.

Quiet book page 3

This page was a lot easier to do than the others so far. I used the idea from this page to do it. http://swishina.blogspot.com/2009/10/quiet-book.html
Scroll down to the puzzle.

I saw on another blog an idea that I will most likely do. It had three pockets on the previous page with different puzzles in them. I didn't do anything else to my page, since I'm not sure if I will add the additional puzzles to it.

I have not added velcro to the page yet either, because the pieces stay really well on it. I may change my mind and add it. I don't like to overuse velcro because the "ripping" sound is distracting at church. If I do add it, it will just be the rough side added to the puzzle pieces, and no backs attached to the puzzle board. I think it will stick well enough that way.

So far, I'm pretty happy with how the book is turning out.

Quiet book page 2

I finished the second page in my quiet book. I definitely was inspired by the space page from this blog http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/06/finished-quiet-book.html.

I had the space fabric from long ago when my son was little and had a space bedroom. (I pack rat fabrics and craft items).

On Jill's blog, she mentioned that her little boy wanted to take the rocket ship off- not a feature of the page. I decided to make our rocket removable. While attached with a snap, the rocket can slide up and down the ribbon. I also made two planets removable and added crinkle plastic to them so my daughter would have fun making quiet noise with them.

More pages to come!

Quiet book

I've been wanting to make a quiet book for Lovebug and finally decided to jump right in! I looked for ideas on the internet and found that there are some pretty talented and creative people out there making some really great books! I borrowed some ideas for inspiration and some were so adorable that I had to make one just like it!

Here is my first completed page. We have lots of little finger puppets, and I am going to make more for this puppet stage!

I'm making my pages 11x11 so that the cover will be 12x12. It gives me more room for fun things I want to include. If you'd like to peruse some of the pages that I have fallen in love with, visit the following websites:

http://quietbook.blogspot.com/2009/06/page-14-15-oven-cupcakes.html

http://swishina.blogspot.com/2009/10/quiet-book.html Love the fish puzzle and flower vase!

http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/04/quiet-book-page-1.html This is my biggest inspiration. Click on quiet book on the sidebar, then "my quiet book" at the top to see all her pages.

http://fortytworoads.blogspot.com/2007/10/close-your-clothes.html cute, I'm going to do one thing from here, not sure what yet.

So that's where most of the ideas that got my own wheels turning came from. The barn with puppets idea on Jill's page is what made me think of doing a theater.

I'll post more pages as I get them done. Hopefully if you are working on one too, you'll get some good ideas from mine and these others.