Anyways, my friend Wintry gave me a great tip... when she makes baby food for her youngest, she makes big batches and sneaks these purees into food that she cooks for her older child. Finn is actually a pretty good eater and isn't super picky (most of the time anyways)... but what kid couldn't use a few more veggies? So, I tried Wintry's tip and it totally worked.... just make pasta and add a few cubes of veggie purees, top it off with some cheese and you have super-duper mac and cheese (p.s.- this even works for the boxed kind!). For some reason, if they can't see the actual vegetables, there never seems to be an issue. I am hoping to get a freezer full of these little cubes and plan on just throwing them into whatever Finn is eating.
Do you ever sneak veggies into your kiddos food?
Oh I LOVE making baby food. Such a simple little thing, but it brought me such joy each time. Kinda like, if I wasn't going to be supplying the only source of nutrients anymore (through nursing) I wanted to have my hand in what they ate as much as possible. It thrilled me to the max when I was able to make baby food using organic vegies I'd grown myself! Oh the simple pleasures. My kids never preferred the jar stuff to homemade b/c I never gave them the jar stuff so they had no choice. :) As far as sneaking in vegies goes, I sneak zuchinni into EVERYTHING! Its so easy to grow here, so we grew a ton. Whenever I had excess that I couldn't use fast enough, I grated it in my food processor and then froze it in little pre measured 1/2 cup "pucks" on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, I took the pucks off the cookie sheet, bagged them, and returned them to the freezer. Great for making zuc bread with, but I also add a puck or two to every ground meat dish I make. They are none the wiser. :) Sorry I tend to leave full novel comments every once in a while. Just nice to connect with another like minded Mama. And sorry I never did those blog award things. I'm such a flake!
ReplyDeleteoh gosh! i just posted about this. your blog is going to come in handy as we try to up our "green" activity around here.
ReplyDeleteSilas also prefers the jarred stuff. Double-boo! I think it's something about the texture...
ReplyDeleteTrinity would never eat pureed foods, store-bought or homemade. She wanted to move straight from breast/bottle (I had a poor milk supply and had to supplement her with formula) to table foods. Like Phoebe (and Silas), Gabe seemed to prefer store-bought baby food. I agree with Courtney; I think it was a texture thing. I made my own baby food, froze it, and when I thawed it I added a tiny bit of extra water. That slightly runnier consistency made him much more willing to eat my homemade stuff.
ReplyDeleteBaby foods are great for sneaking veggies into meals. They're also decent substitutes if you're short an ingredient or two and need a particular flavor. Chicken pot pie and want peas? Add a cube/jar! I was once a tiny bit short on bananas for banana bread, and some leftover baby food worked great!
Hopefully a helpful suggestion: have you tried putting your own baby puree into the washed, store bought jar? Sometimes a bub can be persuaded that way...
ReplyDeleteI grate vegies into homemade bolognaise sauce, burger patties, nacho beans. I agree, sneaking a few extras in is always going to be a bonus!
that is such a good idea! we only have the one boy, and we make his food, have been adding spinach to everything lately. but i love the idea of keeping it up for when he's older too! we'll see what kind of eater he turns out to be :)
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