Mommy Confession

I have a confession. I'm completely over making baby food.  I'm tired of spending time on the weekend or on week nights making food.  Sometimes I just want to sit on the couch and do nothing at all but there is always baby food to make or cloth diaper laundry to do.  I don't regret for a minute choosing to do either but once in awhile I wish I had a fairy godmother to do everything on my to do list.  Lately, Joslyn has been hungry all the time (growth spurt?) so I increased her three feedings of solids a day to three 1 ounce cubes mixed with 2 ounces of yogurt or rice cereal from two cubes and that means I have to make even more food.  It doesn't take that much extra time a week to make her food but I just don't want to do it anymore.  But I'm going to because I'm not going to buy jarred food now since she's so close to eating the food we eat.  I have been trying to give her more of the food we eat to get her on the road to just eating whatever I make for John and I.  I CAN'T WAIT for that day!  This weekend I gave her some scrambled egg yolks (pediatrician said only yolks for now) and cheese.  At first, I gave it to her in a bowl but she didn't really want to pick it up out of the bowl.  So I decided to just spread it out on her high chair tray and let her go at it.  I gave her a spoon but she mostly just banged it on the tray instead of using it.  She was also nice enough to share with Abby by dropping some on the floor when she came over.  Abby loves scrambled eggs so I think she's hoping I give Joslyn them every weekend.  She was unsure at first but after a few tastes, she LOVED them!

Hmm, what is this?!

Ok, I'll try some.

Ooh, this is good!

REALLY good!

And banging my spoon is fun too!

Sunday morning, John made Belgian waffles for us so I decided to give some to Joslyn.  She loved that too!

Yum!

We did have one food failure this weekend.  I made an eggplant bake for dinner Saturday night so I decided to puree some of the leftovers and give them to her for lunch on Sunday.  She was not a fan.  She took one bite and turned away from the spoon every time I tried to put it in her mouth.  I guess my girl likes her breakfast foods.  I can't say I blame her.  I could eat breakfast foods all day long.

I need to make a lot of food this weekend because my vegetable freezer supply is almost gone.  I'm going to make spinach and peas and the recipes below. I've made the first one before and she likes it.

Carrot, cauliflower, tomato, cheese and basil from my Top 100 Baby Purees book. I usually double or triple it because this only makes 4 portions. I like to cook in bulk. 
Ingredients:
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup chopped cauliflower florets
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 medium tomatoes (8oz), peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
2 or 3 fresh basil leaves (I've used dried too)
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Put carrots in a small saucepan, cover with boiling water, and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes (I use my steamer).  Add the cauliflower and cook, covered, for 7-8 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in another pan, add tomatoes, and saute until mushy. Remove from heat and stir in the basil and cheese until melted. Puree the carrots and cauliflower with the tomato and cheese sauce.

I'm going to try this recipe for mac and cheese that I got from the Homemade Baby Food Makers group on Baby Center. It's originally from the book Baby Love.

Ingredients:
2 ounces unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup yellow onion, very small diced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk, hot
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
8 ounces mild cheddar cheese, grated
1 to 2 splashes Cholula hot sauce (totally optional!)
Orzo, cooked (or any other small pasta), as needed

In a 4 quart pot, cook butter and onion over medium heat until onion becomes soft and translucent.  Add flour and cook, while stirring, for 2 minutes.  Whisk in hot milk. Whisk well to avoid clumping.  Bring to a boil. Milk will thicken. Whisk often to prevent burning. Reduce heat, add nutmeg, and simmer 5 to 6 minutes. Continue to whisk to prevent burning.  Whisk in cheddar cheese. Simmer an additional 2 minutes and add hot sauce. Keeps for up to one week in the fridge. Makes 24 ounces.

To serve, toss hot pasta and sauce together. You may need to thin sauce with a splash of water.