Friday, May 22, 2009

Super Food

One of the many benefits to having friends that are also moms is all the good stuff you can learn from them about raising your kid.

Last week Jenny introduced me to this book, Super Baby Foods, by Ruth Yaron. Since Moana is now eating some solid foods everyday, it's time for me to start thinking about her nutrition.

For a long time I've been pretty good about fueling my own body with good foods... you know, stuff that is (or was recently) alive... greens and fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds and beans... Scott and I eat meat sometimes but I'm not a huge fan of cooking it so many of our meals are vegetarian. And it's crystal clear to me how much better I feel (physically and mentally) when I'm eating well. So it only makes sense that what I feed Moana will have an impact on how she feels as well.

I know if I was working full time outside the home I might not feel like I needed to go so far as to make all of Moana's food... not when those little jars are so convenient! But since my job right now is to be a mom (and I've always been an overachiever), I've taken a lot of what this book says to heart and have started experimenting with making my own baby food. Truth be told, it's pretty easy right now because she's not eating a massive variety of food quite yet... so I shouldn't give myself too much credit for mashing up a ripe banana or avocado and mixing it up with some plain yogurt and spooning it into the girl's mouth.

But I have to say, so far it's not nearly as hard or as complicated as I previously thought to prepare Super Foods for Moana. The book spells it all out and makes it simple. Heck, grind up organic brown rice in your food processor until it's like powder and cook it in boiling water for 10 minutes and you've got real rice cereal that actually tastes good. And as Moana gets older the book gives ideas of what to add to the rice cereal to make it "Super Porridge". Somehow the idea of feeding Moana Super Porridge sits well with me. :) And she seems to like it.

10 comments:

cat. said...

all while waering cupcake jammies!! it's all about balance. ; )

i kid. i think it's AWESOME that you are so dedicated to making sure that she gets the best of everything.

she's a cute as EVAH!!!

Lizzie said...

Now I am hungry (I love porridge!!!)! Sounds like a good book - going to have a look into it for some of my friends with impending births on the calendar. My mum made all her own baby food and I really believe that b/c we had a nice, consistent variety of healthy foods, my brother and I now make smart food choices and can eat a wide variety of foods without being picky.

You're giving Moana a great start!! :)

GetBackJoJo said...

I was a jar girl, but I think it's awesome you are making your own! Lucky Moana!

Rebecca DeWire said...

I tried making my own baby food and Elena hated it! I hope Moana continues to like it.

Regina said...

I did the same thing with my son (he's three now and making demands for other things....sigh, but still loves his veggies! mission accomplished).

I did this one thing when he was teething. They make these little net pacifier things you put food into and they suck it out (like pieces of fruit, etc.). I used to take dried apricots (or papaya, etc) and heat it up in a pan with water until it was really soft and mushy, then freeze it in ice cube trays. Pop one into that net thingy and you have one happy camper whose gums are soothed.

Angela said...

I made both the boys baby food...and it's fun because once she's gotten to a point where you know she's not got allergies, you can actually make her meals what you're eating.

I certainly rushed Brayden through the process so we could all be "eating" the same foods.

Good for you! Moana is getting yummy yummy goodness!!

Natalie D said...

that's awesome. I definitely want to make Nick's food too.

Mnowac said...

awesome! i will check out that book.

Trisaratops said...

How have I not heard of this book yet?!?! Thank you! Sounds like a great idea. I made some of my own baby food (bananas and peaches were his fave!) and did some of the organic jars, too, when work was kicking my booty. I'm lucky that I have a kid who pretty much eats anything that's not nailed down! I'll definitely have to check that book out, though--with work I'm always up for finding cheap, healthy, quick things for Jackson.

She is such a cutie! :)

Mer! said...

This is such a cool post! I think I may go get this book tomorrow! (nothing like planning ahead right?) =0 Thanks for posting this!