This may sound cliche, but I find great joy in making fresh, organic, homemade baby food for my babies! It is SUCH A SMALL AMOUNT OF TIME that they actually eat baby food. They can’t eat solids until 6 months, and they are often ready to move on by 8 months. And yet, during this small timeframe SO MANY GOOD EATING HABITS ARE ESTABLISHED. They learn to “chew” and swallow properly which also assists in their muscles that aid in speech. It’s hard to believe it’s really only two months we need to provide our children with such important “firsts” but it truly makes a difference down the road. Especially when introducing as many new flavors and textures as possible. I don’t like the flavor of baby food you can purchase on the shelf in the store – the preservatives make it storable for up to two years. And it DOES NOT TASTE LIKE BABY FOOD (in my opinion). The preservatives often make everything taste sweeter than normal and create a false expectation that all foods are sweet and they don’t learn an early appreciation for savory flavors which make up the majority of what we eat as adults. Baby food should taste just like what we eat but with less spice, perhaps. Our main objective when training our babies to eat is to eventually get them eating what we eat. If their first foods don’t taste like our food, and if they don’t get introduced to new flavors early on, they won’t be apt to trying different flavors and textures when they are toddlers. Which makes for picky eaters.
My 7 month old twins LOVE this “root trio” veggie puree so I wanted to be sure to pass it along. My daughter loved this too. It’s so important at this stage in their weaning to solid foods to introduce AS MANY new flavors and textures as possible! The more they try at this age, the more open to new flavors they will be when they’re toddlers. Plus, the more likely they will be to establish good eating habits early on. (If you are interested in reading more about stage one weaning and why I believe so much in this, check out my post on my first go around making my daughter’s organic homemade baby food – I read SO MUCH the first time around and I learned a ton that I try to pass along to you, “Homemade Organic Baby Food – My Journey,” and “Part Two: My Journey Making Homemade Organic Baby Food.”)The root trio veggie puree’ is simply carrots, sweet potato and parsnips steamed and then pureed in a blender with the water used while steaming. Root veggies are naturally sweet and puree easily to a smooth consistency. Add a little of baby’s regular milk to make it the consistency they like. Introducing your baby to a new flavor like parsnips or rutabaga might not appear to be your first choice but doing this early on really does open doors to what they will try later on in the toddler years. Sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin C and beta-carotene and are richer in nutrients than regular potatoes. One more to note – organic carrots, rutabaga and parsnips are best to use for baby (and yourself) as they are more susceptible to absorbing chemicals in soil than other vegetables. And, the darker the organic carrot, the more mature and more full of flavor and vitamin A and beta-carotene. Parsnips are a root veggie that is a relative of the carrot family. They are often sweeter when cooked than the carrot and make it a perfect pairing for the sweet potato and carrot and a delicious first food puree for baby.
I would love to hear about the best first foods you chose for your babies! As always, I would love it if you followed me here! I live to share new learnings and pass along anything I have found to be helpful to other new parents.
Enjoy your Monday! It’s a new week full of firsts!
XO ~ Stephanie
My Brown Baer Cub 