Baby's Favourite Banana Pancakes

Finally getting around to posting this.  I've been tinkering with a few batches, but since we generally freeze them and they  last a while, it's taken time to get it just right.

Please note that there are several substitutions and I have tried no more than one at a time.  So doing all at once may cause a mess for all I know...

Baby's Favourite Banana Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
2 T sugar (optional)
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c milk (no to dairy? try apple juice)
2 T melted butter (I assume, but don't know, that oil or a veg. butter substitution would work.  Haven't tried this one though)
2 eggs (or just egg yolks, or omit them and add a little more banana, or applesauce)
1 ripe banana, mashed (as ripe as can be!)

Method:

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to the flour mixture and stir to combine.  Don't over-mix!

Too wet?  Add a little more flour at a time.

Too dry?  Add more milk a little at a time.

Allow the batter to sit while heating a griddle or pan to med-low/med. heat.  I butter the pan before each new batch, but feel free to use the pan lubrication option of choice.

Drop 1/4 c at a time into hot pan, flipping when the edged are dry and any bubbles have popped.

Should make something in the neighborhood of 16 pancakes, but my batches seem to vary from about 12-18.  Feel free to make smaller or larger for your child's preference!

We serve them up plain and then freeze teh rest, layered between wax paper sheets.  They reheat in about 30 seconds in the nuke, or toaster "frozen" cycle if they are big enough.

Enjoy!  Next up will be our new favourite, Apple Cinnamon Oat Pancakes!






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Making cereal - it's cheaper and easier than you think!

Making Boogie's cereal seemed like a chore when I first learned it was even possible.  Perhaps I was being naive, but I never realized that I could give him cereal that didn't come in a box from the supermarket.  When I first read about it somewhere on the internet, I was kind of blown away.  Did people really do that?

Besides, baby cereal is cheap...right?

Turns out it isn't.  I wish I could give you a true cost comparison but I haven't taken notes recently and all I know for sure is that on a week-long trip to NJ recently, I spent about $1 on whole grains - oats, millet, and rice - from the bulk bins at my friend's favorite supermarket.  All were organic and the grains lasted for the week without any left to spare and without leaving us underfed :)

The same amount of commercial cereal (a one week supply) would have cost about $3.99 because we prefer Happy Baby HappyBellies organic cereal, but I could have gone with Earth's Best for about $2.79.  And he would have taken care of most of the package.  So even if you assume that he would have eaten about half the Happy Baby cereal, that's still $2, or twice the cost.

I bought a giant bag of Organic Quinoa recently for $8.99 at Costco. That works out to $2.25 per pound, which is less than what the bulk bin cost is at Whole Foods here.

A word of caution -   If you batch grind your grains, you will need to measure differently.  They will fluff up after grinding and you may need 1 1/2 x as much for a batch of cereal than if you measure, then grind, every couple of days.  This isn't really a problem, though.  You just measure it, grind it, and then measure it again to see how much to use later.  Just store any pre-ground grains in the fridge in an air-tight container.

Here is 1/3 cup of Quinoa before grinding.

...and here is the same Quinoa, after grinding.  It's hard to see but its about 1 1/2 x as much.  My little red bowl has a marking inside for 1/4 cup, and the full bowl is 1/2 cup.  I should probably have levelled the contents for the picture, but I didn't think about it.

Here's my 1/4 cup of Quinoa, again, before grinding.  Maybe this is too many pictures but it also illustrates how it grows after grinding.  I use a simple Krups grinder - it is reserved ONLY for grinding baby food and things baby can eat, like flax seeds, so that I don't have to be super picky about cleaning it since it can't be submerged in water.

See how big it gets?  Okay, you get the idea.  Let's move on.  Before you grind, measure out 2 cups of water and put it in a small pot on the stove to boil.  If baby is only easting a few tablespoons of food a day, you can half this and you'll want to use less cereal to water.

When it comes to a boil and your grains are ground into a nice fine powder (look for a flour-like consistancy), whisk them in.  This is important because if you don't use a whisk, you'll have undercooked lumps floating around in watery mess and your baby will look at you like you are a martian if you try to feed it to him.  Also, undercooked grains are not good for baby!  Set the timer for 10 minutes, and whisk every couple of minues until it's done.  ALWAYS taste it to make sure it is cooked well.

Measure the first time and then guess the next.  I have 6oz bowls and this is what 1/2 cup of cereal looks like in them.  I pour the first three, then put the rest in a bowl with two cubes of fruit (if its breakfast) or veggie (dinner) to help it cool down easier.  Some people believe it should go directly into the fridge.  I let it cool for about 5 minutes before sealing the lids and sticking it into the cold.

Here's Boogie's breakfast.  Once the apples melted and the cereal was nice and cool, I added a dash of cinnamon because Boogie loves cinnamon!

Yup, he's an eater.

Down the hatch!

All gone!







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Yogurt for Boogie

I love to give Boogie yogurt every day because I believe that it will help keep his digestive tract healthy.  So far, we haven't had any stomach sickness (or, for that matter, any sickness!) so I'm going to assume it works until we have a problem.

I started out buying the little individual cups of YoBaby from Stoneyfield Farms.  The plain is, in my opinion, the best way to go.  I add our own fresh fruit puree for flavor sometimes, but we take it plain most of the time.  I think it is important for him to not get used to having added sugar in yogurt.

I realized one day that I was spending too much on yogurt this way.  Those 6 cups, about 4oz each, cost about $2.99.  That's about 24oz, or about $.13 cents per ounce.  If I buy the 32oz organic "cream top" (whole milk) yogurt for $2.99, it's only about $.09 per ounce.

Because it is "cream top" yogurt, you do have to stir it up well to mix the cream in, but you need to do that with the little cups as well because they do the same thing.

I typically freeze half of the yogurt so that it keeps longer, because he isn't eating 32 oz of yogurt in a week, and after 6-7 days I start to feel like it's not fresh enough anymore.

So I freeze 4 6 oz glass bowls with about 4oz of yogurt in each one and when there is only about 1-2 servings of yogurt left in the original container, I take one out of the freezer.  They sometimes take a whole day or longer to completely thaw (my fridge is cold, what can I say?)

I'm still a fan of the individual cups for travel.  If we are going to be out for lunch, they fit nicely into a cooler bag made for holding a bottle/sippy cup.  Our glass bowls with the lids fit well, too, but they are a tight squeeze.  In general, though, I recommend feeding yogurt with no added sugar at least 90% of the time so that as your kids grow older, they are not accustomed to that extra sweetness.  You can always add fresh fruit puree and it will naturally sweeten without additional sugar.  Boogie even likes veggies with his plain yogurt, such as sweet potato.  The other day he wanted his broccoli mixed in!



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Staying organized with Boogie's meals

I stay organized, making sure Boogie gets at least most of what he needs day to day with a simple dry erase board my mom bought on clearance at an office supply store a few months ago.
 
I took some Sharpie markers and created a "chart" listing the main food groups and how many servings he needs per day, and then added a box for each serving.  I use a dry erase marker to check them off after meals.  I also have a blank at the top for what day it is so that if my darling husband gets up with Boogie on Saturday morning so I can sleep in some, I know later whether he has started a new day or forgotten, and then I can ask him what he had for breakfast.

It's also nice because some mornings when Boogie and I get downstairs, said darling husband has written in the new day with something cute like yesterday's, "show your tongue off day!", to which he added in between the other food groups, "show your tongue 50-100/day," and several boxes to check off.

Recently, my father taught Boogie to stick out his tongue when someone asks, "Where's your tongue?"  It's a lovely habit I look forward to trying to break.  He LOVES to show off his tongue!  We are trying to teach him to point to his nose in response to, "Where's your nose?" but so far he just sticks his tongue out, proving that he is really not aware that the thing he is sticking out is called a tongue.  But he's getting there :)

Typically, Boogie gets a serving of baby  porridge for breakfast and 1-2 servings of fruit, sometimes mixed in but usually separate.  Lunch is 3-4 oz of plain whole milk yogurt with another serving of fruit, a piece of toast, and some veggies.  Some days he doesn't eat that much, though!  Dinner is generally veggie-loaded with 2-3 servings (depending on how much he has had earlier), some whole wheat pasta, more cereal, or a whole grain that hasn't been pureed prior to cooking (like quinoa or rice), or some whole wheat bread or pita.  Some days he gets chicken either in "meatball" form or just cooked bits.  The other day I put a bit of sweet curry powder on the chicken and he loved it!

Boogie also gets an egg 3 times a week, usually scrambled, for breakfast.  He also enjoys tofu, beans, and now hummus.  I try to go easy on meat-based proteins because I think its good to not get him used to meat every day, or even several times a day, while he is young.  He also loves bits of cheese, but who doesn't love cheese??

UPDATE - My darling husband reminded me that if you draw over over the sharpie marks with the dry erase marker, it will remove the sharpie marks.  So if you want to try this, make sure you make the boxes big enough to draw an "x" inside without touching the lines.

Also, when it inevitable gets skuzzy looking, use rubbing alcohol to remove the old sharpie marks instead of buying the pricey white board cleaner.



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Save money on organic juice by not buying it

I save money on juice by not buying it.  But that doesn't mean Boogie only gets to drink water.  Mostly, he is still getting his "drinks" from mama, but I do offer him a sippy cup of water (and sometimes when I'm feeling lazy I just put water in a cup and hold it for him) with every meal and he typically drinks about half an ounce to an ounce.

But I do give him what I call "juice."  When I cook apples to make apple sauce, I save the cooking liquid, strain it, and freeze it in ice cube trays just like I do his purees.  I do the same with pears, peaches, mango, etc.  Soon I am going to add veggie "juice" as well, though I will probably mix it with apple or pear at first so that he can get used to the taste.

I suppose I could just not ever give him anything but water, but I offer him a cube of "juice" mixed with water (I estimate it to be about 25% fruit liquid) has the same effect that straight juice does as far as his, ah, diaper issues.  His pediatrician told me to give him straight juice if his stools are firm or if he seems constipated, but I just cannot fathom buying a bottle of juice and then throwing most of it away.  I did this once, and ended up boiling and freezing it into trays and it was a bigger pain in the bum that just freezing the cooking liquid, since I'm already in baby food mode.

This way, any nutrients that come out in the cooking water, go right back into Boogie later :)

And when he starts drinking veggie "juice," my hope is that he will get accustomed to drinking things that are not sweet.

As you can see above, one batch of apples also yielded about 14oz of "juice."  This lasts us a good two weeks and its FREE.



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Using the Apple Method for other baby foods

Using the same method as with The Apples, you can also make:

Pears
Peas
Sweet Potatoes*
Winter Squash*
String Beans
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Carrots**
Parsnips
Beets**
White Potatoes

I could go on but I think you get the idea. If it is more cost effective to buy bagged frozen fruit,m especially when they are not in season, you can also simmer frozen fruit right from the bag until it is thawed and, if baby is new to the game, nice and soft. Then puree as usual.


*I prefer to bake or roast sweet potatoes whole (350 until very soft), scoop out the flesh, and puree. With Winter squash, I cut in half, scoop out the seeds and whatnot, and bake at 350 until a fork can go right through it, then scoop out the flesh and puree. I believe they are more flavorful this way, but boiling is fine. Steaming is also a good option.


**Carrots, as well as spinach, beets, and other foods can contain high levels of nitrates. Some people believe you should not make these foods yourself for your baby. If you like, you can skip making them and buy them jarred or frozen, but I find that fresh carrots are one of the least expensive baby foods and my son will not eat the jarred kind and neither would I. So I recommend waiting until at least 8 months to introduce them and dumping the cooking water and using fresh filtered or purified water for pureeing them to avoid adding nitrates back into the baby food.

3 lbs of organic apples for $3.69 = Cheaper than a jar

The contenders?

3lbs of Organic Fuji Apples (which, by the way, smell amazing) for $3.69 at Whole Foods

vs.

Earth's Best Organic 12-pack of 2nd Foods Apples - $10.99 (12 4oz containers = 48oz).*

You don't likely need to buy anything to make baby food other than the food itself. I'm starting with apples, because they are so easy and most other baby fruit and veg purees can be made with the same method. Also, at 10 months my son is moving away from purees and this is one he still really loves. I'm pretty sure I will be making applesauce for years to come....

So its easy to get started. If you have a blender, food processor, or food mill, you are set to go. If not, then I was wrong and you will need to get one of those things. But the plus side is that you can use any size food processor - even those little bitty ones - and the results are the same. You may find you prefer smaller batches, or you may find that you just have to puree in batches. Peel your apples and core them. Cut them into whatever size chunks you like, as long as they are roughly the same size.

Place them in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer until they are nice and mashy. Use a slotted spoon to pull the apples from the water and put them in your food processor or blender with as much of the cooking water as it takes to puree them to your desired consistency.

For "Stage1" foods, you will need to add most if not all, and maybe more water. Personally, I believe that "stages" are something baby food companies made up to make sure you spend as much money on baby food as possible for as long as possible. I don't generally add more than I need to to get the food pureed and instead I look at the texture. Boogie started with very smooth purees and moved slowly to chunkier ones. Apples can be pureed as much as you like forever since you will probably give your baby applesauce for years to come.

Spoon the puree into ice cube trays and if they have covers, cover them and freeze. We have some handy dandy Tupperware trays with lids that my mom bought off Ebay for fairly cheap, but they are currently in the freezer full of kale puree (yes, my baby LOVES kale puree!), so alternatively, you can put them in whatever trays are handy and wrap them in plastic wrap or foil to freeze. Just make sure if they are at all liquidy (as most purees are, no matter how little water you have added) that they are level.

I forgot to take pictures of my ice cube trays. Oops...

When they are solidly frozen (overnight is generally about right), pop them out and fill up a freezer bag, label it with the date and contents, and stick it back in the freezer. A deep freeze is super helpful with this as your collection of baby cubes grows!

I ended up with 32 ounces, or thereabouts, which translated into about 32 ounces of food, or about $.12 per ounce. Earth's Best jars work out to about $.29 per ounce. Not bad. If you ar elooking for a "stage 1" consistancy, you will probably add enough water to bring it to about 40oz or more, making your cost per ounce less than $.10.

*I like Earth's Best. This is for comparison only. Because their products are organic, whole grain, and do not contain (to my knowledge) any added sugar or salt, I believe they are a better alternative to conventional jarred baby food. But I believe that fresh, homemade whole food is best.

Why "Feed Me, Cloth Me"?

I have been thinking about writing a blog for a while now. Since my son was born in May of 2009, I've had little time to spend on my first love - writing. I started writing recreationally when I was fairly young, perhaps about 9 or 10 years old, and in high school I found that poetry spoke to me and soon after that, discovered a genre I wouldn't know the name for for years to come.

In college, I took my first creative writing class in Creative Non-Fiction. It was the only class open for a transfer student late to the registration process. On the first day, I fell in love with writing all over again. I had been writing CNF for years without knowing it had a name. Blogging is not unlike CNF in may ways - at least, I believe that this blog will not be unlike it.

Over the last 10 months, I have learned so much about myself that it almost overrides the first 26 years of my life experience. Having a baby truly changes everything.

Feed Me!

I have always wanted to make my own baby food. I loved the idea of little ice cubes of carrots and peas in my freezer, a veritable rainbow of veggies and fruit. I had no idea that I could make baby cereal myself. I never expected I would feed my son tofu regularly. I certainly never realized I could make beans or lentils in batches and freeze them in ice cube trays. I bought cottage cheese for the first time in my life (and I was apparently avoiding it for good reason, but Boogie loves it) And I had no idea I would be buying so much yogurt.

But once I got started, I found it was incredibly easy to make healthy, organic, fresh meals for him. I love thinking up new ways to make simple delicious food that my husband and I can enjoy with him. It almost makes me sad to see that my son is outgrowing purees, even thick chunky ones, and wanting more and more to feed himself. In addition to loving the process, I love the outcome. Boogie eats anything (almost - see below) and loves everything he tries, including foods I don't care for like kale, cottage cheese, and lentils.

In the last 4 months, I have made a lot of baby food. It amazes me when I pass the baby jar section in the grocery store how incredibly expensive it is to feed your child what amounts to canned veggies. To some degree, I wanted to save money by making it myself. But the overriding thought was that I could make sure my son learned to love a variety of veggies, fruits, grains, and more in the first few years of his life if I made everything he eats from fresh, whole foods. Then maybe, just maybe, when he does eventually find himself at a fast food restaurant with friends, he'll take a bite and wonder what it is because it won't taste like food.

I think many parents share at least one of those goals. Making baby food really is easy. And, done in batches all in one day a month, it can be pretty fast and just as convienient as those little jars...and I can tell you from experience that it tastes better. We once tried to offer organic jarred food to my little Boogie at a restaurant and no only did he refuse to eat it (the FIRST time he ever refused to eat anything!), but he cried as though we had tried to feed him thumbtacks. I tasted it myself and I had to agree. Jarred string beans do not taste like string beans. Jarred carrots do not taste like carrots. I can handle that kind of picky eater.

Making your own baby food doesn't stop with purees, even when that phase starts to end (tear!). I'm changing the way my family eats so that we can all eat together and have healthy, nutritious meals that taste great!

Cloth Me!

I knew in my very early 20's that I would use cloth diapers for my children. A family friend used them and I was intrigued. Once night I spent hours on the internet researching cloth diapers and was amazed at all there was to learn. Years later, married and expecting my first child, I revisited the world of cloth diapers and found that even in those 5 or so years, the options have exploded into a phenomenon many people believe is just a trend.

Trendy or not, cloth diapers have been around for as long as...well...babies. Or at least as long as there has been cloth, it has been used for diapering babies.

The first disposable diaper appeared on the scene in 1949, and according to 1980's diapering authority My Mom, disposable diapers were hardly an option for full-time diapering unless you wanted to do even more laundry than you were already doing washing diapers. She said most of them still required a cover (which she called "rubber pants" so you can already see things have changed!) Besides, she used a diaper service and didn't have to wash them herself anyway. My point is that disposable diapers have only been a viable alternative to cloth as a full-time diapering option for about 25 or maybe 30 years. Since then, technology has boomed and a popular diaper brand is now offering a product they claim will keep your baby dry for up to 12 hours.

Which, in my opinion, is a technology we do not need. The longer you leave a diaper on a baby, the longer their skin is in direct contact with urine. They may not feel wet, but they will certainly be in cotact with urine. Think about it. And if you use a disposable diaper, it isn't just urine. We're talking chemicals, fragrances, dyes, dioxin (by-product of bleaching process), etc.

Do our babies really need to be wrapped in technology from the moment they arrive into the world? I think if I had the choice, I'd rather be wrapped in soft cotton than heavily scented, bleached, and dyed paper full of SAP.

This is why I diaper my son in cloth.