We love to eat. Who doesn’t? I was so excited to share with Charlotte so many of my favorite foods. It was painful for my parents to see her only drink breast-milk for so long! They wanted so badly to make real food for her. It’s an interesting thought. What do we do when someone is sick? Make chicken soup. A loved one passes away? Send a basket of food. We want, we need, to take care and nuture, so feeding a baby all of the wonderful, healthy, delicious foods you love is completely normal! My grandparents loved seeing us finish all of the food on our plate. And if you loved something, you better believe you’ll be eating it for the rest of your life! I loved cookies and cream candy bars. They bought a case and I don’t think I’ve had one since! I love seeing my parents react the same with Charlotte. As soon as they know she’s coming over they start cooking!
It was an easy choice to make over making or purchasing her food. We love to cook and we wanted to know what she was eating and where it came from. You will also save so much money by making your own food. Seriously.
So what do you feed your baby for the first time? They say rice cereal. I said no. There is no real nutritional value in rice cereal. And it’s so boring! We wanted Charlotte’s first tastes of food to fill her with nutrition and be delicious. But of course it couldn’t be a huge shock to her little palette (even though she had already been introduced to thousands of tastes through breast-milk). We chose avocado and she loved it! 
What do you do?
- First, purchase a whole slew of 4 ounce mason jars. They are perfect for freezing your baby food, or canning if that is your choice.
- I used a food processor. It worked perfectly for blending food.
- You will need a great bib and I think this one by Baby Bjorn is amazing.
- I also think this travel spoon is perfect.
- A steaming basket is also needed, nothing fancy here.
- Last but not least, your imagination. Have fun! Babies can have spices and herbs and it’s so much fun to add little extras and see how much they like their gourmet food! Here are a few basic foods that we made for Charlotte along with notes on how we spiced things up. Please share your favorite recipes, too!
- AVOCADO
- add garlic, cilantro and lime juice for a little baby guacamole
- BANANA
- I absolutely love that you can leave the banana in its peel and scrape it out with a spoon for a mess-free snack
- SWEET POTATO
- baked in the oven and add any herbs and some olive oil for extra good fat
- BUTTERNUT SQUASH
- Charlotte’s favorite way to eat this is as the butternut squash soup
- BEETS (a daring but delicious choice!)
- roasted with olive oil, delicious
- PEARS
- steam for about 5 minutes until soft
- PEACHES (her absolute favorite in the whole world!)
- steam for about 5 minutes until soft
- APPLES
- make homemade applesauce, adding cinnamon makes them sweet without sugar
- CARROTS
- roasted with a little pepper and olive oil
- CAULIFLOWER
- we love roasted cauliflower and garlic, surprise, surprise so does Charlotte! Adding some thyme and cooked chicken makes for a perfect little meal.
- ZUCCHINI
- sautéed with olive oil and shallots
In the beginning I added water while processing to create the desired consistency appropriate for her. As she grew older we would mash things a little less, process a little less in the food processor so she would have a few chunks. Use your own discretion. Taste the food! If you like it so will your baby. And have fun!