Carnivorous?

We are officially in the new house now (although not all of our stuff is). Unfortunately our new house appliances are pretty much unusable and the replacements still won’t be in for another week or so. That being said, my poor son has eaten pretty much the same thing every day for about two weeks. The variety has been seriously lacking.

We did try to introduce a little bit of garlic powder mixed with carrots and white potatoes, but that did not go over so well. I wasn’t home for this particular incident, but I heard that it was awful. Later I used some cinnamon in winter squash to try to entice the little guy to finish his dinner and the results weren’t nearly as horrible as the garlic powder. The cinnamon did make him curious to take about two more bites, but he still didn’t finish his dinner. He did seem to like the cinnamon, but was just so over eating.

Now that my appliances are getting nearer, I am starting to look at more combinations and other foods to introduce (to make up for the recent lackluster meals). As I looked into recipes and stared at the jarred food for ideas, I kept coming across meat. I have no intention to make my children vegetarian. If this is something that he decides on his own at an older age I will totally support his decision and try to accommodate his dietary needs. But as of right now, his father and I are both carnivores and I would like to add meat into his diet.

And this may be a good spot to add that I am terrified of this venture. I was very unsure about making my own baby food and honestly thought that it would be a failure and we would be using jarred food* by now. Obviously, I am still making all of his meals and that never happened, so I hope that preparing meat has the same outcome.

As I mentioned, I have been using Super Baby Food as my go-to guide and handbook. When I consulted it to find some yummy meat recipes I could find none. I don’t know if I am looking in the wrong place in the index or it’s just not there (which after searching every term for meat that I could possibly think of, this is my conclusion), but regardless, nothing. So, I had to turn to the internet for inspiration.

I have been eying quite a few recipes that not only look pretty good to me, but also look like something that he will eat (usually contains at least one or two ingredients that are already in regular rotation). Here are my favorites (so far):

Simmering Sweet Apples and Chicken

1 chicken breast - uncooked and diced
1 or 2 medium sized apples (try Macintosh), peeled, cord and diced
½ cup peeled and diced sweet potato
2 cup water or chicken stock or vegetable stock

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized pot.
Bring to a slow boil and then turn the heat down.
Simmer until the meat pieces are cooked; approximately 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the liquid level when simmering.
When meat is fully cooked and the apples are mushy, remove contents to a bowl and allow to cool. Puree, mash or chop for your baby.

Variations:

Add ¼ cup uncooked brown rice before cooking
Add ¼ uncooked couscous or quinoa before cooking

I am definitely going to try one of these variations when I make it – most likely I will add quinoa or orzo

Baby Beef Stew

½ cup cubed cooked beef
1 peeled potato
¼ cup shelled fresh or frozen peas
1 peeled carrot
1 stalk of celery
¼ cup uncooked pasta (try ditalini (small tube shaped noodles) as it's small and makes for great finger food)4 cups of water

Wash vegetables thoroughly and chop very fine.Simmer the veggies for 20 minutes or until softenedAdd the pasta and cook for 10 minutes longer or until very soft. Drain but save the water.Mash or puree the mix until it is of a consistency adequate for your baby (if needed, use the reserved water to reach desired consistency).

Brown Rice Chicken and Peach Delight

½ cup cooked boneless chicken - chopped
¼ cup cooked brown rice
1 ripe peach
1 T peach juice (white grape or apple juice may be used or juice may be left out)
1 T milk and
2 t wheat germ

Mix all ingredients together, transfer to blender/food processor and puree or chop to make textured for older babies.

Due to my little guy’s lactose sensitivity, I am going to omit the milk.

Although I have all intentions of feeding my children meat, I would also like to introduce tofu and other meat alternatives. I don’t use tofu currently, but would also like to incorporate it into the adult diets, too. Since I am not familiar with it, I needed to do some research in storage, preparation, etc. My research usually begins with baby food and this is what I found:

- When you have opened the package of tofu, drain the water and blot the tofu dry with a paper towel. You can then slice it according to what you are going to use it for. If blending or mashing it, it is a good idea to slice it into small cubes.

- Tofu may be stored in the fridge for up to 7 days. You must store it in a container of water that is airtight. The water should be changed daily or every 2 days at the least.

 - Tofu does freeze but it will turn spongier in texture and often changes to a darkish caramel color. Should you choose to freeze it, simply put it in a freezer bag and toss in the freezer or, put the whole container that it came in into the freezer. Thaw it on the counter - do not microwave to thaw.

Here are some tofu combinations that make yummy meals.

Blend tofu with:

Applesauce and squash
Avocado and pears
Blueberries and bananas
Sweet potato and carrots
Broccoli and parsnips

I have a lot of these ingredients in my kitchen already, so I hope to make up some tofu and meat dishes either later this week or beginning next week. I will let you know how he likes it!

*Just a note about jarred food – I did have to use it during a recent trip to visit relatives. I purchased sweet potatoes and pears (of course organic) which are always winners. The pears were fine and he ate those, but he refused to eat the sweet potatoes. It made his mommy feel pretty good about the homemade food.