Baby Food Diary 11.

I am so behind with posting this blog already. Ugh.
I've been introducing lots of good foods to my baby, but I had not had a chance to update this blog.  But I am surprised that this is the 11th posting and it's still lasting.  Yay!

So after kabocha (squash), it's zucchini, which is also called squash.  I simply picked zucchini this time because I went to the farmer's market near me, and the zucchini there looked so delicious.  The sign also said "Pesticide Free" so I bough a whole bunch, and I made dinner for my baby, and the rest for our dinner.  Great, that's our life now.  We parents get to have some left over from our baby's dinner.

I found out zucchini(summer squash) is less nutritious than the winter squash, but that's okay.  I just wanted to get going with introducing new foods to my baby, and zucchini doesn't have acquired taste so I figured my baby would eat it with no problem.  If you must know, it is a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium, etc...

 How I prepped the zucchini was so simple.  I sliced them like the picture, maybe a quarter inch thick, and boiled them until soft.  That's it.  I didn't even peel the skin.  At this stage, I no longer try to puree the food too much.  Now that my baby has two teeth, he has to get used to chewing food.  It's not like zucchini's skin is touch anyway.  I added a little bit of olive oil though, just because I like cooking with olive oil.  My baby has to get used to my cooking style, right?  

So after boiling them down, I mashed it with a spoon and mixed it with oatmeal and spinach.

My baby's reaction:

He said he really liked the hint of olive oil and zucchini goes well with oatmeal.  Well, of course he didn't say that, and he seemed indifferent with how the zucchini tasted.  But what's important is that now he can say "Hey, I have tried zucchini!"  Not that he can say that just yet...

Baby Food Diary 10.

This is kabocha, the most popular baby food in Japan and it is sold in any supermarket there.  But here in the U.S., it is very hard to find...well, that's what I thought, but I was wrong.  I found it in the supermarket near me, and it was also being sold at the farmers market the other day.  Although kabocha here in the U.S. look a little different from those in Japan, I bought it to see if it tastes any different, and I found out it tasted the same.

So what is kabocha?  Sometimes it's translated as "squash" and sometimes it's translated as "pumpkin."  It is sweet, and very nutritious.
It is rich in beta carotene just like carrots, also it is known for a good source of Vitamin C, iron, and potassium.

Preparation is very easy, too.  I cut in half, then took out all the seeds.  Then, cut into smaller pieces, and boiled them for about 30 min.  When cooking kabocha, it's very important not to cut into too a small piece (I cut into 8 pieces this time.) and not to add too much water as it gets too soggy.

After about 30 min, its tough green skin amazingly becomes so soft and easily falls off by itself.  Then, I mash kabocha with a spoon and that is all.

My baby's reaction:  He loved it.

The first couple of scoops, I gave him just kabocha to see his reaction, and then, I mixed it with oatmeal and spinach.  The reason I mixed it with oatmeal was that kabocha is very fluffy so I figured if I just gave kabocha, it would not hold in his stomach too long.  (These days, my baby's appetite has been skyrocketing.)  Also the reason I mixed with spinach was simply because there happened to be spinach available and it is such a healthy food.

So far I introduced 10 things to my baby.  Woo hoo!  The more foods I introduce to my baby, the more interesting making baby food is becoming.  And this is only the beginning!!  

Baby Food Diary 9.

I was on vacation for 3 weeks in Japan so I haven't been able to update the blog for a while....

A while ago, I gave my baby banana.  I love bananas.  Banana bread, banana smoothie...give it to me!  But for some reason, bananas often give me heartburn, and my husband has the same problem.  If both of us have the same problem, my baby would have the same problem right?  Well, because of this reason, while bananas are one of the most popular food being introduced to babies as the first solid food, they came into the 9th place in our household.

So why do bananas give us heartburn?  Some study says a banana that isn't fully ripened has a high acid content, a pH of around 5, which is a lot more than most vegetables.  An unripe banana has also has starches that haven't yet been converted to sugar and can be difficult to digest.  In contrast, many other studies say that eating bananas is beneficial for heartburn relief...whatever.

But I am aware there are good reasons for bananas being so popular as baby food.  They are packed with nutrients.  They contain lots of potassium, and fiber.  Vitamin B6, VitaminC, and VitaminB2 are also contained in bananas.

Besides the fact bananas are such healthy food, it is so easy to prepare.  You don't even have to cook.  All you have to do is just peel the skin, cut into small pieces, and mash it.  It's like perfect for busy parents.

One thing with bananas though--many baby food sources says they can cause constipation....

My baby's reaction:  He loved sweet creamy bananas.  But he did not poop for the rest of the day so I am thinking he did get constipated a little bit.  So what I did was mix mashed banana with applesauce and oatmeal, which are both rich in fiber.  And that definitely did the trick!