The Post After the Advice Post

I'm so clever and creative these days. Hah. I blame it on using all my brain power to figure out ways to get Benjamin to eat. Also, reading Dr. Seuss books. Not that they're difficult, but using the brainpower to help me try and forget what I read on repeat so when the kiddo is sleeping, I won't be telling myself there is a zamp in the lamp, or a woset in the closet. But you know... sometimes I am quite certain there's a gertain in the curtain {from There's a Wocket in My Pocket for those unfamiliar}.

I'm sure the rest of you have your the kiddo's favorite books memorized, too. My mother-in-law and mom tell me that you never do forget those words...

... but this post... a big Thank you! Also, because a lot of you were here empathizing and gleaning advice yourselves, I wanted to have a list of things you might also have interest in trying from the comments you may have missed.

I haven't had that many comments in a long, long time. I definitely appreciated every last comment and only maybe considered deleting one of them. But didn't! ;) Can I write out some of my favorites and things we're definitely going to be trying here? Since you all took so much effort and time to help a sister out, it's time I provide a proper shout-out. Not a conclusive list, but definitely most of the ideas:

• Letting him eat at his own pace: I admit that I sometimes want him to eat that 1/2 PBJ a lot faster to take advantage of non-naptime hours, so this was a great reminder.
• Eating with other kids: Yes, yes, yes! Now... where can I find these kids? Just kidding. ;)
• Dishing out only a little at a time: This throwing food thing often happens when too much is in front of him-- true. I hate wasting food, so it frustrates me. We often do this, but sometimes we don't and I need to keep this at the forefront.
• Remembering that this is possibly just a phase: My friend Alison (a seasoned mama) is always telling me that we can handle things for a week or two. Just roll with things. And by the time you get used to it, things will change again! Oh, parenthood!
• Load up on his biggest meal: Unfortunately we haven't had one of those in awhile, but it used to be breakfast.
• Whole milk is loaded with good fat, so drinking his calories is okay: True. So true. Also, full-fat Greek yogurt (which I didn't even know existed until my mom bought it for us!) is loaded with calories from fat! Thank you Trader Joe's for that! And to think I was considering 2% milk. What was I even thinking. I'm close to giving him lard on a spoon here, people! 
• Grazing is okay: Many adults (including myself) are grazers. Eating throughout the day and still sitting down for a small meal is okay...something I really need to consider if he's reaching for the food between mealtimes. Calories in, however I can get them!
• Allow foods he wants: I struggle with this because I'd love for him to eat what we're having for dinner, but I was totally the kid who literally made my own dinner. As long as we all sat down to eat together, that was what mattered. Will think on this one...
• Presentation matters to a toddler: No kidding! Not that I didn't think of it, but I did realize he sometimes will eat melted cheese but won't touch cold cheese. Or my PBJ on a stick trick? So much cooler than a regular sandwich. My mom recommended cool shapes. Seriously, something to think about. But do you think he'll tell me how he wants things? Hah. I wish.
• Use yogurt as a staple to mask other foods: He still isn't great about feeding himself yogurt from a spoon as he's often more intrigued by the device and tends to spin it around and let it fall off, but I do think we'll have to do more yogurts!
• Don't force the meat --kids don't always like it: True! We try meat, but since I'm vegetarian, I don't stress about it. Protein comes in many forms and as long as he's getting protein, that's my main concern. Lord knows he'll get his fill of red meat as he gets older and we all know it's not entirely healthy to eat much of that anyway!
• Let him near me during preparation: I'm working on this. And hey! If he eats a bite or two while prepping (though my husband would lose a hand if he tried!), hooray! 
• When the food throwing starts, remove the food: Yeah, sometimes we're a little late on this one, but it is a lesson that needs to be learned. We try to repeat, "If you don't want it, that's okay. Leave it on the table, but it is not okay to throw food."
• Don't take things personally: Thanks. I seriously needed to hear this. It can be so frustrating a quite upsetting to me as a mom when I try my hardest to find things and prepare them so he'll like them... and he hates it. :/
• Food textures can bother some kids: Kate, a parent or not, you have great advice! I assure you, I'd never condemn anyone for excellent advice as long as they experienced it firsthand. Especially people like me who have lost a child and longed to have that parenting experience because no one ever wanted to take advice from us... but that texture bit is so right on. B likes pasta (well, used to LOVE it, now tolerates it) but hates spaghetti! I really agree that texture matters. It's figuring out that the texture is the issue that can be challenging for me.
• Start with something he wants for mealtime and then move on to other things: I seriously had never thought of this, but I do know that when I put fruit down and say... pasta... he'll eat every bit of fruit and then still just maybe touch the pasta after all the fruit is out of sight. I want to witness this in action!
• Smoothies are causing the issue: Maybe? But what choice do I have when I really, really won't let him go without calories?
• Don't stress about it-- he will eat if he's hungry: Yeah, maybe not my favorite advice as I touched on the fact that he is a small kiddo and I get the stink-eye if he loses weight. These small kids don't exactly give you the choice! I think only those with small fry kiddos (and maybe those who lost a kid and are already ultra-sensitive about how others perceive their parenting?) would understand?
• Diapers are good indicators of consumption: Oftentimes, I can't quantify how much B actually ate because he eats it so. stinking. slow. But yeah, I guess sometimes he is eating more than I thought. Even if the 5 bites are not what I would deem an acceptable meal, I also need to keep in mind that he is getting nutrients and possibly at different times. I did start measuring things out so I can gauge though! I gave him 1/3 cup cereal yesterday & today. 
• Some days he may eat more than others. That's okay: I do have a hard time with understanding this! Why? Because I can eat the same just about everyday. But kids... of course not. Why would it be that easy! 
• Don't make it a power struggle: You are so right. If he sees our frustration, he'll feed off of it. I should have remembered this from my own childhood (and adolescence, right Mom?). I need to keep this in the forefront of our minds during mealtime and watch our own behaviors.
• Cut the performances: What, no more Mamma Mia! at mealtimes? Can't say I'm sad or disagree. It shouldn't really be showtime, you're right. Should not be conditional... only out of fun.
• Talk to him. And not just telling him to eat a bite: Ah, that's wise. Yes. I will do this!
• Try a smoothie before the meal, not after: I love this advice, maybe the most of all! I know he needs nutrients and I can almost predict he won't eat much. But perhaps it will be less stressful on us all... and make it less of an expectation/prediction on his part. 
• Don't coax him into taking each and every bite.: After reading that account of your (Emily) friend, I want nothing to do with that kind of parenting! It made me cringe and fear that it's who we are becoming. Honestly, I have dreaded mealtime for the past month because of B not eating so well. But I do refuse to continue this on for months or years! If he is a picky eater, that's one thing. However, we cannot allow mealtime to be a stressful time for everyone. I love food too much for that to be the case. Thanks so much for sharing this.
• Allow him to feed us and himself to make things fun: B does enjoy this, though the majority still ends up in our mouths. Sigh.
• Read the book French Kids Eat Everything: On the library list!
• Make the foods cold, especially if you've got a teether: This is something I'd thought of, but didn't think that I could make things other than fruits cold... just never occurred to me that he might eat more PBJ if it's chilled a bit first. Yes, we love frozen grapes... one of the few things he'll eat willingly... the one time I want grapes to be fattening! Hah!
• It's okay to supplement with smoothies: Adults love them (we do and eat them often!). Of course we hope not all of the foods are consumed this way, but to get those extra fruits and veggies otherwise shunned? Sure thing!
• Try Stonyfield YoBaby Drinkable Yogurt--packs lots of fat calories in a small container: Funny thing... we tried them early on with B and didn't buy them again for some reason. I think it's because they're hard to find. Target here does carry them (score for sure!) and I will be buying some. Also, I'm all over that full-fat Greek yogurt.
• Remember that these babies be crazy, yo!: So maybe I added that one. But really, who has them figured out, anyway?

These were just some of the many (!) ideas you guys had. Seriously, thank you. Some of the advice conflicts with other pieces of advice, but these were just listed to pick out some of the gems we'll try (together or independently). Now I'm off to help the husband on one of our many house projects while the kiddo naps. Did I mention we're working on going down to one nap soon here? I'm not sure I'm ready, you guys!

Review: Freshfoods Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker

I talked about my woes recently with my perfect eater turning the tables on us. Our 13-month old is disinterested in eating table food and is quite fine drinking his dinner every night. I know that as long as he's getting the nutrients, I shouldn't bother with how they are being consumed, so we've resorted to a more pureed and liquid diet for the last week. I even bought some reusable squeeze packs so I can puree up my own foods for him to eat.

Problem is, I had no purees left in the freezer. I guess it was perfect timing, because I was given the opportunity to test out a fun baby food maker that works for kids right in Benjamin's age range. The Freshfoods Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker suits kids from 6m-36m+ and can even be used by the whole family using the smoothie blade, for homemade applesauce, or even to make fruit fillers for popsicles. I think this will come in handy if we ever have another kiddo in our home, as I doubt I'll have nearly the amount of time I have with Benjamin to devote to making healthy foods. This machine will make that possible.

I was excited that I could both steam and blend all in the same device, which is something my regular blender doesn't have the capacity to do, and I end up using a lot of dishes. I'll list up the pros and cons of using this cute little baby food makin' machine after some pictures. I've used it twice now; once for making steamed carrots and the other for steaming/pureeing up some fruits and veggies for his reusable squeeze pouches (aka, the only thing my picky eater will ingest right now besides crackers).

The carrots were steamed up perfectly. Not too mushy where they fall apart, but perfect for little fingers. It takes 17 minutes to steam and the Freshfoods maker turns off with two beeps when finished. No overboiling on the stovetop with a busy toddler rummaging through the house.

For the puree, I cut up one regular sweet potato and one small apple. I placed them in the steamer basket, added the 7 oz. of water for steaming, and pressed the on button. 17 minutes later, I opened the container and poured it all into the nutrient-rich water and pureed until smooth.

While I could've stopped there, I also wanted to add some avocado to the mix. I threw it into the orange mixture and pureed until it was incorporated and smooth. Then I filled up four 6-oz. reusable squeeze packs for the kiddo. He happily consumed one for lunch yesterday.

Pros:
- Both steams and purees in the same container... saves dishes...which saves time...and water!
- Quick and easy to fill
- Self-timer for steaming is so helpful for a busy mom
- Saves money
- Cooks, blends, reheats, and defrosts
- Don't lose out on the nutrient-rich water by incorporating that into your puree.
- Comes with two steamer baskets to separate foods
- Attractive and compact design that won't take up much space in the kitchen.
- Combinations of foods are endless
- Comes with smoothie blade, spatula, and recipe book.

Cons:
- No measurements on the processor container itself, making it hard to judge how much food is being made.
- Water must be measured in a separate device before pouring it in. The fill line makes it hard to judge.
- Small capacity allowed barely 1 regular sweet potato and one small apple for steaming.
- To puree, you must hold down the lever. It would be nice to have a timer or easy-push button for that.
- No easy-pour spout. I had to use a spoon to scoop out the puree. They wouldn't pour easily from the sides.

Overall, I really liked the machine and I'll continue using it to fill those reusable pouches. I've even considered making applesauce in there for my husband's lunches as well, and I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can test out making popsicles with fresh berries.

There are a series of accessories to complement the baby food maker as well:
Freshfoods Mash & Serve Bowl: Home or on-the-go mashing of already steamed veggies/fruits
Freshfoods Food Mill: Simple mill that grinds up hard-to-digest skins on veggies/fruits
Freshfoods Freezer Tray: 9-portion silicone covered tray for easy and quick storage
Freshfoods Stackable Cubes: Easy to use little cubes to hold baby food
Freshfoods Fill & Freeze Pops: For your homemade popsicles!

For more information about the NUK/Freshfoods brand, see their website or facebook page. They also have a $20 off coupon for the Freshfoods Cook-n-Blend Baby Food Maker, and a coupon for $1 off any accessory I mentioned above by clicking here. I'd love to have those freezer pops myself!

I was given this opportunity as part of {Green} Moms Meet. Moms Meet is an online resource for moms that encourages healthy and green parenting/living. As an added bonus, I sometimes get to share healthy, green products with friends at playdates and report back on our likes/dislikes.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms Meet program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms Meet blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinions on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product.

Little Foodie

One of my friends recently emailed asking about what I've been feeding B lately. It seems to change like the wind as he seems to be growing like a weed. He managed to start crawling (no army, folks), clapping, pulling up, and talking massive amounts all in the course of 10 days.

The answer to the food question is, whatever is healthy that I can get down his throat. He feeds himself lately and his pincer grasp is pretty stellar, so that's helpful. However, now that he feeds himself, he's less inclined to allow us to feed him which means less is making it down the hatch. I have definitely been found on any given weekday feeding B as he's crawling across the floor or pulling himself up somewhere. Calories in are most important for me sometimes. Yes, I know kids won't starve and they'll let you know when they're hungry, but sometimes I want him to have some kind of a schedule to eat at a specific time. I may also be a little sensitive about having a small fry still. He's up at the 25th percentile now according to those stupid CDC charts, but it doesn't mean my mom ego hasn't been bruised plenty.

{Spoon}

If we want B to eat something off a spoon that we feed him, he needs some distractions. We often give him his own spoon while we attempt to use our spoon to feed the calories. He also loves chewing on straws and those allow us to shove more food in his mouth because they take up less real estate. I also alternate finger foods for him and a spoonful of what we're feeding him next. For example, we'd give him a sweet potato piece and then shovel in some pea soup between bites. We're faster than him, still, but it's all about trickery in our house. It's a messy process of feeding, but sometimes we just have to get the job done.

Here are some of the things we spoon fed him recently: split pea soup, peas, beans, rice, meat bites (small!), lentils, lentil soup, quinoa (usually mixed with a binding agent like pureed carrots), scrambled eggs, avocado, oatmeal, hummus...

He eats basically everything we eat, so these lists are in no way comprehensive, but more because I'm speaking on lately and what I have from memory to work with.

{Finger Food Meals + what to do with leftover purees?}

He's done with purees. But, funny thing. We have plenty I'm still working through from our freezer, but I've found some creative ways to use them in solid foods he can feed himself.

• I make pancakes a lot for breakfast because they're easy for him to feed himself and I can also eat some! I can also hide a lot of pureed goodness in them that he wouldn't normally allow me to feed him with a spoon easily. Some recent concoctions:

Avocado pancakes: (about 1 cup pancake mix prepared + 1/2 avocado)
Sweet potato, spinach & cinnamon pancakes: (2 cup prepared pancake mix + 5 cubes sweet potato + 2 very small cubes spinach + cinnamon)

Batch of sweet potato/spinach cakes this morning - lighting is poor-- working off the flourescent hood lighting. Eek!

I often make a batch and have breakfast ready for a couple days. I even feed them for a quick lunch sometimes. He can feed himself and it's not super messy. I made a batch of 10 sweet potato/spinach pancakes this morning and froze them. Now I can pull one out each morning for his breakfast.

• I also use the purees in his oatmeal. He loves oatmeal with mix-ins and also really loves oatmeal with banana and cinnamon. I mean, who doesn't?
• I even took a spinach cube from the freezer last night and stuck it in our spaghetti sauce. We all benefited from that little trickery and I didn't even have to taste it! {Spinach is one of those things I eat because I know it's good for me-- yay leafy greens-- but not because I find it particularly delicious.} This sneaky mom move might continue on well into adolescence as I have a sneaking suspicion that spinach or vegetables in general won't be on the top 10 list of things teenagers like to eat.
• I make quesadillas often with squash & spinach purees, but I'm having a hard time cutting them where the contents don't completely escape. I use a pizza cutter and that works well, but it's not perfect. Some quesadilla contents: a small amount of cheese as a binder, hummus, smashed peas, beans, shredded chicken, spinach... basically whatever I can get in there!
• Smoothies - he likes these, but doesn't drink them super fast, so I usually only entertain the idea when I'm making one for myself. All the fruit purees work well. I suppose spinach would... but I detest the idea of ruining my perfectly delicious smoothie by adding that beast in there.

{Finger Food Snacks in between meals}

As a snack, B usually gets a number of things to feed himself: sweet potato baked fries, Cheerios, puffs, and these things that we've recently started buying from our produce aisle. He's had graham crackers and obviously loves those, too. To feed him hummus, I sometimes stick it on the end of a carrot and he shoves it in his mouth. He won't eat the carrot, but the hummus is eaten! Trickster, I know.

{Hardware}

Finally, the hardware. We use some Ikea dishes, nothing exciting there. But the utensils and his sippy cup?

Utensil set: Boon Adaptable Utensils (will be able to feed himself with soon!)

Spoon: mOmma spoon (sits up on its own and fun to chew on)

Sippy cup favorite: Playtex First Gripper Trainer (still loving this one!)

{Help: Question for YOU}

Now I have a question for all of you. We're planning to transition B to milk around a year and we'd like to know what you're giving your kiddos. Our pediatrician recommended we give B whatever we drink (none). She said whole milk is out and skim, 1% or 2% is in. I'd want it to have some fat content, but I don't think whole milk is necessary for him. Also, I'd love to have the milk to use in recipes, and I cannot bring myself to use whole milk. What about the rest of you? What have you been using or plan to use?

I'm also genuinely nervous about how we're going to handle milk in the sippy cup. What happens when I'm done breastfeeding and he wants milk at 5 a.m.? How does that work? #nervous

Adventures in Baby Food Making, Take Two

I have a couple posts coming at you this week. I missed Insta-Friday and I'm not sure I'll keep doing that. Unless you guys enjoy it? I just feel so redundant. But the reason I missed it? We were in Boston! Another travel post to come on that in the next couple days. And that would be the reason I run ads on my blog. Because, y'all. We like to travel and travel isn't cheap! Hah.

But for now, I'll discuss baby food. Because I currently live in the land of messy baby is eating real food and pooping something cray-cray. And it's my excuse to cram another food post on this here blog.

Here are the photos I have going on of the little person's food supply:

spinach

cubed up

cherries!

cubed up

sweet potato

I've been really slacking on the photo-taking of the food making, but so far I've blended up the following items for freezer storage in ice cube amounts: carrots, yellow squash, cherries, blueberries, oatmeal, pears, sweet potatoes, bananas, spinach, apples. There are so many other items B will be exposed to, but I just haven't bought those up yet. I've also cheated and purchased the Ella's Organic, HappyBaby, Plum Organics & Gerber Organics squeeze pouches for travel and occasional convenience. They are pretty tasty as we've been known to finish them off when he's had his fill. Hah. He's also eaten some of those HappyBaby banana puffs that, for the record, don't taste anything like banana. We know. We both tried them out. And since I might hear the riot act from someone about the size in his wee baby throat... we literally break them up into about 6 pieces to serve him. And watch him like a hawk when eating. It's pretty much the only way to get through a 2.5 hour flight with this kid without breaking out every shiny object in the world to entertain.

So a few topics of conversation about baby food making in general. I still use my blender and love it to pieces. I've also used a hand baby food maker (like the magic bullet) for smaller amounts like cherries that is currently on lend to a friend for her son's food making. He was actually born 18 hours before B, but is obviously much older gestationally. And... they will be in the same grade at the same elementary school. Crazy.

Back to food talk. I happened to buy too many cherries we couldn't possibly consume fast enough and decided to blend them up. I only had about 20 cherries, however, and that amount is simply too few to place in the Blendtec. You need a smaller processor for that if not mixing with a more substantial amount. So for the cherries, I used the hand bullet blender thing. I don't know the brand. It came in a baby food maker pack, but it doesn't appear to be printed anywhere and it was here way before Andrew, so my mind shut all of that information out. No brand plugging there, sorry.

The oatmeal cooking and freezing turned out to be completely unnecessary. From my last post, I could've just saved the oat flour (which I did some), add water, and microwaved for literally seconds to achieve cooked oatmeal at that fine of a consistency. So no need to boil a huge batch of it again unless I want to eat it myself. I plan to make more oat powder soon because I want to eat some and because B likes it.

On the oatmeal talk. I did break down and buy B some fortified organic oatmeal at the grocery store because his new Ped was explaining the importance of vitamins. He is already receiving Poly-Vi-Sol with Iron a couple times a week and I am still breastfeeding regularly, eating well, and taking prenatals... so I'm not convinced he needs the fortified oatmeal, but it's really not much harm. It's still better than the rice cereal to me. I feed him some of our steel cut oatmeal and some fortified on a mixed basis. No real order for that.

Bananas aren't necessary to blend and freeze. I usually just take a too-ripe banana and cut them in thirds and freeze them for smoothies for myself. Now I serve B bananas that aren't frozen or if we're out, I take a third out of the freezer in my smoothie stash to feed him by adding to his oatmeal usually. And a bonus to serving warm oatmeal and a frozen banana is that I just plop the frozen piece of banana into the just heated (hot!) oatmeal and it cools it down instantly and the banana is smashable in mere seconds. A certain baby isn't so patient, so seconds are way better than sticking hot oatmeal in the freezer to cool off.

I've been adding cinnamon to almost everything he eats (if it's a fruit/oatmeal blend. I even added to carrots last night!). I'll be working on exposing him to spices. Not spicy, but spice blends so he hopefully develops a more sophisticated flavor palate early on. I happen to love a plethora of spices and cook often with them. It would be oh-so-lovely if B liked my cooking.

As for his feeding schedule... it's changed a bit. I imagine I'll be changing it frequently until he's on solids for each meal. Currently he's being breastfed about every 3-5 hours, depending on his needs. He usually gives me cues when he wants to be fed (whines incessantly, pulls himself toward my chest, starts sucking on his/my/Ray's arm or something). He has only breastmilk until about lunchtime when he is fed some small finger foods usually in his high chair. We're hoping to incorporate some of the baby led weaning techniques and get him used to texture. He has two teeth now, so we're thrilled that he'll be on the train to chomping down or gumming soft foods in small amounts. Lunch foods might include chunks of banana, small bits of pasta, quinoa, steamed veggies, some of whatever I'm having, etc. Dinner for B has been served at the beginning of his bedtime routine (dinner, bath, nurse, bed). It's usually oatmeal + 1 cube of something. It varies, but he obviously loves the sweeter items like oatmeal-banana and especially loves oatmeal-apple with cinnamon.

Our hope is to get him eating at the dinner table with us soon enough. I can't wait for family mealtime where we're all eating. Come on pincer grasp! I've already started blending things a bit chunkier because I know he has a strong ability to gum foods now.

We haven't tried spinach yet. I'm scared. Though I'm not sure why, considering he has liked everything we've served him (including pickles!) to date, except a really sour batch of blueberries which I will now be adding to my own smoothies instead. The joys of serving your kids "baby" food you'll also eat!

Speaking of the spinach... I actually made it (5 cups loose spinach + 1/4 water = 1 ice cube tray) only because we always seem to have an excess around our house and I didn't want it to go bad before consumption. So... I blended, cubed, and froze.

We're having a lot of fun with the feeding stage, but notsomuch fun enjoying the diapers that come along with it or the dirty clothes! It's nearly impossible to get the simplest of food stains (banana? who knew?) out of light clothing. I feel like I need to advocate for a no white clothes on babies act soon or something. Because heavens, people. Mom be doing way too much laundry. Do not fear... I realize my grammar was poor there.

No joke about those diapers, though. While fewer blowouts because of the sheer (somehow that seems like a poor choice of words here) thickness of them and less propulsion abilities, they are indeed something special. So much that we had to literally exit a T train in Boston to change his diaper and hop back on a few trains later to reach our destination. It was that stinky.

He doesn't seem too embarrassed about it, though.

Adventures in Baby Food Making, Blendtec Style

I've confessed my obsession and love for our blender, and here's more love.

We're reaching the time period where I'll be starting B on some solids soon and I wanted to test out the blender on its amazing abilities. We own the Blendtec Home and love it. I've now made smoothies, soups, bread, sauces, and now baby food. I think I'll attempt almond butter next. Just because it sounds good. And you know what? The blender won't break. Because it's made of steel. Literally. The parts that are normally plastic at the bottom that connects to the base unit are steel. Solid steel. We had a $200 Breville before and it was no different than the $20 blenders you can buy at Target. Plastic parts. I digress.

I wanted to try my hand at making some oat flour which would then turn into the consistency of rice cereal, but a whole lot healthier and not at all processed. Plus, I love steel cut oats and had a whole tin of this delicious stuff to grind up. Well after B is over the pureed phase, I may just create my own pureed cereal for the winter for us all to eat. Because, nom nom. So yummy.

Started with this. Oats + well seasoned blender I heart, heart, heart.

 Fat, fiber, protein, calcium, iron. Yeah, I'm aware this might stop up some pipes... but luckily we've had no issue with food up until this point, so that's at least on our side. That, and the 3-4 dirt-ay diapers a day.

 100% grain oats. Yes please.

Delish, but far too large for the B-meister. Also, the original instructions call for it taking lots of time to soak, then cook. Scratch that. This mama doesn't have time for that.

So glad I picked this up at the store in the winter. I usually buy Trader Joe's, but I'm definitely a fan of this can of goodness.

 Insert blender + 1 cup oats.

 Turn on and grind until a fine powder.

 Doing its job like no big thang.

 Vroom, Vroom. A little peek of the action.

 Just about doneski. Took about a minute.

Pull out your small saucepan, add 1/2 cup of that oat flour (it makes approx. 1 1/2 cups) & 2 cups of water. Boil, and stir with a whisk until desired consistency is reached. Less than 5 minutes.

Bust out those unused ice cube trays and a spoon. That 1/2 cup of oat flour + water will make exactly one ice cub tray with 18 spaces. Doing the math... that one cup of oats makes three full ice cub trays.

 Yes, I know... so easy.

Take the rest of that oat flour and save it for later (or make and freeze it all... get down with your bad self!). This is packaged for travel since we have places to go and people to see coming up soon here.

Pop the oatmeal cubes out once frozen and Ziploc them up for later. Readily available 1 oz. (ish) cubes for a quick meal. Oats + banana. Oats + apple. Oats + {insert fruit or veggie}. Or just plain oats. If they don't pop out of the ice cube tray easily, just fill your sink with a bit of water to cover the bottom and they'll loosen up in no time. Just be conscious, otherwise it will thaw them out completely!

Ziploced and labeled and ready for a special little nugget to chow down!

Don't have a baby, make it for you! It's seriously the best darn cream-of-wheat oats you've ever had. And, it is ready way faster than the traditional cooking method. YES.

*I'm sure breastmilk or formula can be substituted or even added in once thawed out to warm it up, but since B is still being EBF, I will be feeding him breastmilk anyway in addition to any solids we introduce. There are no rules-- just trying to keep it healthy and nutritious for the little mister. And if you really want to start on rice cereal, you can grind your own brown rice in the blender and serve that up for rice cereal credit. 

Anyone else making baby food out there? What did you start your kids on and what was your favorite recipe to make?