Baby Food Day

My new project is making baby food. I can't stop. Our freezer is getting full of all these baby food cubes and I just keep making more and more. I love the freedom it gives me. We were almost out of baby food one day and my granny gave me a butternut squash, which I don't particularly like or know what to do with, so I found an easy recipe for baby food and it was over. Now I don't have to buy baby food (for fifty cents a pop) and I get to see exactly what is in the food I am feeding my infant. I feel like when we are growing all our own food that I will be able to provide for any baby that we may have or that may come visit. Just one more step on the way to being more self-sufficient. And it's really, really fun. Toby LOVES baby food making day. I usually make a few different kinds of food and all he does all day is try everything out. Yesterday and today I made peaches, plums, vanilla cinnamon peach oatmeal, and apple plum rice cereal. I already had apple blueberry oatmeal, butternut squash, and carrots in the freezer. Toby will not eat the carrots or squash unless applesauce or something sweet is mixed in. Come to think of it he will not eat anything that isn't sweet at all. He won't eat plain yogurt, green beans, or anything else unless it also has a fruit or some kind of sweet in it, unless sweet peas count. I'll keep working on that. Maybe he'll develop a savory tooth later. Speaking of teeth.. Toby just cut his third one and I am still nursing! The thought of breastfeeding after teeth was scary for me, because Lydia didn't cut hers until 8 or 9 months and by then she was weaning. (Poor Isaiah only nursed for 3 months, but, alas, I have made peace with that.)

SO, back to baby food. So easy to make and so very fun. Cut your fruit/vegetable in half put it face down in a baking dish and put in an inch or two of water. Bake at 400 degrees until the skin puckers and then peel and process or blend, adding water, juice, baking liquid, or breast milk or formula until you get the consistency your baby likes. Freeze it in ice cube trays and thaw as you need it. Also, there is a really easy recipe for apple oatmeal that Toby loves that I found on someone else's blog..somewhere..You just put your apples or other fruit of your choosing (about 4-5) all peeled and cut up in a pan with 1/2 cup of oatmeal and cover with water, cooking until tender. You can add vanilla and cinnamon or other spices, whatever your baby likes or is ready for, and then you just let it cool a bit and blend it up. I had to blend this one longer to get the oatmeal small enough for Toby, but I think it is the easiest recipe and Toby's favorite by far. Next I am going to do frozen peas, but not until some of what I have already made is gone! Wholesomebabyfood.com is a great website for any questions.

It's a quiet night at the Arnold homestead, and that's a good thing. A beautiful harvest moon tucks us in in Kentucky. What is a harvest moon anyway? That's what my mom called it and it sounded as pretty as it looked. Good night moon.