3/20/11 – Adventures in Baby Food - Broccoli

Of course, another busy Sunday around the house for us! The girls had us up nice and early today, BUT, for the first time in days Amelia only woke up once, so that was a nice gift. I was surprised they were up early though…it had rained all night, and was still raining, so it was nice and cloudy, so I thought for sure we’d get to sleep in. Apparently, they knew there was a lot to do today!

We had some breakfast, hung out and relaxed for a little while, watched some movies on TV amidst doing a little picking up around the house. It was finally time for me to tackle my main task for the day….baby food! Our freezer stash was just about depleted, so it was time to cook, cook, cook! I made apples, pears, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas, carrots and a NEW food, Broccoli. This task took me all day, on and off, and I still have lots of freezing to do, but it’s all made, so that’s good! Christian kept the girls busy and entertained most of the day, and got them down for their naps. We ate some random leftover our of the fridge, and I cleaned up the kitchen between batches. I also managed to get a couple loads of laundry done throughout the day…of course it’s not put away though!

Christian ended up taking the girls over to his parents’ house to hang out for a little while around dinnertime. I was nice to get a little peace and quiet and time to myself.

As I mentioned, today I tried out a new food…broccoli. Broccoli is very high in Vitamin C and is a great source of soluble fiber. This makes broccoli wonderful to add to baby food recipes. Soluble fiber is the fiber that helps loosen up the bowels as it changes its form as it passes through the digestive tract. An overabundance of soluble fiber in a diet may produce diarrhea. Insoluble fiber does not change its form or make up and simply helps to add bulk and too much of it may cause constipation.

Broccoli is not a good choice for one of Baby’s FIRST vegetables as it may cause gas and may be a bit hard for a young infant to digest. Broccoli is best given to an infant between 8-10 months old. We started it slightly early, because it’s one of the vegetables that we often eat, so it would be nice to have the finger food option for her soon, as she gets ready for that. If your baby has had any digestive issues, it would be best to introduce broccoli into the diet later rather than sooner. I purchased a bag of frozen broccoli, steamed it on the stove and pureed it for our batch. Super easy. Now, will she like it…that is the real test!

Cost Savings:- 1 Bag of Frozen Broccoli = $.89 – Makes Roughly 10 Jars- 10 Jars of Gerber Stage 2 Broccoli (Which I’ve Never Seen) Would Be = $5.95- Cost Savings of $5.06

Here are some pictures of the baby food making extravaganza!