Make Your Own Paleo Baby Food

The title of this post makes me sound crunchier than I am.  I never intended to be a "make your own baby food" type of gal.  It seemed like such a precious thing to do that uber-controlling parents did. But, my assumptions have been debunked.

I am now a baby-food-making convert.  The reason is simple.  It's easier.

I have two little mouths to feed.  I want to give them organic, natural foods.  Purchasing the quantity of organic baby food that I would need to feed two babies for a whole week would cost a fortune, and I'd have to go to multiple stores to find it.  What I do is way cheaper and way easier and creates far less waste.  It all started innocently enough.  I hemmed and hawed over what their first food should be for weeks, finally settling on avocados.  Mushy, full of healthy fats and nutrients, hermetically sealed in their own packaging, it seemed perfect.  I didn't have to steam or puree anything- just mush with the back of a spoon et voila!

So, we started with avocados.  Laziness meant that we stuck with avocados for three weeks before trying anything else.  In this time the babies went from sort of tolerating it, to tolerating it moderately, to enjoying it!  By this time both they, and I, were ready to try something else.  At that point I had decided a couple new foods to try.  First was egg yolks.  I simply boil a few eggs for three or four minutes and after the yolk has cooled a bit they slurp it up.  Not much chewing is involved so it is a relatively painless process and a great way to guarantee a lot of nutrition in short order.  The babies have really enjoyed yolks and I like to take the extra time to make it for them on my days off.

Next up was sweet potatoes.  I buy a big bag of organic sweet potatoes and steam about half of them. 35 minutes in the steamer and they are ready to be peeled.  My handy stick blender makes mush of them in no time.  Add a little formula or water to thin out the consistency and you are good to go.  I store mine in little snack containers that hold probably four ounces or so.  I don't make enough to need to freeze it- generally we have been running out every four days or so.  When that happens I go back to my trusty avocados if I don't have time to make something else until the weekend.

After they had mastered the consistency of the sweet potato I decided to let them try bananas.  This was their first fruit and naturally they quite like the sweeter taste!  Again, no steaming or pureeing necessary- just some mushing with a spoon and you're good to go.

But I wanted another veggie and something that I could be sure would be palatable.  I am sure there are plenty of moms out there pureeing kale and spinach for their babies but it is more important to me to make them food I know they are going to like and enjoy- and instill in them a healthy desire and appetite for real food, rather than force something down their throats.  So I decided on organic carrots. Do you know how much two pounds of organic carrots costs?  $1.89.  Do you know how much one pouch of organic carrots costs at Target?  $1.63.  You do the math.  All two pounds of it steamed in about 20 minutes, and only took a few minutes more to puree, and now I have six containers of carrots in the fridge, meals for the week!

The last food we have introduced thus far is organic applesauce.  I just got a big jar of it and have been adding it to different foods here and there.  I like how watery it is and its amazing ability to make practically anything palatable.  Applesauce was really the sole sweetener I used for Sara until she was two years old!  I added it to oatmeal, plain yogurt, even cottage cheese, rather than use sugar or another sweetener.  It's versatile, healthy, and cheap!  Can't complain about that!

We will probably work on carrots for a couple weeks and then add in something else.  The reality is that I will not be steaming and pureeing multiple vegetables at a time and doling them out into separate containers, or creating little custom combinations.  And frankly, I would rather move on to soft table foods sooner rather than later.  Poached chicken, soft scrambled eggs, some soft cauliflower, etc.  When there is one person feeding three people you tend to prefer not spoon feeding two of them, right?

Do you make your own baby food? Any suggestions for me?  I have to say, I approached this with complete and total nonchalance.  Not because I'm that cool, but because I devoted basically zero thought to it.  I was terrified what my grocery bill would be buying jarred baby food and frankly, did not have a high opinion of it from my experiences feeding sari.  Expensive, crappy tasting, and makes tons of garbage.  Um, no thanks?  So I started with avocado and assumed I'd figure out the rest later.  What started out as me just wanting to give them organic baby food turned into me becoming a weirdo crunchy baby food maker.  And you know what?  I think I'll stick with it.

Whole30 Week 3 Eats/Update

I am going to be totally 100% honest here.  How am I doing on the Whole30?  Good and bad, in equal parts.  Here is the good:

-I have finally broken free of my desire for sweetened coffee!  This is huge, probably the biggest thing for me.  I don't care to sweeten my daily cup o' joe anymore and I am truly ecstatic over this.  Some cinnamon and cream and I am good to go.
-I am totally dunzo with peanuts and beans, and don't miss them in the least.  They make me uncomfortable and give me crazy nausea.  Good riddance.
-I'm fine with drinking water, tea, or decaf coffee, whereas I used to crave  diet drinks.
-I do not miss treats, cookies, etc at all.
-I do not miss cheese at all, goodbye cheese.  (I do continue to use cream and butter though.)
-Starch is a big problem for me, intestinally.  Anytime I ingest any amount of starch I pay for it big time.  I have felt much better eliminating starches from my diet.

The Bad:
-8 weeks of absolutely nothing sweet at all has been rough.  It was fine the first 6 weeks or so, but now I am just dying for a little dried fruit.  That's all I want!  No cookies or treats, just some dried fruit as a snack.  I have had some here and there and then felt really guilty.  I have been able to stop myself, but a few times I have soooo wanted to go to town on something and just barely been able to walk away.
-I am tired of snacking on nuts and I overindulge and then feel gross.  It is annoying to only be able to snack on protein and nuts.  I keep lots of veggies in the house but they need some sort of preparation/thawing and that is not really what a snack is, essentially.  Snacks are my downfall!
-I have not done as good a job as I hoped I would.  Taking bites and tastes of things I shouldn't.  However, I have been 100% faithful to the no peanuts and no beans.
-My blood sugars have been a little wacko, I can't pinpoint why exactly.  I feel like things I used to ingest without issue are now giving me a lot of trouble.  I'll have to continue to monitor this.  I have not been using any sweeteners of any kind, so I know it's not that.  It could just be my diabetes progressing, who knows.
-My tummy has actually been kind of bothering me.  No discernible pattern to it, it could be anything, I could have a bug, not be drinking enough water, I don't know.  I'm not sure why, but I felt amazing during my sweetener detox, and then now that I am doing Whole30 I've had some problems.  It very well could be that I was super strict on my detox but once I got into Whole30 mode I relaxed a little, and that's whats bothering me.  I am going to try to be way more compliant and see if that helps.

All in all, I'm still pretty happy with where I am.  No sweetener in my coffee is great, and I think I've broken my treat-addiction, which is thrilling, for serious.  I'm not sure there is a way I'll be able to incorporate any amount of fruit back into my diet without some major blood sugar issues, but I'll try, once Whole30 is over.  I am also stoked to have successfully rid my diet of cheese, beans, and peanuts.  That is major improvement for me.

Annnnyyyways folks, lets talk Whole30 eats shall we?  This week is an interesting one!  I whipped up some cod with an onion curry sauce on Monday, and some crazy good spiced carrots.  These carrots will change what you think of carrots forever.  Make them ASAP!  Here is the recipe.   The cod was super simple.  Saute some onions until browned, sprinkle about 2 tsp of curry powder over, pour in two tbsp of broth, reduce, and pour over sauteed cod (which I also sprinkled liberally with curry powder).  Takes maybe 20 min. tops.

We are also going to have some Nom Nom Paleo inspired bacon-avocado sammies with a fried-egg topped salad, and tomorrow I am super pumped to make some slow cooker ribs with my own Paleo Barbecue Sauce recipe.  The sauce is simmering on the stove right now and smells awesome.  With the ribs I'm going to make a quick side dish of sauteed cabbage and 'shrooms.

And that's about it folks.  I am thrilled to officially be on vacation through 1/3!  I'll be in Chicago with family for a wedding for about a week, so I'm not sure how much cooking I'll be doing, but hopefully I'll have some fun posts and positive Whole30 updates for you.  I also need to do a Justus Drugstore restaurant review, an amazing locovore farm-to-table nose-to-tail joint located in bumblef*ck Smithville, MO.  Truly an incredible meal.  I'll do a recap when I have a bit more time.

Lastly- some stupid fun pics.  What do you think- have I gone off the deep end?

Lemony Kale Avocado Salad, and DIY Legwarmers

I waffled about posting this recipe because it's so darn easy- but hey, when searching for it, I couldn't find anything like it, so maybe this will be helpful to someone looking for an easy kale salad!

Lemony Kale and Avocado Salad
1 bag washed and chopped kale (TJ's has a great product)
juice of half a lemon
kosher salt
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 avocado
EVOO

In a very large salad bowl, dump your kale and pour about 3 tbsp of EVOO in and start massaging with your hands.  This will take probably 3-4 minutes until the kale has wilted a bit and is bright green.  Do not skip this step!  Then squeeze your juice from the half lemon and massage for another minute.  Sprinkle liberally with sea or kosher salt, then toss in cubed avocado and your pine nuts.  This is a delish salad that you CAN make ahead of time, as the kale is quite firm and won't get soggy very quickly.

In other news, I finally tried the DIY legwarmers for under your boots as seen on Pinterest.  DO IT!  Cut off the sleeves of an old ratty sweater and put them on under your boots for extra cuteness and extra comfort.  It's fun!  I have to careful I don't get carried away cutting up all my sweaters.

Massaged Kale Salad with Avocado, Mango, and Almonds

We have an overabundance of kale right now- four different varieties to be exact!  And while that's nothing to complain about, I was eager to try something other than sautéed kale, and kale chips.  I've had some stellar kale salads, but was weary of the whole "massaging" thing.  I mean, a salad is supposed to be easy- right?  Massaging?  That sounds like a chore.

But, with a huge plastic bag full of kale in the fridge, I thought- what the hell.

Some helpful tips- if your kale is homegrown- refrigerate for a day or so first.  It will crisp up nicely in the cold in case its gotten a bit wilty outside.  Make sure you de-stem them carefully.  Kale stems= yuck.  Use more kale than you think you need.  The massaging reduces it greatly.  Finally, use a good quality EVOO for the massaging, as that brings out a lot of flavor in the kale.

Massaged Kale Salad with Avo, Mango, and Almonds
big bag of kale- if you're buying kale bunches at the store, get at least 3 big ones
1 avocado, diced
1 mango, diced
3 tbsp good EVOO
juice of half lemon
kosher salt or sea salt, to taste
1/3 cup slivered almonds

In a large, deep bowl, pour your EVOO over your kale.  Work the kale with your fingers, like you're scrunching up the kale.  After a bit you'll see the color of the leaves have darkened and they've shrunk down by quite a bit.  This took me perhaps three minutes total.  Then add your diced avo and mango, almonds, and salt.  Squeeze half a lemon over and then toss well.  I did not find this needed additional EVOO, with the avocado and EVOO coating the leaves I thought it was perfect.

I would not recommend eating raw kale, un-massaged.  First of all- it gets much more palatable with some TLC.  And second of all, it reduces the amount of phytic acid, if i'm not mistaken.  someone speak up if so!

This salad is a great source of vital nutrients, healthy fats, antioxidants, and vitamin k.  Enjoy!!

Clothes Make the Girl Inspired Tropical Chopped Salad

I am definitely not going to take credit for this recipe- however, I tweaked it quite a bit until it became a much different recipe, and I feel it's worth sharing with you as it is easy, filling, healthy, yummy, and a toddler-approved version.

The original recipe is here- which I highly suggest you try too!

Tropical Chopped Salad
1 red pepper, chopped
1 orange/yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 english cucumber, chopped
1 avo, chopped/diced/sliced
2 small mexican/honey mangos, sliced, or 1 regular mango
8 ounces cooked shrimp, chopped
juice of one lime
your fave lettuce
salt to taste
chili powder, to taste

Throw all your chopped stuff in a big bowl.  Add your lime juice, and a liberal sprinkle of salt and chili powder.  Toss well- the avocado and lime juice will make a sauce/dressing.  Let sit for at least 5-10 minutes, then adjust seasoning accordingly.  This salad is crazy good.  Makes 4 servings if a side, or 2-3 large servings as a main.  Mel's version calls for red onion and cumin, which I'm sure would be great, but no way would S eat it with onion.  Great summer salad!  

Ground Turkey Taco Cups and Homemade Guacamole

Even if I weren't a GFG, I think I'd still prefer these super cute little taco cups to actual tacos.  They are so much fresher and more fun to eat, and look how pretty and green!

I pretty much made this recipe exactly-except with ground turkey instead.  It came out great and I highly recommend not only the recipe, but the blog.  Check it out!  Served this with refried beans and homemade guacamole.  If you are going to try out this recipe- definitely don't scimp on the spice mixture- and maybe even double it to save some for next time!  It's that good.

Want some easy, delish guac to go with it?

Here is my foolproof guac recipe:

1 avocado
1 cup of grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 red onion, chopped finely
juice of one ripe lime
2 tsp kosher salt

Masy your avocado and throw in your tomatoes and onions, and then add your (fresh) lime juice.  Add your salt and combine.  Let this sit in the fridge for a bit and cover the guac with plastic wrap- not the bowl, but the guac itself.  The lime juice will keep it from oxidizing.

Happy eating! XoXoGFG