What the Twins Are Eating - 10 months

It is amazing how much can change in one month!  The boys went from eating one meal of finger foods at 9 months to an all out anti-spoon feeding rebellion and three meals a day with no mommy feeding assistance.  They really are finger food champs at this point.

As they are eating more finger foods they are slowly losing interest in their formula.  Right now they are taking about 24 oz or sometimes even less!  I give them about 6 oz in straw sippy cups with breakfast and lunch.  These are our favorites: Playtex Baby First Lil' Gripper Twist 'n Click Straw Trainer Cup, 7 Ounce, Colors May Vary  (not sure what is up with the price on Amazon...I'm pretty sure we bought them for around $5 at Target...)  Then my little guys have one "snack" bottle after their second nap, and one last 8 oz bottle before bed.  They almost never finish all they are offered anymore but I think that is just fine for this stage.

Family dinners are beginning to finally occur around here too.  Tonight's menu is cheeseburgers, so they'll have "deconstructed" cheese burgers with whole wheat english muffin pieces, zucchini, and watermelon...and we'll eat with them!  I don't know that we are up to eating every one of our dinners at 5 pm quite yet but we are definitely going to start eating more of them with the kids.  They seem to really enjoy interacting with us at the table and I think it is good for all of us.  It's definitely fun around here these days... but it can get messy! :)

Fish for the Whole Family

Yesterday the twins had fish for the first time!  It's actually kind of strange that it took us this long to feed them fish because we tend to eat a lot of it around the Four Pears household.  I think these salmon cakes, though, were a great way to introduce such a healthy and yummy new food.  They are very mild flavored, mixed with a lot of potatoes and fresh dill.  Alex and I had our cakes with a spicy vinegar coleslaw to kind of turn up the flavor but the kids really dug into theirs a long with some fresh cantaloupe.  A great meal for all!  (Even the cats, who finally got some love.)

Salmon-and-Potato Cakes  adapted from this recipe at Food & Wine.

2 Tbsp Canola Oil
1 1/2 lbs. baking potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tsp. salt
1 onion, diced
1 lb. skinless salmon fillets
1 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 c. water
1/4 c. heavy cream
2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped

Heat 1 Tbsp. of oil on medium in a large and deep frying pan.  Put in the potatoes and season with the salt.  Add onions to pan.  Lay salmon fillets over the vegetables and then pour in the water around the fillets.  Bring to boil, then lower to simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until the salmon and potatoes are cooked.  Remove the salmon to a small bowl and use a fork to flake the fish.  Drain the potatoes in a colander and them put in a large bowl.  Add the cream and mash lightly leaving the potatoes still rather chunky.  Stir in dill and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the salmon to the potatoes and mix to combine.  Form 8 patties.  Heat remaining Tbsp of oil in your frying pan and heat the cakes through again, about 3 minutes per side

. 

This is another great finger food and I was happy to have four patties left over to freeze for another day.  One large patty was a good size for the two of them to split...although they finished every bit of it!

Anti-Spoon Feeding Rebellion - Breakfast Battle

Last week the twins decided that even though oatmeal with fruit has always been a huge favorite, it wasn't going to be any more.  When mouths became sealed shut against my attempts and spoons (loaded with food) were continuously pulled away from me with tiny strong fists I waved the white flag on the breakfast battle. I blame the spoon.  It seems as though the spoon feeding days are coming to an end.  The kids are much more interested in grabbing and shoving their own food into their mouths now so goodbye oatmeal....hello sweet potato pancakes!

Breakfast in my house is at 6:30am so it has to be easy.  I made this the night before so cutting a few of them up with some diced bananas took me no more time than stirring together that oatmeal. These pancakes taste great, have a ton of veggies in them, freeze and thaw easily...they are the perfect breakfast finger food.

Sweet Potato and Blueberry Pancakes, adapted from Start Fresh: Your Child's Jump Start to Lifelong Healthy Eating by Tyler Florence

2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
3 eggs
2 c. buttermilk *
2 medium sweet potatoes, pureed**
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. blueberries (optional)

* To make buttermilk add 1 Tbsp of white vinegar to each cup of milk called for, stir and let stand for 5 minutes.
** For sweet potato puree, chop potatoes into 1 inch pieces and steam in a steam basket until fork tender, about 10 minutes.  Put in food processor or blender with some of the cooking water and process until smooth.

For the pancakes whisk together your flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt in a large bowl.  In a smaller bowl whisk your eggs and add the (cooled) melted butter, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry, pour in your sweet potato puree and combine.  You may need to add a bit more flour depending on the consistency of your puree, I needed an extra 1/4 cup.    Pour the batter on a medium hot oiled griddle or skillet.  If using the blueberries add a few into the pancakes right after you pour them out. My poor little Aaron gets a bit of a rash when he eats blueberries so unfortunately we had to skip them.  Flip your pancakes when the edges start to bubble.

A cool trick for freezing these!  After they are completely cool lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet and pop them into the freezer for 15 minutes or so.  After that put them into freezer storage bags.  This flash freezing keeps them from sticking together in the bag, neat huh?!  If you don't have room in the freezer to fit a tray you can just stack them in freezer bags with a piece of parchment paper between each one.  According to the recipe this makes about 12 four inch pancakes but I made them silver-dollar size and I swear it made a hundred.  (or at least it seemed like it)  I'm not complaining though cause the kids loved them and with two bags in the freezer, I won't need to make them again any time soon.

Your Babies like Spinach?

Your babies like spinach?  I've heard that more than once.  And actually, they don't just LIKE spinach, they LOVE it!  I think spinach is a prime example of my philosophy around homemade baby food.  1.  It doesn't have to be difficult.  2. It doesn't have to take a long time, and 3. It tastes better than jars.  At least it should!  Most jarred baby food is a smooth puree of one of a very select few veggies with no seasoning or other flavors added.  If I had to eat plain smooth spinach puree I wouldn't like it, and I doubt the baby would!

If you are waiting until 6 months to introduce solids to your baby like most pediatrician's recommend, then your baby is ready for a little flavor!  You can add cinnamon or nutmeg to sweet potatoes, mint to green beans (another very popular food for us), or garlic to spinach!  Baby is bound to love it because it tastes good.

Making homemade baby food is quite simple.  All you really need are items you most likely already have in your kitchen. A food processor, steamer basket of some sort,  a baking sheet... no magical baby tools required.  For storage I did buy these: Fresh Baby So Easy Baby Food and Breast Milk Trays  I really like them because they have a lid unlike most regular ice-cube trays.  I pour my purees into them, pop them into the freezer and leave them overnight.  To keep from buying more than one set of them I pop out the cubes the next day and put them into a freezer storage bag with the name of the food and date printed on it, voila!

So, still concerned about this being hard or time consuming?  Most homemade baby food can be done in a flash.  Roast vegetables like carrots, potatoes, and squash with a little drizzle of olive oil in the oven at 400 F until soft, usually 15-20 minutes.  Broccoli and cauliflower are great roasted too!  Roasting gives veggies a sweeter, deeper flavor.  You can steam veggies too, of course.  Fruits like peaches or plums can be blanched in boiling water for just a minute so their peels slip off and they can be chopped and  put into the food processor.  Once your veggies and fruits are cooked add them to the processor with herbs like mint, basil, or parsley and pulse or puree them to whatever consistency your baby likes best.  Here's my twins' favorite recipe.

Creamy Spinach


1lb Spinach, washed and with the stems removed
2 Tbsp Olive oil, divided
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp lemon juice
whole milk yogurt for final preparation

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan over medium heat, add garlic and cook one minute.  Add spinach leaves, with a bit of water on them from washing, toss in the oil and cover.  Cook about a minute then toss the leaves again and recover for another minute.  Uncover and cook until spinach is wilted, maybe another minute.  Add spinach to the food processor with lemon juice and remaining olive oil.  Pulse until chopped or turn on the machine and puree into desired consistency.  At this point I put the spinach in my cube trays reserving a portion or two for that day or the next.  When I'm ready to serve I just thaw and add a spoonful of yogurt and mix.  Try some yourself with a cracker, it's like a nice creamy spinach dip!  I think you and the baby will love it.  And did you notice the cooking time?  4 minutes!  Add another couple of minutes to process and freeze and you can seriously get this done in like 15 minutes.

Making your baby's food is so rewarding and I really think it is a huge first step in teaching your baby that healthy food can taste good.  My little ones will be dining on sweet potato pancakes this week due to an anti-spoon feeding rebellion going on over here....stay tuned.

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

Ah finger food. An adventure in finding small bits of food to feed your (almost) toddler that are A. soft enough to mash between toothless gums, B. tasty enough to entice them to actually eat it, C. Healthy (cupcakes need not apply!), and D. Not too messy. Is "D" too much to ask?

Well this recipe fits the bill and it is delicious! I actually ate a portion of it for my own lunch.. sorry babies! I got this out of Tyler Florence's new cookbook for babies. This is just a great book, I really like the recipes and the concepts behind it. I need to do a post comparing this one to Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron as a lot of moms think of her book as a baby food Bible. A key difference between the two, in my opinion, is flavor. Tyler is all about the flavor, even for babies, and so am I. Why would baby want to eat bland flavorless food? This is anything but bland.

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese, adapted from Smart Food by Tyler Florence.

1 medium (1 to 1 1/2 pounds) butternut squash, halved lenghtwise, seeds removed
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
12 oz small pasta shells **I used rotini because it was in the pantry!**
1/2 c. whole milk
1 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese **I used mild cheddar, again, already on hand**

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Place the squash, cut-side up, on a baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over it and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Bake until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork, 30-40 minutes. Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool. Leave the oven on and reduce the temperture to 350 F.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of a salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions, or until al dente. Drain the pasta and transfer to a large bowl.

When the squash is cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scoop the flesh into a food processor. Add the milk and puree until smooth. Pour the squash puree over the pasta and fold together. Add about half the cheese and mix until combined.

Pour the pasta mixture into a greased 9 inch baking dish. Spread evenly and top with the remaining cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Let cool before serving.

This recipe doesn't have a ton of cheese, milk or butter but the squash puree really makes it taste slightly sweet and so nice and creamy. So good! My kids loved it, I hope yours do too! The book says this makes about 8 kid sized portions but I think it made closer to twelve, especially since I always serve more than one item at each meal. I kept some in the refrigerator for the next day and froze the rest in these.

Yum!

What The Twins are Eating- 9 Months

My big boys aren't malnourished by any means. My first born, AJ, is a healthy 23 lbs and 30 inches tall. His "little" brother Aaron is an even healthier 27 lbs(!) and 31 inches tall. Right now they are crawling all over the house and AJ is cruising around the furniture on his own two feet. AJ just sprouted tooth number five while poor Aaron remains toothless! But don't worry, as you can see he is still managing to get his nutrition somehow ;)

The kids don't have meals with us yet because they go to bed at 6pm and we haven't adjusted to the idea of eating our dinner with them at 5pm just yet. Once they are more proficient self-feeders, and probably after their first birthday, we'll move to a family dinner time.

Here's what they are eating right now:

4 bottles of formula totaling about 26-28 oz

Breakfast: I spoon feed them each about 3 oz of store bought oatmeal/cereal with homemade pureed fruit mixed in and I usually give them some diced fruit on their trays as well.

Lunch: Finger Foods! (more, lots more!, details to follow)

Dinner: I spoon feed them each about 3 oz whole milk yogurt/cottage cheese mixed with pureed fruit and about 2 oz of veggies. They usually munch on some cheerios too. This will be the next meal to move to finger foods I'm sure. Already I give them more of a "meal" type food with their yogurt rather than a plain pureed veggie.

Some of their favorite foods right now are spinach, sweet potatos, cheerios, applesauce and yogurt. They had their first taste of hummus last week and that was a huge hit too! They are definitely becoming less interested in spoon feeding these days so I'm making more of an effort to make them interesting and healthy finger foods. Up this week....a healthy veggie packed mac n cheese!