Toddler/Baby Food Recipe

Here's a great recipe for Toddlers.  I discovered this pasta called Ditalini.  It's in the perfect shape for little eaters.  Easy to pick up.  Easy to chew and swallow.

Here's my homemade recipe:

2 cooked chicken breasts, cut in small pieces
2 cups of uncooked Ditalini pasta
1 small can of peas & carrots

For cheese sauce:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup of blended shredded cheese
1/4 cup of parmesan
2 slices of muenster
2 slices of american

Cook the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.  Cut the chicken into very small pieces.  Cook the pasta in boiling water for 10-15 minutes.  Make sure the pasta is cooked well.  While the pasta in draining in the colander, melt all of the cheeses with the milk in the pan.  Add the pasta, chicken, and vegetables.  Add salt and pepper to taste and mix well. 

Yields: 2 ice cube trays for freezing

Yogurt for babies

Yogurt is a great snack and addition to a baby's diet.  You can start introducing yogurt after 6 months of age.  My little one loves it!  However, it's best to pay attention to the labels.  Some yogurts are packed full of sugar!

Always check the labels.  Gestational diabetes caused me to check all my labels so I am very used to it.  Watch out for aspartame.  It's very sneaky!  The package will say "light" or "sugar free" and aspartame is lurking in the ingredients. 

There's a lot of controversy about aspartame.  Personally, the endocrinologist told me not to ingest it during pregnancy.  She said that it was not healthy for my developing baby.  If it's not okay for an unborn baby, then I'd assume it's not okay for a growing baby.  I encourage you to do some research and make the decision for yourself. 

My husband and I eat Yoplait, but if you check the label it has 25 grams of sugar!

Stonyfield's YoBaby has only 12 grams of sugar.  It's also made with whole milk that is best for growing babies.

I recommend the brand Stonyfield.  They have yogurts called YoBaby, YoToddler, and YoKids.  Please visit their website for more information.  Fortunately, my community is organic friendly so my local grocery store carries Stonyfield.  If you cannot find it at your local store, you may want to try a health foods store.

Freezing Baby Food

Introducing solid foods to a baby is an interesting task.  It's introducing and re-introducing.  For convenience and trips it's easy to use the pre-packaged/store-bought baby foods like Gerber.  Trust me, I've used it several times.  However, I prefer fresh foods that I've prepared at home when it comes to feeding my baby nutritious food. 

I discovered the Super Baby Food book written by Ruth Yaron when my baby was 10 months old.  I wish I had found it months earlier!  It is packed full of great tips for introducing solids.  Click here to buy it on Amazon.  It is fantastic!

One of the most important tips, in my opinion, is how to freeze your baby food.  Many times I would introduce a new food and have to throw out the remaining food. She either didn't like it, or there wasn't enough time for her little tummy to eat it all.  Food spoils after a few days and that fact plays against you.  Freezing the food is so easy and inexpensive!


Here's how I do it...


Prepare the food as usual and divide it into ice cube trays. Each cube is 1 tablespoon.

 

Cover the ice cube tray with aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Place the tray in your freezer for approximately 8 hours (or overnight) to freeze the food completely.

 

Remove the cubes & place them in a marked freezer bag. Heat one or two cubes per meal as needed.