Popsicles

Popsicles. This is ALWAYS a hit in our house, and constantly requested by my 2 year old. Perfect summer day treat but my girls love them in the middle of the winter as well. They are fabulous, fabulous (did I mention fabulous) for little ones when they are teething. Something cold on their gums, and yet quite tasty and nutritious as well. Of course you need to watch real little ones so they don't get a chunk off of it that could become a choking hazard.

This is one of those crazy easy things to do. Toss some fruit (fresh or frozen) into a blender with some water, and pour it in the popsicle mold. Viola'. Delish treat. Randy and I enjoy these as well and we try to come up with creative ideas for something new and fun.

A few of our favorite combo's.

~frozen strawberries, banana, milk (whatever you use...we usually have rice milk on hand)

~frozen strawberries and blueberries, water

~frozen strawberries and coconut milk

~banana and coconut milk

~peaches and milk

~watermelon and water (a fun addition is some fresh mint)

I would like to try a few with some raw cacao, which may be more for me, but it sounds really good. I've even thrown spinach in them before just to get some extra greens into Norah's diet but I felt a little bad as she was eating her popsicle with a very green face and a weird look on her face. But really you could do just about anything with these. If you come up with something fun, please do share!

First things first

We have zoomed through baby food with Sydney. She was very aware early on that she wanted to eat what her sister was eating. She did purees for a bit but then quickly moved on to finger foods. We've been here for awhile now. So I'll try to continue to post some thoughts and ideas for baby foods as we journey along, but I will primarily be posting foods that are for a little older baby.

If your little foodie is in the puree stage of food....well.... celebrate! It really is so, so, so easy to make your own baby food. It's fresher, more cost effective, and you can know where the food is coming from. Once you get a rhythm, you'll soon be a pro. And that's not to say you might never buy a jar of baby food from the store again because there are times it is nice to just crack open a jar and not have to plan. I get that. I've done it. It's nice at times. Although I will warn you, Norah would turn her little nose up at jarred baby food when I'd attempt to give it to her. She was so used to the fresh that it took some coaxing to get her to eat it. Seriously.

Really all you need for making your own baby food purees is a good blender, food processor, or magic bullet type contraption. Other than that it's the food and water. Viola'. Baby food. You can play with consistency. Some babies are picky about their consistency. Experiment. Play. Create. Have fun.

I always like to keep the food raw, lightly steamed, or lightly cooked to keep as much nutrition as possible intact in the food. So a steamer basket is a nice thing to have on hand. Some veggies do better cooked, i.e carrots, beets, sweet potatoes. Some veggies do well lightly steamed, i.e., broccoli, kale, spinach, green beans, and peas. Fruits typically puree nicely raw if you have a good quality blender. A steamed apple is a nice addition to a puree, especially if it is something your little one is refusing to eat. I could get my girls to eat anything if I added a little apple puree to it!


So that's all there is to it. Pick out some fresh veggies or fruits. (If your able find local, organic produce. You want to avoid all those crazy pesticides and such, especially for your precious little peanut as they are still growing and developing). If needed steam. Toss it in the appliance of your choice with some water. Again experimentation is key. And there you have it. Final project of amazingly healthy, fresh baby food.

There are all kinds of ways to store and make batches of baby food so your not constantly pureeing. My favorite book that goes into this in detail is, "Super Baby Food." As you make bigger batches then you have food when your on the go or in a rush. Warning here. Don't go too wild and crazy making purees to freeze.. You never know when that little foodie might just decide to forgo the purees and move on to finger foods, leaving you with a freezer full of purees to try to sneak into something!

My pint sized foodies

Just a little bit about me to let you know where I'm at in this world of feeding little foodies! I have a two little girls 18 months apart. Norah is my very vibrant, independent 2 1/2 year old. She is curious about everything, and we are fully experience her wondering 'why' to anything and everything. She is my little chef in the making. She loves to make her own fresh juices, and never misses the opportunity to make a green smoothie. Her favorite part is tearing the kale leaves off the stem and of course eating the frozen blueberries instead of putting them in the smoothie. It's usually 5 blueberries for Norah and 1 in the blender. I absolutely love having her be so hands on in the kitchen. It teaches her early on about food and cooking and patience. We have a joke in our house that our kitchen is the "Slow Food Cafe." Nothing fast and out of a box.

Sydney is my sweet, fiesty, fiery, and very opinionated 1 year old. She has a voice and a thought about most everything. Determined and un-predicatable would describe her best. She loves to eat. She doesn't seem to be too picky of an eater at this point. If her big sis is eating something well she wants it too. And I don't have to worry because if we do come across something she doesn't like, well she isn't a bit shy about expressing it.

Both girls eat and ENJOY foods that to most seem abnormal for their age. I've made all their baby food and haven't shyed away from foods like kale, beets, turnips, parsnips, spinach, millet, quinoa, and goji berries. They just don't know any different yet. Ignorance is bliss is right now. They are so unaware of all the standard American foods that most kids their age eat. In fact, last year as we would stroll through the farmers market, Norah (just barely 2) could rattle off so many of the names of veggies and fruits as we walked by (often claiming she needed this or that). Adorable. I remember distinctly one day a guy with a hot dog walked by us at the market and she asked "mama what's that?" Proud mama moment right there! Ignorance is bliss for now indeed. I for am celebrating that while it lasts!

Welcome

Welcome to Pint Sized Foodies. My hope in creating this blog is to be able to share with you some of the fun and creative ideas for making homemade, plant based food for babies and toddlers.
I want to create a place that inspires ideas for fun, simple, nutritious meals for little ones. I feel so strongly that we are our kids advocates on so many levels, and one that I have a particular interest in is this area of nutrition. I am currently in school for nutrition, which has been a dream for so long. I hope to use this blog as well to document and process all that I'm learning and how we as a family are incorporating that into our lifestyle. Also I want to share some of the recipes and ideas of how we incorporate a healthy whole foods way of eating into our kids lives right from the beginning.