Six First Foods for Baby (that aren't cereal)

That little chunk is six-months old this week. The time with baby number two is flying by in hyper speed. Breast feeding was way more successful for me with my second, but he seemed to be growing so fast that at his four month appointment I asked the doctor about starting real food. A lot has changed since we started our first on solids almost 3 years ago. The American Academy of Pediatrics is now recommending that parents wait until their babies are 6 months old before introducing food. They're also changing some recommendation of what baby's first foods should be. Rice or oat cereal was the norm just a few short years ago. 

As we work on changing our diet as a family - the idea of feeding Emmett super processed rice cereal became less and less appealing to me. We talked this out with our pediatrician and she supported us taking an alternate route. As with anything baby related - this is just what we decided would be best for our family and we sought the advice of professionals along the way. Emmett's first meal (at about 5 months, again with the support of our doctor) was a smashed avocado. Since then he has tried a variety of vegetable and fruit purees - and even homemade cereal:  

Avocado: Full of healthy fat, protein and fiber, Avocado is arguably one of the worlds most perfect foods. It doesn't even have to be cooked to give to baby. We smash our by hand with a little bit of water to thin it out enough for baby. 

Banana: Another easy to prepare first food, bananas are high in potassium and just sweet enough. Again you can smash a super ripe banana with a fork or puree it with a little water for baby. 

Sweet Potato: We love love love a sweet potato - they are high in beta carotene, fiber and a good source of carbohydrates. Its super easy to throw a couple sweet potatoes in the oven to roast on a Sunday and then puree the 'meat' of the potato after it has cooled. 

Apple: Steamed and pureed apples are a favorite in our house. Our three year old even loves to eat this apple sauce.  

Zucchini: Zucchini is such an awesome starter starch for little ones - the taste is slightly sweet, not too 'green'. I love to roast them before pureeing with a little bit of water. 

Oatmeal: Not all cereal is bad! Oats are actually a pretty awesome, but stay away from instant oats and try to buy gluten free oats if you can. Here's a simple oat cereal recipe perfect for baby: 

1/4 cup rolled oats

1 cup water

Pour the water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil over medium high heat. Grind your oats into a fine powder, a food processor or high powered blender will do the trick. Gradually whisk these into the boiling water, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Cool and serve.

If you're looking to improve the eating habits of your whole family - from your littlest bits to your meat-and-potatoes husband - look no further than Prescribe Nutrition's Kids Rule Program! I'll be playing along and you can get 30% off with the code STIRANDSCRIBBLE. 

White Chicken Chili + Prescribe Nutrition

You guys, this week has been like whoa. Two shoots, a baby shower, four batches of chocolate cupcakes, and everyone on spring break. Bouncing between stay at home mom, work at home mom, and work away from home mom has got me in a perpetual game of catch up. I am so glad that I have nothing on the schedule next week, because I need to get back in balance. 

I haven't been great about updating the blog regularly, but hopefully you're following Stir & Scribble's adventures on Instagram? The last couple of months have been a fun journey into eating a more whole foods based diet. If you've been a follower for very long - you might have noticed that I've had many false starts and stops at feeding my family a less processed diet. This time though I've had help. 

In February, I signed up for a program with Prescribe Nutrition. Prescribe Nutrition is a team of incredible woman with one incredible goal - to get you to give up a 'diet' in favor of eating real whole food. There programs are designed to shake you free from the standard American diet in a fun, approachable way with a ton of support and community. I loved my Prescribe experience so much that I shared my story over on their blog this week - you can read all about my disdain for diets here.

This weekend I'm jumping into another program with the Prescribe Nutrition team - Prescribe Balance. Prescribe Balance is perfectly timed to kick off spring. Twenty days of digging deeper into eating whole foods, getting some exercise, and daily cleaning rituals with the goal of getting everything back in balance.  I couldn't need it more right now - care to join me? Use the code 'stirandscribble' for 20% off! There's still plenty of time to sign up!

White Chicken Chili
serves 6 to 8
recipe courtesy Prescribe Nutrition

This Chili is one of the recipes from Prescribe Balance and a great example of whole foods meets comfort food that is typical of the Prescribe Nutrition team. We scaled back the spice for Ella and served it with a ton of lime and avocado. Its the perfect Sunday supper (and great for lunch leftovers).

1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee
1 large white onion, peeled and chopped
1 poblano, pepper, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped*
1 anaheim pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground chili powder*
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt, divided
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
32 oz (4 cups) organic veggie or chicken broth
2 (14.5-ounce) cans white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups (about 2 lbs) cooked, shredded chicken**
Juice and zest of 1 lime, + extra lime wedges for garnish
1⁄2 cup full fat coconut milk
1⁄4 cup chopped cilantro leaves + extra for garnish

*only include if you prefer some extra spice in your chili!

Heat the oil in a large heavy bottom pan or dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Add the onions, peppers, cumin, coriander, chili powder, paprika and 1⁄2 teaspoon of the salt. Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.

Pour in the broth. Add 1 can of the beans and, using a potato masher (or a handheld blender), mash the beans in the pot, creating a thicker texture.

Stir in the remaining beans, shredded chicken, lime juice and zest and bring to a boil. If you prefer a chili with more broth, add 1 - 2 cups of water. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and keep on a low simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve immediately with additional lime wedges and cilantro.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies for Lactation

Brace yourselves friends, I'm going to talk about breast feeding again. Just over three years ago I shared my choice to stop breastfeeding Ella when she was just 7 weeks. At the time, it felt like such a hard heavy decision and disappointment, but now that she's basically a grown up (as in she turned three last week) it seems so silly to have cried over breast milk. 

I was exclaiming to a friend recently how different the second baby experience has been than the first, to which the friend replied "Of course, its different. You're a whole other person than you were 3 years ago!" Duh. Being a mom to Ella prepared me to be a mom for Emmett. My breastfeeding experience with Emmett has also been tremendously easier. 

One thing I learned between Ella and Emmett is that there is a whole list of foods that are actually reported to increase a mother's milk supply naturally. Galactagogues are foods that naturally promote breast milk production. While little scientific data exists, anecdotal evidence suggests that consuming food such as fennel, chickpeas, or papaya will help breast feeding mothers. Oats and other whole grains and beer are also reported to have the same affect. 

There's a small niche of food companies working to full fill the needs of nursing mother's and I actually stumbled upon the idea of lactation cookies through Amazon (which has saved me too many times during these "new mom of two" times). I tried a few pre-made cookies as well as some mixes for "milk maker" cookies cookies. Whether they actually worked or there was just a placebo affect - I decided to create my own cookies.

These 'lactation' cookies are a hack of my favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Oats are regularly prescribed to nursing mamas for milk supply. Flaxseed meal and brewer's yeast are added for the same reason and both were easily found at my local Whole Foods Market (you can also order both on Amazon). I've decreased the chocolate (which can some times upset tiny tummies) and messed with the sugar ratio a bit. 

I wasn't even planning to share this recipe, but this is seriously the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever had. The edges are crisp but the rest of the cookie is pleasantly chewy, there's just the right amount of cinnamon and chocolate. And here's the thing - you can't taste the flaxseed or brewer's yeast - so unless you tell them no one would ever know that this cookie helps with lactation. 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies for Lactation 
Makes 3 dozen cookies

These cookies are designed to help breast feeding mamas increase their milk supply. They will not introduce lactation in Dads, kiddos or neighbors - so feel free to share. If you just want to enjoy these as the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies - omit the brewer's yeast but leave the flaxseed meal and be sure to refrigerate the dough as directed below.

1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup brewer's yeast
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Combine the water and flax seed meal in a small bowl and set aside. Beat together the butter and sugars in until lightened and fluffy. Add the water-flax mixture, eggs, and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Add the flour, brewer's yeast, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and stir to combine.  Finally add the oats and chocolate chips and stir to incorporate.

Scoop the dough into 2 tablespoon sized rounds and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake 12 cookies at a time on parchment lined sheet pans for 8 to12 minutes. The edges should be golden brown and the middles should look slightly damp still - cool for 2 minutes on the pan. Then remove to a cooling rack.

feeding baby | Strawberry Milk Mix

Further evidence that mytoddler daughter rules our kitchen - out of season strawberries in my fridge. Strawberries have been a weekly addition to our shopping cart since December. I get it kiddo - at two years old you just love what you love and you aren't worried whether your berries are seasonal, local, organic, or even washed. 

Ella basically has a strawberry radar on full blast. One particularly ornery Saturday - she insisted on being outside of the shopping cart to help. Luck would have it that there was a strawberry display just inside the store entrance. She stopped mesmerized, "stawbewrries" she whispered. I was trying to find the shopping list, trying not to block the busy store entrance, and clearly not paying attention when a quart of strawberries was lobed into the cart by a toddler obsessed. That carton of strawberries burst open - all over the shopping cart and the  store floor. 

I tried not to laugh as I scolded Ella. "Oh no, no, Ella we have to be gentle with our strawberries". I moved the shopping cart out of the way, smushing berries with the wheels, trying my best to let other shoppers in the door. And as I started picking up stray berries from the grocery store floor - another quart of berries hit the side of the cart to the cheer of "more stawbewrries pease!" I just lost it; I was in a full on giggle fit in the entrance of a very busy grocery store on a Saturday. We bought two pints of terribly bruised out of season strawberries that day. 

We also buy a lot of dried strawberries and freeze dried strawberries for snacks too. Ella has a dairy sensitivity that keeps her from enjoying store bought strawberry milk. So I worked up this Strawberry Milk Mix to indulge Ella's strawberry obsessions and use up some of the freeze dried strawberries that start to get stale after someone leaves the package open.  

There are lots of recipe on the web for making strawberry milk with fresh strawberries (heck, there is even Strawberry Almond Milk to be made) but fresh strawberries don't last very long at our house and I wanted something that could be a quick anytime treat - not a drag out the blender and the strainer treat. 

Strawberry Milk Mix 
makes 3 cups 

3 cups freeze dried strawberries - about 14 ounces
1 cup sugar 
1 teaspoon vanilla powder, optional 
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 

Pulse together the strawberries, sugar, vanilla powder, and salt in a food processor to a fine powder. Store in an airtight container for up to a month. 

Combine 1 tablespoon of powder with 8 ounces of milk, almond milk, heck even yogurt and stir to combine well. Enjoy! 

Feeding Baby: Cooking with Toddlers 101

My daughter has always been an active participant in our kitchen. When she was a baby, I'd stick her in a bouncy seat and let her listen to cooking from a safe distance. I'd share tools with her while I cooked as she grew. Later, I'd even pull her highchair up to a counter and let her watch and play while I cooked. We've recently entered ruthless toddler-hood and now she wants to "help" with everything! 

Feeding Baby | Strawberry Oatmeal Yogurt Pops

Honest mom moment here: Last weekend I let my daughter have a popsicle for breakfast. Actually she had two - because after she devoured the first one I couldn't help but answer her plea for "more, pease". These Strawberry Oatmeal Yogurt Pops were designed from breakfast anyway.

Feeding Baby | Nana's Frosty

Today's recipe is like our Thirsty Thursday for the under 5 set. There is no booze, but I consider the banana frosty as much a classic kids drink as the Shirley Temple. Maybe you know this banana smoothie by any other name: Banana Freeze, Faux Ice Cream, or as we call it in our house - 'Nana's Frosty. 

FEEDING BABY: Leftover Oatmeal Muffins

*Cora is the Winner of the Breakfast for Dinner giveaway from last  week! Congrats Cora, I'll be sending you an e-mail shortly.*

Well, it has been quite a while since we talked about feeding baby, huh? I guess I was all caught up in playing mama and got too busy to share what I was making for our daughter, Ella. I had planned and shot a couple of posts along the way but they never made it here. Now Ella is 13 months and a lot has changed since we first introduced purees. 

{Feeding Baby}: Firsts

Let's keep things real around here. Ella's first "real food" {as in non-formula} was not a puree of the lovely organic carrots you see above. Her very first was brown rice cereal, followed by oat cereal, and then very ripe bananas. So, you know, nothing worth snapping a picture of. 

{Feeding Baby}: FEED NEEDS & GIVEAWAY

{This is not the beginning of S&S turning into a baby blog or even a baby food blog; But in the interest of sharing everything I know/am always learning about food, I want to document my experiences in feeding Ella during her first year.}

{Feeding Baby}: Breast is Best

{I promise this is not the beginning of S&S turning into a baby blog or even a baby food blog; But in the interest of sharing everything I know/am always learning about food, I want to document my experiences in feeding Ella during her first year.}

During my pregnancy, I had a regular joke about breastfeeding - anytime someone asked if I planned to, I'd point to my {very, umm, blessed} chest and say "If I can't breastfeed - I'm gonna be mad at someone!" I never even imagined I would have trouble feeding my baby breast milk. But a few weeks ago, I quit giving Ella breast milk.