Baby Eats

This post is mainly about Camden's eating habits and what we do to make sure he gets all the nutrient's he needs.  It's by no means a post about what others should do. This is about what works for us and to give meal ideas to other mom's out there!

Camden always gets a bottle. Usually before most meals and a small snack bottle before dinner (4oz)

Breakfast:

Baby oatmeal with a fruit puree/pouch

Yogurt and puffs (strawberry apple or banana)

Cottage cheese and fruit puree

Mini pancakes and turkey sausage

Scrambled eggs and fruit puree

Mini pancakes and grapes cut up(just starting grapes)

Lunch/Dinner

This is usually a chunky puree that we make ourselves for him. It's mainly left overs from dinners in the past that were frozen. For dinner these meals are usually not mixed together and cut small so he can feed himself. It's also typically a meat and then green beans cut up and then I spoon feed him a fruit puree. 

Pork, pumpkin, and apple (cinn. or plain)

Pork, yams, and apple

Pork, sweet potato, and apple

Chicken, pumpkin, and apple

Chicken and pear

Chicken, yams, and apple

Chicken and apple (cinn or plain)

Chicken, sweet potato, and apple

Chicken noodle soup with less liquid

Chicken and mac n cheese/sometimes with peas and carrots

Annie Anne's spaghetti o's

mac n cheese with peas and carrots

Dinner:

Chicken breast cut up, with green beans, and fruit puree

Chicken breast, baked potato, and fruit

Steak, baked potato and green beans/broc

Pork chops, fried rice/cheesy potatoes and green beans or carrots

turkey taco's and apple sauce

Spaghetti and crescent rolls (he loves rolls!)

Ham, cheesy potato, and green beans

After dinner Justin saves all the leftovers on a plate for me so I can then work on making Cam small meals. I have a lot of clear plastic Gerber containers from fruit purees that I repackage with meals. Daycare is great about giving them back to me when he is done with his. I label them with a Sharpe and freeze items. Then at night when we are getting his bottle bag ready I can just pull a meal out of the freezer for his lunch and put it in the fridge. Its perfectly thawed the next day for school!

With a mini food process I start with the meat. I chop/grind it to the size I want and then I add the other ingredients. Fruit and or potato/veggie.  I get that to a good consistency and then I divide it up into the containers. It takes maybe 5-10 minutes and that is including rinsing out the food processor!  

At Sam's club we get the big package of applesauce cups to add to purees. It has some cinnamon and plain. I will also get a random flavor from the grocery store to add a different taste.  A couple of our favorites are the granny smith one and the peach mango.  

I also like the clean cut yams or sweet potatoes from Wegman's to steam and then add to his chunky purees. 

Other items from Sam's club that really help the grocery list and cost is:

Gerber Yogurt for breakfast or a snack

Yogurt melts and puffs/crunchies

Stage 2 and 3 fruit/dinners. These are good for on the go and the chicken noodle dinner is a hit. I also like sending in the fruit ones for his breakfast. Sometimes I purchase canned fruit and puree them myself but I don't really worry about that too much. They make so many yummy ones that I would have a hard time creating myself. Especially ones with grapes and blueberries. (they don't puree very well for me)

The Mott's or DelMonte fruit pouches are great for different flavors too. They also have veggie purees mixed in with some of them so they get a little of both. 

What exactly IS protein - and how is it used by the body? 

The easiest way to describe protein is as a 'chain' of amino acids that are linked together.

The human body needs 22 amino acids, but is only able to make 13 of them. The other nine must come from food and are known as 'Essential Amino Acids'.

When your baby eats food containing protein, it is digested in his stomach and absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract.

The amino acids into which it is broken down are then used in a multitude of functions throughout his body - in skin, hair, bone, muscle and just about every tissue - and the body also uses protein to produce hemoglobin that carries oxygen in his blood. (http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/protein-foods-for-baby.html)

These are calculations based on a whole chicken breast, etc. 

Chicken breast- 30g protein 

Pork- 22g protein

Eggs-6g protein

Yogurt- 6-12g protein

Cheese-6g

Ham-19g

Steak-20g

There is protein in a lot of things your baby already eats like oatmeal, rice, formula, pasta. So it's important not to give your baby too much protein. It can put strain on their kidney's due to the bodies way of getting rid of extra protein. Urine. However, the amount of protein Camden is given is very low given his pieces are broken up and he gets a tiny portion. It's also important to have it paired with other items just like we would eat. 

So there you have it. A few of my tips and tricks on making/creating meals for Camden.  I did the same when Addyson was little and I really enjoyed it!  Once you get in the habit and routine of it, it's really not that bad!  

Love

Jamie Lynne