Saturday, 2 June 2018

adventures in baby wholefoods

I simply cannot believe my little one is 5 months old - where has the time gone?! (Utters every parent around the globe...)

I've been very lucky that breastfeeding has gone so well and my little guy has packed on the pounds quite well, and quite quickly. But lately he's been showing signs that he may be ready for more variety in his diet, so today he had first taste of food. Exciting!

So I turned to this book, "Wholefood for Children," which a friend gave me a couple of months ago. I have a feeling this book will be a treasured resource for years to come.


It has a chapter on first foods and gives great insights into the importance of cooking as much of the baby's food as possible, the types of foods to start feeding to baby, why we should use the oven or steamer as opposed to the microwave, and includes many recipes to keep things interesting as well as healthy for the bub. The book also suggests some of the best nutrient-dense first foods are egg yolk, liver and lamb's brains (!). I love that throughout this chapter are ideas for how to make food for baby out of what you are cooking for yourself so you don't have to double up on cooking.

As the book (and the Early Childhood Centre) suggest, my son's first food was a root vegetable. I decided to start with sweet potato because, hello, sweet potatoes are amazing. But assuming he continues to enjoy his first veggies I'll work some egg yolk into the veggies soon.

Picking up sweet potato from the Manly Food Co-op.

The author also suggests enriching the foods with ghee or coconut oil in order for the baby to better assimilate the vitamins and minerals. I opted for just a tiny amount of coconut oil so as not to worry about dairy for now.


I roasted a sweet potato rubbed with coconut oil (both from the Manly Food Co-op) in the oven until a fork went easily through it. After it was cooled I scooped the flesh into a small saucepan (and ate the delicious skins myself - yum!) and pureed with a drop of coconut oil and a bit of cooled boiled water using a stick blender.


By all accounts I'd call it a success. He certainly made the initial, "What is this?!" face of confusion-slash-disgust, but soon enough was grabbing for the spoon to chew on and lick himself.

The experience was as delightfully messy as you could imagine!
Though you can't see it all that well, he is wearing a cardigan that was
hand-knit by our neighbour's mother - so kind and gorgeous and warm!
And his bib is a fabulous secondhand item from our dear friends. 

Only time will tell if I continue to make all his meals - I quickly learned how full my days are caring for this little munchkin - but I certainly think this book will give me the necessary guidance and recipes as I get started.

Does your little one have any favourite foods that I should try?

In my excitement I forgot to photograph this with the food in it - part of
the adorable Love Mae bamboo dining set that hubby bought when I was
pregnant. I cannot believe we are already using it.

xxLisa