REWIND ... Baby food!

I feel blessed that I have two very good eaters, but I truly don't think it was just luck that made them that way. I certainly can't prove it, but I think a lot of it has to do with how I fed them as babies.

First of all, I breastfed them both until they were 18 months old, which means the taste of my milk was effected by what I was eating (unlike formula, which always tastes the same). They tasted a wide variety of foods before ever eating anything!

When it came time to introduce solids, I relied very little on jarred baby food. I think this is how so many kids get hooked on the taste of processed foods. Whatever we had for a meal, I would adapt so my babies could eat it too (within reason). If we were having chicken, I shredded it up into tiny bits. Fresh veggies were pureed or diced very finely. Same with fruit and grains. They tasted food how it was meant to be tasted from a very young age. Think of it this way - jarred applesauce tastes good, but doesn't exactly taste like a fresh apple.

Homemade baby food is not hard or overly time consuming to make, if you need the convenience of making meals ahead of time. A small food processor is very handy to blend the food to the consistency you want. Pureed food is also very easy to freeze and store - just put it in ice trays, freeze, and put the cubes in freezer bags. Simple! You can make whatever combinations you want as well, instead of the same old stuff Gerber offers. Oh - it is also much cheaper! You will be amazed at how much one butternut squash will make!

So start them off right from the beginning, and let those developing taste buds know what good food tastes like! :)