FROZEN BABY FOOD?
This bolg article can also be read at DC Metro Moms. I’m a contributor…it’s a great site!
My son turned four last week. When he was a baby, I did what a lot of us did and fed him baby food from a jar. I went through a couple of different brands, and he was a great eater and that was it. (It did not OCCUR to me to make him homemade baby food.)
I made sure I introduced all different meats, proteins and vegetables and fruits and my son was happy and healthy… and still is.
I think it’s evident by now that I don’t have a cooking blog. I have never written a cookbook and in just the past year have started using cookbooks. So basically- I’m not a gourmet.
But I am a concerned mom and I just recently learned that things have changed in baby food (like everything else within the baby industry). For moms with BABIES – there are some new options out there for you.
First of all: I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. I am simply a mom.
My brother and sister-in-law had a little boy almost a year ago. Like I mentioned before- things have changed and improved. It is already a different world in terms of baby products and options and things to make your life easier. Bumbos didn’t exist when I had my son; my sister-in-law’s baby monitor looks like it is out of STAR WARS (yes, I’m dating myself). And there is frozen baby food now.
Frozen baby food? Yes. Moms have developed it and it is good for your baby because freezing baby food preserves the nutrients too. I’m passing on a couple of mom-based frozen baby food brands that I have heard of…
The first is HappyBaby. One of the famous Dr. Sears, Dr. Robert Sears, works with them in developing their baby food. I must self-disclose and tell you my sister-in-law is now a Community Marketing Specialist for HappyBaby; this is only AFTER she started feeding HappyBaby to my nephew and he loved it. She was also excited by the fact of feeding her son frozen baby food that was the same as the homemade baby food she was constantly making.
The next mom-based brand is a Northern Virginia Mom Brand- Mom Made Foods! It’s easy to find out where to buy it around town on their website… Both brands have good websites and provide tons of nutritional information.
Hope this helps someone out there!
This seems like a good idea that is gaining steam. It’s hard to believe the changes and developments with child development in just a few short years…
If this whole discussion is a given, a retread of many discussions, or even passé because everyone else in this country has been feeding their babies frozen baby food forever… my apologies for having my head in the clouds, or rather, in the toilet… pottytraining consumed my world until a few months ago… more on that in another blog.
And in your quest to give your baby the healthiest food, the safest carseat, the most educational toys and the most cultural experiences…
May The Force Be With You.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
This time of year is perfect for reflection and giving thanks…
Thank you for wonderful family and wonderful friends,
Tacky decorations and solemn amens.
Thank you for cookies and thank you for cakes,
And all other holiday goodies… for goodness sakes!
Thank you for Santa and thank you for elves,
And thank you for thinking of more than ourselves.
Thank you for giving and receiving cool things,
And all the joy this season brings.
Thank you for the promise of a perfect 2008,
And the fullfulment of resolutions that people make!
GOOEY COOKIES
This blog article can also be read at DC Metro Moms. I’m a contributor… it’s a great site!
I wasn’t kidding the other day when I questioned how to make cookies stay gooey, or even soft, and therefore edible…
My cookies resemble bricks.
I’ve never been a big cookie maker. It just never occurred to me to bake my own cookies when I can buy great ones from the Giant bakery…
Is that wrong?
Now, my son has his own baking set, complete with rolling pin, whisk, cookie cutters and cookie sheet and he LOVES to bake cookies because we get down on the floor of the kitchen and mix up all the ingredients and cut out the cookies on a sheet.
Yes, the sheet is on the floor… but the cookies are on the sheet, so they don’t touch the floor…
No, you don’t have to sample any cookies when you come over!
We’ve been baking a lot lately, producing lots of hard, almost candy-like cookies.
My son doesn’t even want to eat them. He just likes baking them.
And then, a breakthrough- soft cookies, like a grandmother makes!
I did it! I found out the secret to soft cookies!
How you ask?
I mentioned my desire to know the magical formula to tender cookies to my mother-in-law. How does one achieve the wanted texture? How do I make cookies that don’t harden enough to hurt the teeth?
What’s the rub- practice?… a secret ingredient?… maybe just more of an ingredient, like butter?
My mother-in-law looked at me and very matter-a-factly said, “Oh, just cook them a minute or two less than the instructions say to.”
What? Are you kidding? That’s it?
So I tried it… and it worked.
So… I feel good for succeeding in my discovery of good cookie making.
But on the other hand- Man, do I feel silly!
This is not a physics theorem. This is not hard. Does everyone know this?
Am I the only one who DIDN’T know this?
Wow.
But, regardless of how non-chef-like I feel, I am now inspired. My next venture- CAKES!
HOLIDAY BABIES
This blog article can also be read at DC Metro Moms Blog. I’m a contributor…it’s a great site!
Ahhh, Christmas cards, holiday baking, presents… birthday parties to plan.
Birthday parties?
I’m alluding to the extra ‘fun’ predicament of having a child around the holidays. My son was born exactly one week before Christmas. If you have already leaned closer to your computer screen – you definitely have a holiday baby. And you are awesome! Good job getting everything and everyone in your family taken care of this time of year
AND making your child feel special all at the same time! I know, I’m indirectly complimenting myself… But holiday mommies need a little pep talk this time of year!
I never thought about the ins and outs of the December birthday; I’m a June birthday (good planning, Mom) and my husband is a July birthday (nice planning, Mom-In-Law). But now I have a different worldview- and we’ve made the decision… (drumroll, please) to decorate for Christmas the 19th, the day AFTER my son’s birthday this year.
It is a big decision but one my son seems to think is very logical. Okay, he’s three. But it’s his special day and this is what he wants. He is incredibly excited for his birthday this year because as he once again, logically puts it, “I’m turning Four!”
So we have up no decorations. He doesn’t care. And we’re lucky enough that my husband is taking off that next day, the 19th. We’re getting up and going out and getting a tree, bringing it home and we’ll be garlanded, wreathed, ornamented and mistletoed by lunchtime.
It could be more of a logistical nightmare- I know a wonderful young mom who had HEALTHY twins last Christmas Eve. When we all heard, every other mom around said, “What a special Christmas gift!” I thought so too, but secretly my next thought was, “That’s going to be logistically tough.”
Another friend of mine has four of her five children’s birthdays within a month span, starting the first week in December… and her husband’s too.
I don’t know if I feel guilty about not decorating now OR if I think I should feel guilty. It’s an experiment. We’ll see how it goes.
Since becoming a ‘holiday mommy’ I’ve quickly learned I’m not alone. I have gotten great advice from everyone and anyone who is born or has a child born this time of year. Most importantly, I’ve learned to make your child’s birthday completely separate from Christmas… if you can. And just make your little guy or gal feel special.
I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR Tips, Advice, Rookie Mistakes and Success Stories from ‘holiday babies’ moms’ out there! Every holiday mom I have ever spoken to has a story!
It is a busier than usual time of year to plan a birthday, but I would have taken my little guy on any day of the year!
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