Thursday, November 05, 2009

Inspired in the kitchen

When my daughter was a few months old, I went to a baby food class to get some ideas on what to feed her. I was very intent on making all of her food from scratch. It was a great experience: I learned about how to combine a lot of different foods to form the best nutrition. Now, my daughter didn't always appreciate my efforts when she was starting out, but I sure as heck had a lot of fun making her food!

The same company offers a "stage 2" class, for babies who are nine months old and up. My son is eight months old now, and I thought I'd take the workshop as a refresher, since he'll be entering the next stage of eating very soon.

Well, no one else showed up to the workshop so it was just me and the instructor! It was a private session, which was really neat.

Anyway, we talked about a ton of different foods to try out: not just for the baby, but for the whole family! I pride myself on being really knowledgeable when it comes to nutrition (yes, I know that seems a bit ironic seeing as I have weight issues), but I still managed to get a whole bunch of meal and snack ideas. Also, in a few weeks, I have a whole bunch of healthy ideas as to what I'm going to add to my son's food: lentils, quinoa, rice puffs, etc. I also came home with a bag of organic apricots to cook and puree for him - delish!

The experience also reminded me that it's easy to forget about how processed certain foods can be. When my daughter was a baby, I would always buy organic "cheerios" for her to eat: no added sugar or chemicals. I've gotten a bit lazy since then, and she eats regular cheerios now. Honestly, there's no reason for it. I found a box of Breakfast O's that are so much more wholesome, and brought some home.

Anyway, it made me feel excited about getting in the kitchen and experimenting a bit. I'm looking forward to all of the interesting textures my son will try out in a few weeks!

My daughter's snack when she comes home from school today: organic rice cakes (with dulse, which is extremely nutritious!) drizzled with tahini butter. And some organic pear slices on the side.

My lunch today: whole wheat wrap with spicy hummus, avocado, and tomato with a side of sliced red peppers and an organic apple.

My fingers are tingling just typing that. Doesn't good food make you feel awesome?

6 comments:

Rebecca said...

I think its great you make your own baby food!

and how neat, your own little private session!

Venus said...

That is interesting. I am studying to be a nutritionist at the moment, and since Ive had 4 kids I Thouhgt about running baby food classes when I qualify.

nic said...

your good food makes me wish I had awesome good food.

What an interesting class! I am going to see if there is something like that around here.

janet said...

Private lesson, that's great! It's so much fun introducing the kids to yummy wholesome food, isn't it?!

Sheridan said...

wow, where do you find the time? My son was lucky, he was raised by a friend and his grandma and both loved cooked so everything was made from scratch. My daughter is looked after by my MIL who has the most fabulous kitchen but only uses the microwave, so my daughter is raised on Kids Cuisine micromeals! At home I try feeding her different things, I'm afraid she only wants what's given to her during the week, which is normal if it's what you are used to. Sometimes I'll make some meals ahead for her and take them to my MIL who says she wont touch it and ends up cooking her the microwave meal, so it's a battle and I'm just sitting and waiting, hoping she'll grow out of it and eventually will learn to enjoy more wholesome foods. At least she is starting to snack along with many of my whole grain snacks, so who knows!

MAMA P said...

Good food makes all the difference and is so much more satisfying!