Tuesday, June 10

Yummy bites for little tummies



Let me start by saying that I ate jarred baby food. Every one in my family did, too. And none of us grew an extra leg or started laying eggs or anything else weird like that.
And I had no problem with the thought of feeding the same to my own child until I read a magazine article about homemade baby food.
The one line that was seared into my brain?
"Most processed baby foods have been on the shelf longer than your child has been alive."
Or something like that. The point is that I got totally grossed out and immediately jumped on the Homemade Baby Food Wagon and never looked back.
Buttercup's first foods were pureed sweet potatoes and avocado. She absolutely loved them, and still does. But let's face it. As kids get older, the need for variety becomes greater. So what do you do to keep things fresh (in both senses of the word?)I like to refer to the baby or toddler bistro boxesby Christina E. Schmidt, who has a Masters of Science in Nutrition. (Impressive, I know.)
Think of it as a book cleverly designed as a flash card system in a box for Moms who want to make their own baby food.
Only have time to read one card before you are called to scrub crayon off the wall(again) or change a dirty little diaper? Great, just finish up your card and set it back in the handy box. You can pick up later where you left off. Easy as that.
The Bistro Boxes are complete in the sense that each card provides basic info like when to introduce solids, what foods to avoid, the feeding habits of toddlers, shopping tips, and very yummy sounding recipes like Grants Pumpkin Custard and Maize and Manzana Mush.

Even better, each card is color coded by age, so there's no fumbling for the right recipe. And instead of having to take the time to write out a shopping list, it's a cinch to just drop the shopping tips cards into my diaper bag and I'm out the door.
The box sets are sold separately, but it's totally worth the $27.95 a piece. With the Baby set covering the first year and the Toddler taking Mom all the way to age three, buying both as a set would make a great gift idea for new moms.
Still reading? Sweet.
This is a two in one contest post. Just leave me a berrie (read: comment)telling me if you are interested in the Baby or the Toddler Bistro Box and why. One winner will be selected for each product at midnight (EST) on June 17.
Want an extra entry? You can earn one by blogging about the contest and then coming back to let me know!
Good luck and happy eating.

8 comments:

Ashley said...

What a great product! My son, who is 2, is very hard to please in the food category. This would benefit him and I very much!

Bunny B said...

Awesome! I'd love to win the Baby one as my sis is expecting soon :)
Thank you!

bunnybox9 at gmail . com

Stacey Moore said...

would love to win the baby one as my bf is expecting next month!
thanks!
moore.g at insideconnect.net

Anonymous said...

Oh the toddler one would be perfect.

saraladkins@gmail.com

April said...

I fed my youngest homemade baby food. In her entire life, she's only had one jar of processed baby food and that was in a semi-emergency at daycare.

It was sooo easy! At that time, I was a single mom with a 9 yr old, a 12 yr old and a baby and I still managed to do it. I just cooked for her when I cooked our meals, used a cheap food processor, froze it all in ice cube trays, then popped the cubes into those little Glad containers to take to daycare.

I highly recommend it. You don't have to have any kind of "cooking talent" nor do you need any expensive special equipment or foods.

One tip...a drop or two of lemon juice will keep the fruits from browning and won't affect the taste.

Pauline said...

So Crazy Mom, are ya entering?
If not, I really appreciate the tips. I actually prefer the fruit to brown, though. The way I look at it, a brown banana puree is normal. A bright yellow jarred serving of banana? yuck.
:)

April said...

Ya know, I was just thinking this weekend, if my daughter manages to carry this baby to term, I should probably start entering some baby-related giveaways. ;)

Sure, I'm in. I'll come back tomorrow and enter some of the other ones and write a blog post about them.

Pauline said...

Well, that is one official entry for That Crazy Mom.
And good luck and happy wishes for your daughter.