Mr. Cuisinart

At Madilyn's four month well baby check, the doctor told us that we could start slowly introducing Madi to solid foods once she started sitting up on her own.  Well, she really started mastering that skill about a month ago.  So, off I went to the market to buy some Gerber baby food.  We are busy people and it was fast and convenient.  This trend lasted only a little while until one evening when Josh was feeding Madi and he decided to taste her food.  His critique was that it was bland, boring and tasteless. 

Thus was born Mr. Cuisinart.  He decided that he could make better tasting baby food than what we were currently feeding her with our steamer and Cuisinart.  I was supportive, yet skeptical.  We both work long days and when we get home at night, we are tired and barely find time to make ourselves a homemade dinner, let alone her.  However, once Josh got this idea into his brain, there was no changing his mind and he was ready to get started.  

I still had one little hesitation.  Where would we store all of this baby food once he starts making it?  Homemade baby food only lasts about two days in the refrigerator and there is no way our little monster would be able to eat all of the food that Josh wanted to make her in two days.  Josh's solution was that we would place it in ice cube trays in the freezer.  That sounded like a viable option, but messy, not very sanitary, and not BPA free.  So, I found a solution -- Baby Cubes.  Josh agreed that this looked like a good solution and quickly purchased about four dozen.  Then, he ran out to Sprouts to buy "organic" fruits and vegetables.  He was a steaming and blending fool. 

At first, Josh started with the simple recipes, like steamed carrots, green beans, fresh mangos, and peaches.  After a week of what he now refers to the "boring" fruits and vegetables, he bought a book called the Top 100 Baby Purees.  It is amazing how good some of these "baby food" recipes sound.  Here are just a few of the gourmet creations that Josh started making for Madi:

• Potato, carrot and corn
• Chicken with sweet potato and apple
• Banana and cherries
• Pear, squash and carrots

Then, when she gets a little older, he is excited to start making even more advanced recipes like these:

• Carrot, cheese and tomato risotto
• Mashed potato and carrot with broccoli and cheese
• Chicken with tomato and rice

They sound like pretty tasty meals to us!  We may just have to join her.  So far, our little baby girl loves everything that we feed her.  She happily eats anything and everything.  It make mealtime a lot of fun. 

Here are a couple of photos of Josh as Mr. Cuisinart:

Creating and blending ...

Doesn't look too appetizing, does it?

The Final Product in "Baby Cubes"

Josh tasting the "fruits" of his labor ...