Food snob

With her feet kicked up!

Nene purchased some jars of baby food for when we got home. Aunt Cece tried to feed them to Parker and whenever she would swallow, she would shutter a bit. We were all cracking up! I can't really blame her, but I thought I would be able to feed her some, especially when we're on the go here. but NOPE! She's not a fan of Hyvee baby food. So this morning I made some sweet potatoes, chicken and squash. I also pureed a bunch of fruits.

What have I done!?!

At least she's cute!

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Back at it again!

But this time I have this handy dandy helper:



Thanks to my mother-in-law. She gave it to me when Parker was first born and I couldn't wait to get it out and start using it!

First up was bananas (which only required a puree)
I also made squash and sweet potatoes in there. It steams, purees and re-heats all in that little container. Pretty cool!


I've got a nice stash going for little Lou Lou and she's slowly warming up to the idea of solids. :-)

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2nd time eating cereal!

We tried cereal a few days ago and it went much better than our first attempt in February. She's actually getting the concept of opening her mouth when she sees the spoon! Oh and swallowing too! And yesterday I mashed up part of a banana and she tried that too!

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To the future spouse of Lane...

I'm sorry! I'm sorry if his skills using utensils to eat are poor. I'm sorry because until now, he has not really taken a whole lot of interest in eating with a spoon. A few months ago he started wanting to hold the spoon while he ate, but no interest in using it...until now. And, until now, I have not tried to push him to use those utensils. I have a feeling I know what's to come. So I was waiting until he was good and ready. And now, he wants to hold the spoon and use it to eat. And sometimes he will let me help him, but sometimes he won't. And sometimes he wants to spear his food with a fork, put it in his mouth, and spit it back out. And sometimes he wants to spear touch Harley with the fork and use it to comb through his fur...lovely. So here begins our utensil journey. Wish us luck!

I would just like to give a shout out to the spicy black bean soup that I made last night and the pomegranate for being a yummy fruit BECAUSE for the first time in oh about 2 weeks, Lane ate something other than a pancake, waffle, bagel, or piece of wheat toast or nothing at all, as his meal. Yay!

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Apparently I don't need to make his food anymore...he goes straight for the food off the counter!

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Prepping for FALL and FOOTBALL

Purees are becoming a thing of the past. He will still eat them in his cereal in the morning, but for lunch and dinner he would rather eat finger food. In an attempt to finish up the remaining purees I have in my freezer I got creative! I made baked apples and added sweet potatoes and squash for {a little nutrients} and a taste of fall. It smelled so good in our house yeserday!

I tutored last night, but Matt gave them to him as part of his dinner and apparently he liked them! How could you not...baked apples with cinnamon and brown sugar...YUM


And if you've been following...you know I am a little anxious for fall. You can't blame me! When summer temps. begin in March and April...by August you would be ready for 70's and 80's too! Like this morning...we went to the gym around 9 and it was a glorious 80* with a little breeze...felt awesome!

Anyway, fall=football and in preparation for a few games that we hopefully will be attending of Uncle Luke's (GO North Central!) we started this:

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Since he is a pro at 'so big' it wasn't hard for him to catch on.

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Banana-Cado Mousse

If you're like me you always have bananas laying around and at least an avocado or two. I wanted to share with you a really simple snack for adults or kids or great breakfast for infants/toddlers. It's really simple. If your bananas are a little too over ripe to just eat this a great and easy way to still make use out of them.

Bananas and avocado are really easy baby food to make for your baby as well because they don't involve steaming and peeling...well not the kind of peeling an apple or peach requires!

Anyway, put 1, 2, 3 (or how ever many you want) bananas into a blender, then scoop out some avocado and add it. Last add some vanilla yogurt, blend and voila! you have banana-cado mousse!

I made this for Lane this morning for breakfast and I used 2 bananas and 2 avocado and one yo!baby vanilla yogurt. I also mixed in some of his oatmeal and it made the perfect breakfast. It's obviously super healthy as well with all the potassium from the bananas and avocados contain "good fat" which is good for brain and physical development! And just a fun and interesting tid-bit:

Avocados are often called one of nature's perfect foods because they are said to contain everything a person needs to survive.


He ate 2 bowls of this.

Just for good measure, using 2 bananas and 2 avocado allowed 2 bowls for Lane this morning and 2 ice cube trays to freeze.

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How to get your baby to eat broccoli and LOVE IT

I have been cooking for 2 days...but the funny part is when Matt came home last night and asked what's for dinner...I said "I don't know!" I have been cooking for Lane and made some yummy dishes. Among other things...Cheesy Broccoli balls! They are so good...I had one for lunch yesterday. Lane had TWO!

Would he smile this BIG if they were gross??? I don't think so!

*Disclaimer* No Daddies were starved in the process of cooking for Lane. We made kabobs on the grill and long grain and wild rice!

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FOOD

It's what I've been thinking about these past 3 days. Since Sunday I have been cooking, mashing, baking, mixing, researching, and really just having fun experimenting! I was really in a food rut lately...namely a Lane food rut. And plus, I bought jars to bring home and ended up throwing a good portion of them away. He shuns the jarred food....don't get me wrong....he LOVED the fruits and ate them all up, but any veggie, pasta, chicken, rice combo, he didn't really want any part of. Which I don't blame him....they are so bland!

Anyway, we've met some friends a.k.a. Lane's twin separated at birth. They are 3 days apart, blond and bald as can be (if you can believe it, Lane has MORE hair than his friend, is this possible?) Anyway, she makes her own baby food too and we got to talking Friday night at Main St. Jazz and she re-inspired me! Oh and by the way...we have a play date with them so I will be sure to get a picture of these guys! And proof that Lane has more hair than someone!


So anyway, Lane is becoming a little picky. He has a texture thing. And if it's something not recognizable he will barely get it in his mouth before he wants to spit it out. So I have to be creative these days. For instance I threw some green beans and broccoli in a banana, blueberry, kiwi puree. He ate it up for breakfast the other day. SUCCESS!


I also made my version of baby lasagna (minus tomato sauce, but still yummy!)using a muffin pan. That way the portions are already just his size. I made a spinach souffle (that I would make for Matt and I as a side for dinner it was so good) using the muffin pan. He turned his nose up at it the first time, but he gobbled some for lunch today. SUCCESS #2!

And I am still working on how to get him to eat the chicken and peach with rice dish. I did puree it, but he's still not digging it. I'm thinking some sweet potatoes or squash will get his approval. Because last night Matt gave him the Chicken broccoli pasta dish and with a bar of sweet potatoes he devoured it! So that's what's been going on in our world these days.

I also made some hummus for him that I spread on a bagel or english muffin. He likes! I made a roasted red pepper hummus for us and I've been eating that for lunch (the past 3 days) on a whole wheat pita with some provolone, sliced tomatoes and spinach. Can you say YUMMMY! I think that's all for now. If you want any of the recipes, let me know. I don't really feel like typing them unless someone is interested...just e-mail or comment!

And for all my loyal readers....ahem...all 11 of you...you probably signed on to see Mr. Lane and not read about our diets. But too bad because in 3 years when I want to know what we ate for lunch on June 23rd 2009...I have proof! After all, that's what this blog is for, oh and um it's also for the grandmas, grandpas, aunts, and uncles to see their favorite little buddy!


I leave you with something that he DOES APPROVE of going in his mouth as long as Papa feeds it to him:

Mott's frozen juice....compliments of Aunt Maria!

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It's what Saturday mornings are made of....

An egg yolk and cheese omelet prepared by Daddy

The patient customer.

The Satisfied customer.

Rounded off by some VeggieTales! (Well the introduction song at least and then someone had to get down to play)

Lane is really broadening his food horizons and he is a HUGE breakfast fan. So this morning Matt decided to make him an omelet (egg yolk only, babies under 1 aren't supposed to have the whites. I don't know why, that's what I read, but I think it has to do with allergies!) It reminded me of my childhood Saturday mornings where we would enjoy breakfast made by Dad. (Which he still is the breakfast-maker in the house and when I told him Lane eats sweet potato pancakes, he couldn't wait to make some of his famous pancakes for him!) And of course... I remember watching cartoon upon cartoon upon cartoon with my sister! How fun! And Lane did enjoy breakfast, but he's not so into TV, which is fine by me...he'd rather play and explore the house instead. So Matt enjoyed this moment and then spent the rest of the morning chasing him around the house!

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The REAL Housewife of Greenville County

So I declare on cloudy days it's ok to stay in your pj's until say....around 1....and if you are a baby, you might go from pj's to bath to pj's again....I'm just sayin'.....

Well, in our quest to stay out of public I shopped at Whole Foods last night without Lane so I can re-stock his food. (Yes it's that time again!) I would say a dinner of acorn squash 2 nights in a row mixed with a random bar of peas here and plums there means it's time to refill the food for the little guy. So being the overcast day it was, I did just that!

By 11 am I had whipped up (baby style of course) Beef (using bison) Stew, Chicken and Apples, Turkey Loaf, and Banana Pancakes just in time for lunch and the awakening of munchkin from his morning nap. So while the purees were freezing, I grabbed a bite to eat, prepared a snack for Lane, listened to some Toddler Tunes (love that new music channel on cable!) and did some serious playing.

He is crazy these days....exploring every nook and cranny in our house. By afternoon nap, I was ready to take on some more cooking....some items on the menu included Sweet Potato Pancakes, mango/apple puree, pumpkin, apricot, peach, plum, bean, and pea purees. Whew! I was busy, but very productive and now Lane won't have to stomach carrots, apples, and something green(?) for breakfast. I was a little nervous because this was my first attempt at pureeing/preparing meat, but it turned out pretty good. We'll have to wait and see how it tastes.

I don't know where the execs from Bravo find their "Real Housewives," but they are obviously waaaay off...THIS is what the life of a REAL housewife looks like:

Food processor, blender, steamer, masher spread about the counter tops waiting to be used, dog under foot, and the baby food factory...Ahem....kitchen....looking anything BUT camera-ready. And behind the lens, an unshowered, pajama-wearing, pony-tailed mama!

I suppose shopping sprees and grand vacations do make for better TV than a messy suburban kitchen, but I'd take this version of reality any day. NOT that I'd turn down a shopping spree....I'm domesticated....not dead!

And just for fun (and Lacey because she's been asking) a video or 2 of the little man doing what he does best!

Disclaimer: This video is probably as about as interesting as watching paint dry to anyone BUT his grandparents and Aunt. :-) Even I found it a little boring....Enjoy!

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