Mm-Mm Good

Aiden tried his first green veggies today - peas! He ate them like they were nothing new. And eagerly. Just like almost every single other food he has tried (both things - like they're nothing new and eagerly). Out of all the foods he is now eating, there is ONE that he hasn't been in love with -- pumpkin. I don't really blame him, though. Plain pumpkin isn't all that tasty. It happened to be the one food we had the most of, though. BUT I already had a plan. If he didn't like the pureed pumpkin - we have plenty of it for pumpkin pies (and some other pumpkin desserts that I have recipes for but didn't make this past fall, as planned).

Here's a list of his faves (meaning everything he's tried other than pumpkin!)

• Sweet Potatoes (of course! What baby have you heard of that doesn't like sweet potatoes?? It's like THE baby food!)
• Butternut Squash
• Avocado (yes, it IS green, but it's a fruit - so peas ARE the first green veggie)
• Bananas (another duh)
• Applesauce
• Prunes (oh my! The first time he had a bite of this, I had to feed him three times what I planned b/c he loved it soooo much! Ryan -and Camden!- said to enjoy that diaper when it rolled around. Nice of them...)
• Peas
• Oatmeal (we use steel cut) - esp with bananas or applesauce on the side

Oh, he wasn't a big fan of the rice especially, either. But it really doesn't have much taste to it, so I don't blame him there, either. I'm not a big rice fan myself - not by itself, at least. (But put it with some battered and fried chicken pieces with some red sweet & sour sauce on it - Yum-O.)

I've noticed another pro to making our own baby food. Well, for one, it tastes good (b/c it's just regular food, steamed/baked/etc and pureed) so if he leaves a bite or two, we can eat it, too. But that doesn't often happen. He loves to eat. But the part I was getting at...I eat a tad bit better, too. That's b/c when he eats avocado or banana, he's not eating the whole thing. So, I snack on the avocado some and finish off the banana. I *love* avocado, but nobody else in the house does, so we don't get it much. But now there is another fan!! :) And I go through phases with bananas. I love them, but I'm just not always that into them. I'm like that with yogurt, too; don't know what that's all about. But anyway - a little side benefit for me. :)

I also like the benefit of trying foods on the fly. Like - hey, there are some prunes - how 'bout we puree some of those and see how he likes it?! Not always a lot of thought going into it. We see what we have in the cupboard, freezer, fridge, on the counter, etc and go with it! That's what we did with the peas tonight. Lots-o-fun!