Organic Recipes for Ages 8 - 10 Months

I did my best to feed my daughter only organic foods also,but as you mentioned, there is a very limited selection in pre-prepared baby foods. I ended up making nearly ALL of her foods myself. It wasn't nearly as big a job as it would seem (especially if I made a bunch and froze it in little cubes for later!).

Here are a few great sites that I hope help you out :o)

http://weelicious.com/index.php
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
http://freshbaby.com/healthy_eating/6to8.cfm

D.,
When my little ones were starting to eat solid table foods I got them a self feeder,I can't remember what it was called but it had a small mesh bag that you could unscrew and fill with frozen fruit, and it had a handle at the other end so that baby could hang on to it. It was great! Especially when they were teething, that cold fruit on their sore gums. They may be a bit young for this yet, but I thought I would mention it.

D.,
When my kids were that age I took the foods we ate and blended them up. When I was a kid my mom had a hand food grinder that she made all the baby food from you could change the blades and it was a hand crank. When my boys were little I couldn't find one like mom had so I bought a electric hand grinder with different blades so I could change the texture of the food. The thing is if you can mimick the texture of the stage 3 foods or come close you can make your own. For example green beans if you put butter and some seasoning on them then season them and grind them to where they can eat them or cut them up small enough for them to eat..I found it really didn't take much more time to make there food along with mine and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Just a couple of extra mins. Good luck just remember you know what they can handle and make the foods to there ability every child is different.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

This site rocks for recipes that are easy to do yourself. When you make stuff, just make a bunch and put it in ice cube trays to freeze, pop them out once they're frozen and stick the cubes in a zip-loc. Then you can thaw what you need when you need it and not have to cook EVERY day!

Whatever you do, don't rush it. If they are gagging on it, don't give it to them again for a few weeks. At 10 months, food is just practice & fun anyways - not the source of nutrition. The main source of nutrition should still be either breastmilk or formula. At 10 months, my baby girls favorite foods were sweet potatoes, green beans & pears. If you get the canned pears - they are plenty soft enough for them to mush up in their mouths already.

D.,

Here is an article you might want to check out:
http://www.grist.org/feature/2007/09/19/recipes/

I did a search online with the words "organic toddler food recipes" and came up with a number of hits.

Just remember you can take any of the recipes you find for stage three foods and substitute organic ingredients. My son has food intolerances and I have learned to think outside the box. Just because a recipe is not exactly the way you want it doesn't mean you can't adapt it to work for your family.

I think you are doing a great thing for your children. Good luck with your search!

My friend gave ma a good book called Simply Natural Baby Food by Cathe Olson. Good luck!

I agree there is not much variety in stage 3 food - organic or the regular baby food..

I bought the smallest pasta that I could find... and cooked it to well done and added that to a stage 2 dinner.

I also did the same with rice . I added extra water to the rice so it would be softer and then added a tablespoon of the rice to a jar of stage 2 dinners.

My son (14 months) still doesnt care much for veggies... but if your kids do.. you can also add well done pieces of veggies to their stage 2 baby food dinners..

-- it is not organic.. but Kraft cheese crumbles( sold next to the shredded cheese bags) is a great finger food.. and you dont have to cut it up.. just the right size..

I got The Petit Appetit Cookbook: Easy, Organic Recipes to Nurture Your Baby and Toddler (Paperback)
by Lisa Barnes to help me. You can find it on Amazon and if you do a search for "organic cooking for baby" you'll find a couple more. But I must admit once I got used to introducing the baby foods, I didn't really keep with the recipes as my daughter grew to a toddler. I just used it for taste combination ideas... Mashed beans with jogurt is still a hit, also firm tofu boiled for 5 min. and cubed, steamed veggies (zucchini, peas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, corn), different breads, and lots of fruit. :o) We do give her some of our foods a bit too, but she tends to like the things she can feed herself easily. Good luck!

Tasty Baby makes stage 3 organic foods. I know they sell them at Papa Joes...

D. I make all my own food - I use a lot of crock pot food just blend it in a blender to desired consistency! My little guy loves the leftover chicken with potates and carrots or squash or beef or whatever we eat!!! I use ice cube trays and make the stew then make just veggies in another batch then the grain (millet barley oat brown rice whatever) in another batch and then I cut up fresh fruit and steam or just blend so we have TONS of mix and match choices for our 12 month old - ALL organic :)

Try the website www.wholesomebabyfood.com I found it very helpful when trying to find recipes for my little man. Good luck.

I understand completely. My son was born almost a month early and he has been delayed in many areas, including food. He is 12.5 months now and we are still working on stage 3 foods. He is getting pretty good with them now and can eat little half slices of banana. :-)

I use my food chopper. I just throw in well cooked veggie(s) of choice and some water or milk. The more liquid you add the thinner the consistancy will be. I usually push down the chopper plunger 100 times to make sure it is well blended. You can also use a food processor or blender. I like the chopper because I can take any family recipe and add liquid. So just make whatever you like that is organic (fruit, veggie, or recipe). Just make sure that it isn't a pre-packaged meal (lasagna). Prepackaged meals tend to have LOTS of preservatives and/or MSG. These are bad for baby. Make sure your fruit is cooked as well unless it is naturally VERY soft (like banana).

You can buy any organic raw fruits and veggies and cook them so they are really soft and mash them with a fork or cut them in small chunks. sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, banana, apples, pears, beans (black, pinto), whole grains. Most of these foods can be found at a whole food store. You can also try full fat yogurt and cottage cheese.
blessings, K.

Buy a food processor and make your own food. My daughter is 12.5 months and is still eating some step 2 foods, but generally I feed her fresh fruits and veggies cut up really small. It is easy to boil food and smash it up too.

Since they were premies... how early were they? That will have an effect on what they can handle..which is most likely why they are having a bit of trouble with things right now. However, if they can rake things to them and get it into their mouths, then they are ready to try.

www.wholesomebabyfood.com has some good suggestions. Honestly, we never did purees... I just started with soft cooked vegetables like broccolli, cauliflowers, asparagus (white), zuchinni etc... steam them a little longer then what I would for myself .. and then let them have at it. Babies tend to do very well with things that are stick shaped, or have a natural handle...like brocolli. It's easy for them to hold when the pincer grasp isn't in perfect working order yet.

Honestly, I would just try different things that you are eating. You can make your foods organic too! Just stay away from allergens.... egg whites (egg allergies are typically from the protein in the whites of the egg ... so srambled egg yolk is great! My daughter loves it.) honey, nuts, berries etc.... until age appropriate.

Also, organic yogurt is good. You can find YoBaby organic yogurt in most grocery stores. They even have a plain variety to start out. We actually started with the pear and peach types ... just recently moved to the blueberry as my daughter will be 1 tomorrow.

Good luck!

Hi, there is a great cookbook called whole foods for babies and toddlers available on the La Leche League web site.

I made 90% of my daughter's food. Stage one we just cooked the safe veggies and blended them with water or formula until SMOOTH. As she got ready for more texture, I just used a food processor instead of a blender. Once she could eat chunks I would give her petite peas, chuncks of squash or sweet potato, tofu, cooked beans, bananas, basically anything mushy. Just be sure the fresh stuff is organic when you buy it, and cook with distilled water.

My daughter LOVES all fruits, and many vegetables, Bread, and most regular table foods as long as they're easy enough to chew (just getting our first molar). Everyone is amazed at how well she eats, but all I did was make sure I didn't feed her junk foods. I kept her diet vegan vegetarian, now she eats whatever we do (we're lacto-ovo vegetarian) and loves fresh stuff.

As far as recipes go, you just need to cook the vegetable until its tender and then mash, chop or fix however you'd like them to eat it. There is quite a bit of natural sugar in the foods already, so they'll probably think its a sweet treat. :)

Best wishes

At 10 months, you should be able to give him what you eat, as long as it doesn't have any of the common under 1 year old allergens (i.e. honey, cows milk, nuts, chocolate, etc.) and you cut it small enough and it is tender enough. Plus kids love to eat what mom and dad eat. Yup, just pick the same recipies you use. It is also a lot cheaper in the long run! Wow, just read you have twins, definatly would be cheaper, and more variety. And you don't have to make seperate things, they are a part of the family, let 'em eat with ya :)

you could try really ripe (organic) avacodos, or (organic) tofu for some SOFT protein choices. my (3) kids loved both--and they are very easy to "chew".