Green Bean, take 2

Although Buttercup is only 8 months old and still has no teeth, she has already graduated to eating "proper" meals, meaning she pretty much eats the exact same things Hubby and I eat for dinner (see latest tweet about importance of family meals). The only exception to Buttercup eating what we eat is if there is a milky sauce of some sort (milk can cause all sorts of problems until baby's guts mature near age 1). My next four posts are all from the same dinner. She had:

• salmon, pan-fried in olive oil, garlic, black pepper, lime juice
• sauteed green beans (from the garden)
• sauteed carrot shreds
• couscous, with red onions, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, and olive oil

Her first experiment with green bean was not too successful. It was difficult for her to bite the bean apart. Also, it was her third meal, so it's not like she really knew what the heck she was doing yet. I've mentioned green beans in passing since then, but wanted to do an official post on this great veggie.

These green beans were from my garden, but the difference is that they'd been blanched and frozen, whereas the others were picked fresh and steamed. I think that combined with the sauteeing made them more squidgey than other green beans I'd given Buttercup. At any rate, she ate 2 or 3 full beans in addition to her other offerings.

PROS: sauteeing makes for softer beans

CONS: none

Fish

I made pan-fried tilapia fillets (with a corn meal/flour coating), smashed potatoes and green beans (from my garden!). I was thinking about what to give Buttercup for dinner when I thought, "What the heck! I'll just give her what we're having!" That's one of the main advantages to BLS, right? So, Buttercup had her first taste of fish, and her first multi-food meal.

She loved it all. This kid must have been adopted. I didn't have tilapia for the first time until I was 21. In fact, I think my only experience of fish until college was canned tuna and frozen fish sticks. I'm so happy that Buttercup is getting to try so many different things and is developing a love of healthy food. It warms the cockles of my heart. And I'm SOOO relieved that she isn't picky...

I digress. Buttercup enjoyed the green beans more than her last try of them. I steamed them a bit longer and I think that made the difference. I cut the smallest tilapia fillet into four long strips. She managed the pieces pretty easily. The only challenge for her was the little end bits that were cooked a bit crispier than the rest. I should have cut those off first. Challenges aside, she probably swallowed a third of the fish I gave her. The potatoes were a bit more of a challenge, as I anticipated they would be. I tried giving her a pre-loaded spoon of them, but she wasn't interested. She did managed to pick up a few fistfuls and squish it into her gob. I was proud.

PROS: Omega-3 = brain food

CONS: Watch out for the tough end bits, which are harder for baby to "chew"

Broccoli and green bean

I decided to do some green veggies for this meal. I don't want Buttercup to have a sweet tooth. I've read that babies are actually hard-wired to prefer sweets (especially if they've been breastfed), but I still want her to have a good balance in her diet.

Secondly, I'd read that broccoli makes for a really good first food, as it has built in handles. Also, it's also a good source of iron, which is of some consideration if you're passing on baby cereal (check out the FAQs page for a blurb about baby cereal and iron). I grabbed a green bean out of my garden as an afterthought, mainly to see what Buttercup would do with it. My poor little lab rat...heh heh

I pulled 3 frozen broccoli florets out of the freezer and steamed them along with the green bean.

Before you think I'm horrible person for feeding my baby frozen broccoli I think it's worth noting that most of the time frozen veggies are actually better quality than fresh. They are picked at peak ripeness and frozen within hours, whereas fresh veggies are picked under-ripe and shipped halfway across the country (sometimes world) and sit in the back warehouse of Walmart for several days before the customer brings them home to sit in their fridge for several more days...I digress...Anyway, I let the broccoli and green bean get just soft enough that I thought they'd be easy to gum up, then I let them cool off.

Ok, so I held up a broccoli floret and Buttercup promptly wrapped her fist around it, and shoved it in her mouth. She definitely has this game figured out! But, I was amazed when the broccoli reemerged several seconds later with many of the green knubbly bits missing, presumably down her gullet. When she dropped it she made little frustrated yelling noises until I helped her get it again. I never knew my amazingly calm content baby had an impatient side until we started "real" food! The bean wasn't as much of a success. She chewed on it a bit, made a horrible face, then dropped it. I offered it back and she refused to touch it.

I found little tiny broccoli "leaves" in Buttercup's diaper the next day, which made me chuckle. This is a good time to mention that it is perfectly normal to find seemingly undigested bits of food in baby's diaper when introducing foods. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your baby's digestive system (much to Hubby's relief).

Broccoli -
PROS: very easy to manage and eat, and high in iron
CONS: none!

Green beans -
PROS: nice built-in BLS shape
CONS: a bit difficult to gnaw on