Labor of Love

About two weeks ago, I noticed Ollie starting to refuse baby food. He would get distracted. I didn't want to force the issue because he had the "mystery illness." Last week, he quit the stuff -cold turkey. I thought he just wasn't taking solids from me because when he had been sick I let him nurse nonstop.


This week he's not the least bit interested in ANYTHING he can't pick up himself. It took a few days, but I'm over the shock. I milled T's food up until at LEAST 11 months. It was probably around the year mark that I let him start eating things on his own. I mean he wasn't eating pureed foods, but...

I just know how much nutrition I can shove in to home made from scratch baby food. It kills me that he's refusing the organic, wholesome, cubes I've got tucked in to the bottom drawer of the freezer. So....


There was an entire pot of beef (fillet cut, of course) and veggie soup I made the night before. I thought I'd try and shove it in to a pancake. Why? Earlier that day, John had given Eli one of Turner's pancakes (with spinach and blueberry). At first, I freaked out because it had chocolate and a bit of added stevia. But, Eli gobbled it up so fast I thought he dropped it!


Trader Joe's Baking Mix is my absolute favorite for making pancakes. I used the broth from the soup instead of milk, added some of the already pureed beef and finely chopped the veggies. So far, they're going over well. The way I figure, it's more than he'd be getting if he were feeding him self. There's no way he'd be able to chew up the beef with just two molars. I'm pretty proud of my little idea!


On the griddle right now: carrot, sweet potato and apple pancakes. In the dry mix is also wheat germ, ground chia seeds, cinnamon, allspice and ground ginger. I just tasted the first batch and they were super bland. I just added a bit of brown sugar (since my agave nectar, stevia and more random things are still somewhere in the garage in the missing food box). I also added a bit of milk because the chia seeds are soaking up all the liquid! Oh, the apple, sweet pots and carrots were cubes of food that were already pureed.


Next up:

Spinach & Blueberry with silken tofu, chia and wheat germ

Chicken -but maybe in a "crab" cake form?


Food wise, I'm just letting him test his limits. It's just hard, though, figuring out the finger foods or whether or not he's eaten enough x, y, or z for the day. I am still offering the pureed stuff, just because it's going to go to waste if I don't do something with it.


Sigh, pancakes are up...