feeding mamatouille's baby

Ice-cubed homemade baby food: turnips, peas, carrots, apples, and prunes

Most mothers in Japan are stay-at-home mommies and they make their babies' food. First of all, it just seems to be more the traditional thing to do here, and also, if you read the labels on the commercial stuff, you'd know why they do it themselves. Not only is it prohibitively expensive, but it's also full of salt and sugar, neither of which I want to put in my little bundle's mouth. There's not a lot of choice here, either, and the stuff you can buy in the store mostly comes as mixtures (such as potatoes and carrots together). But if you're watching for food allergies, especially as you start feeding your baby solids, you want to wait at least a few days in between introducing new foods. I try to do it one at a time, so I make my own, too. You know what you're putting in your child's little tummy and you save money as well.

It's not hard work but it does take planning, energy, and time, and if I was working outside the home I'd probably throw in the towel. It's not rocket science, though - anybody could figure it out, and maybe I'm posting this just for posterity's sake. (Joel, if you're reading this in the future, know that you do like spinach. In fact, you guzzle everything I give you! Mama's amazed! The only thing you don't like is if I don't feed you quickly enough.)

This is the first of a series I'm starting, and each post I'll introduce one or two foods to you that I'm feeding to my little sweetpea. Bon bebe appetit! (I'm just guessing at the French here and hoping I'm not saying something wacky like go out and eat a good baby.)

"Helping" his mama make special baby food in the kitchen