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Giovanna is six months old today. Time does fly. I think a love letter from myself to my daughter is in order. Stay tuned for that one. We plan to begin feeding her solids after her six month doctor’s appointment on Monday. Any first feeding tips from veteran mamas? Please?
In the meantime, I’ve let her taste organic fruits (by taste, I mean suck) and she loves to practice sitting in her new highchair while throwing her toys on the ground.
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On to Tuesday Food Day. The simple peanut butter sandwich is quite underrated. Easy. Scrumptious. Kids love ‘em. Vegan. Good source of fiber. Follow these tips to revolutionize your PB&J and maximize its nutritional value:
- Start with freshly baked whole grain organic bread. I buy mine at the farmer’s market.
- Invest in unsalted organic peanut butter with no additives or preservatives. You’ll be surprised by how much better it tastes. Jiffy = BAD.
- In the summer when fresh berries are plentiful, use these rather than jam or jelly. Infinitely more nutritious and delicious.
- If you (or your kids) like extra sweetness, spread a thin layer of raw organic honey between the peanut butter and the berries.
- Raw unsalted almond butter is a great alternative if you’re sick of peanut butter. If that’s possible.
- Toast the sandwich on a panini grill or in a toaster oven.
- For extra decadence, sprinkle the outside with olive oil before you toast.
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24 Responses to tuesday food day: gourmet PB&J and tips for feeding baby?
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Teas to soothe body and soul.
Button love.
We had good luck with banana mashed with breast milk. And that’s all I remember.
I never would have thought to mash it with breast milk. Thanks for the idea!
We just started Griff last week. Bananas for 4 days, then for the last two we’ve done avocado. This boy LIKES TO EAT! We just fork mash and then add water until it is a liquidy consistency. I could use breast milk except I don’t pump. I am going to make sweet potatoes for him next.
I am using a book called Super Baby Food which is great. I kind of winged it with Michael and he is not a great eater so I am hoping to start Griffin out on a little better road with food.
How exciting that Griff likes to eat! I think Gi will too, but who knows? She certainly likes to taste. I had her lick some avocado the other day and it was a hit. I’ll have to look into that book although I’m also planning on getting lots of info from her doctor (a naturopathic pediatrician). Thanks for sharing your experience, Andrea!
Patience. When we first fed Mckinley food (Organic brown rice was her first option) she HATED it. I mean cried, screamed, bawled, hated it. You would have thought that we were practicing torture techniques on her. She eventually grew to love eating though—now I cannot stop her!
I did seem to think often though that she would never get “it”, “it” being eating in general. She did though! It just took a lot of patience at first! Good luck and I love you PB&J tips…warm PB&J’s have always been a fave of mine!
Eek that sounds stressful! I will definitely keep in mind that I must be patient. Thanks so much for the tips, Melissa.
What kind of tips are you looking for? I make all of H’s food and he can’t get enough of it. I started him on rice cereal and breast milk, then we expanded from there. Make sure that you test everything for 3 days to make sure she doesn’t have any allergies. Let me know if you need any advice!
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I love to hear other people’s experiences. The first food they fed their baby, what their baby liked and didn’t like. Thanks for the tip on testing for 3 days. I am crossing my fingers that she doesn’t have any allergies since I don’t (and neither does hubby), but you never know…
Bread is always more tasty when it is whole grain. Mmmm.
Heidi Walker recently posted..SITSA’s Day!!!
I completely agree!
almond butter is yummy! we are getting crunchier and crunchier around here. No HFCS, preservatives, dyes or yuckies for our son and we are all catching on.
baby…yep, patience. I, too mixed banana with breastmilk. kyran only had fruits, veggies and rice cereal until 12 months.
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Good for you. Crunchy is the way to be! I’ve found that Trader Joe’s is a great place to shop for organic and preservative-free foods, and way cheaper than Whole Foods. I noticed you are also in Washington state, so the odds are good you have a TJ’s around you? Or maybe you are already a Trader Joe’s customer?
I’m going to try the bananas and breastmilk since it seems to be quite popular!
Hey Lucy, I could go for one of those sandwiches right now! That is surely the deluxe kind! I hope all is well! Your daughter is so cute! Happy six months!
Mama Hen
Thanks! Yes, the gourmet PB&J is delicious. My stepson asks for them now
We made alot of our own baby food. I recommend Annabel Karmel’s baby food books. Our kiddo has been raised basically vegetarian because I am a vegetarian and he just prefers fruits and veggies so I look for alot of outside of the box protein options. We are big fans of the pb & j. I would also say encourage your kid to experience food with their hands and work on feeding themselves. I’m not sure if it was us or just the way Indie is, but he refused to touch food until he was about 14.5 months old. It was the saddest first birthday cake experience ever as he just looked at it.
I also agree with the patience. Also, if at first your little one doesn’t like a particular food or texture remember to try try again. Often it’s just that it’s different and they will grow used to it.
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Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I have gone in and out of vegetarianism over the years. Currently, I eat meat very rarely. I’m also minimizing my consumption of all animal products (dairy!) and I will do the same for my daughter. I’ve always preferred beans, grains, and legumes for protein anyways. I cannot wait to introduce my daughter to yummy, plant-based foods. But I promise to have patience, because I keep hearing about babies (like yours) who don’t eat until later. I love nursing, so that wouldn’t bother me so much
Thanks also for book recommendation!
We eat REAL PB, too! I guess choosy moms DON’T choose Jif!
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Good for you. Agreed! REAL peanut butter tastes so much better, too.
We started with avacado – Bubbette loves it still. If it is ripe – it is mushy enough for a six month old. Another staple for us at that age was squash – cubed – boiled and then mashed but not puree’d. Hope that helps!
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I let G lick an avocado the other day and I’m pretty sure she loved it. Such a perfect food for babies! I’ll try the squash too. I didn’t know to mash and not puree. Thanks for tip!
Mungee loves squash and sweet potatoes. I do buy jarred foods, but I am sure she would like the real thing
She also likes peas. And broccoli. She’s a decent eater 
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That’s awesome! I hope my baby likes peas and broccoli. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Glad to see you on WordPress! Yes, I just gave Nya her first solids this week. We began with pureed sweet potatoes and breast milk (I prepared it myself!). She didn’t like it much, but it was fun. I talked about the experience on my blog, here: http://mommyhoodnextright.blogspot.com/2010/07/lessons-learned-and-another-sticky.html
I like the idea, however, of letting her suck on fruits! Also, and I have said it before, your daughter is just too cute!
-Jessica a.k.a Nya’s mom
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I am definitely going to try mixing breast milk with food. This seems to work well for many people. Off to read your post! Thanks for sharing.