The Infant Culinary Arts

I've had several friends recently ask about my baby food making process so I figured it was time to finally put pen to paper. Disclaimer: we chose to feed Niamh a fairly strict "paleo" diet for the first year of her life. Basically, she consumed nothing but breast milk, organic fruits and veggies, high quality meats and fish, grass-fed butter and cheese (yes, we did some dairy). No grains/rice/sugar/etc. Please talk to your pediatrician about your kiddo's diet if you have any questions/concerns.

I started making Niamh vegetable purees when she was just shy of 5 months old. This is a little earlier than some recommendations, but she began showing many of the signs that she was ready for solids (chewing, curiosity about food, head control, weight gain, etc.) and I knew that it would take her awhile to get the hang of solids before she actually started swallowing her food. Sure enough, the first couple weeks of experimentation consisted of a lot of funny faces, food splatters, and general messiness. Initially, I fixed her purees of things like steamed carrots with some grass-fed butter or sweet potatoes with a little breastmilk. (Be sure to wait a few days in between foods to check for any allergic reactions.)

As she became more comfortable with the texture of solids as well as the process of moving food around in her mouth, I started making more complex purees. By six months, I moved from simple fruit and vegetables to things like chicken thighs with sweet potato and apple. I tried to stick with nutrition-packed darker meats and organ meat (she LOVED chicken livers!) and the highest-quality meat and produce that I could find; everything was organic, non-GMO, or grass-fed, when possible. My philosophy was simply to keep things as close to natural and local as possible. 

The best solution that I found for storing food was to spoon my purees into ice cube trays, freeze, and store the individual food cubes in freezer bags labelled with the type of puree and date. Each cube was about 1 ounce, so it was easy to thaw and serve whatever I needed.

The next stage we hit was the finger food phase and I found myself at a loss. Toddler biscuits? Cheerios? Goldfish? What do you give a grain-free baby when you’re out and about? At home, I could easily chop up a banana or avocado and have Niamh work on feeding herself. However, these tended to get messy pretty quickly and needed to be confined to “high chair meals.” I didn’t know what kind of “on-the-go” snacks I could feed my little Paleo baby.

After some research, I found a couple great options:

Little Duck Organics Tiny Fruits: These are just teeny, tiny freeze-dried fruits. Niamh got teeth pretty early, so I was comfortable having her experiment with these under close supervision. Whole Foods carries these for $3-4 a bag.

Happy Family Happy Creamies: These are made with coconut milk rather than dairy (so much of the dairy in kids’ prepackaged food is skim milk for some strange reason). I’m not 100% crazy about the ingredients but, for the most part, they are fruit and veggie purees/juice. Niamh loves these things and they’ve gotten us through many a dinner out.

Happy Family Happy Munchies Veggie and Fruit Crisps: These came a little later since they’re larger and crunchier. They’re basically like little crackers but (when I would break them into smaller pieces) Niamh had no problem with them. Both of these Happy Family products are about $3-4 per 1oz. bag, and that 1oz. disappears pretty quickly!

Then, I found the Holy Grail of Paleo Baby snacks! Trader Joe’s carries bags of freeze-dried bananas, mangos, apples, strawberry, blueberry, and raspberry that are like kryptonite to Niamh. These keep her entertained and happily nibbling away in her stroller, car seat, or at a restaurant. They are one-ingredient snacks that are easy for a little one to bite or gum; they’re not hard like dried fruit (think puffy dried banana, not hard banana chip). They are certainly budget-friendly too with a full 2.46 ounce bag for only $2.69. My only complaint is that organic fruits are not an option. For that reason, I tend to stick to the banana and mango rather than the berries.

Many people have asked me how we’re going to keep Niamh from eating grains and sugar at school when she’s older and the answer is pretty simple: we don’t intend to. Like any kid, she’s going to eat cupcakes and pizza and other highly-processed, nasty stuff that kids love. Jeff and I love having Mexican on the weekends, or occasionally ordering a pizza. I enjoy all types of food and life wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t get to enjoy some chocolate cake every now and then. My philosophy is that when we eat well during the week, those “cheat” meals and sweets are that much sweeter and I’m healthier overall. The same is true for Niamh. When she gets older and we go out to eat on the weekends, she can get chicken fingers and fries off the kids’ menu sometimes and she certainly won’t die.

A cupcake for the Birthday Girl!

Once Niamh turned one, I gradually started introducing some non-Paleo items. My goal was not to raise a helmet-wearing bubble baby, but rather to keep her rapidly developing little body operating on all cylinders during this first crucial year. I’m no doctor and this blog is not meant to offer medical advice, but so far this plan has worked well for Niamh; she’s almost 21 months old and has never been sick. If I can keep her body from having to fight off an illness, it can devote those resources to learning about the world around her or acquiring new skills. Please talk to your pediatrician if you have any questions/concerns about your child’s diet. Our little paleo baby has been extremely healthy and consistently easy-going and I wish the same for your family!