Roasted Radishes

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of radishes in my CSA basket.  I was simply washing, slicing and eating them in salads, but that got old pretty quickly!  So I decided to try to roast them, which is my favorite way of preparing vegetables.

I washed and sliced the radishes and placed them on a baking sheet with some olive oil, salt and pepper.  Baked at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes and they were fantastic!  The pepperiness of the radish faded and a sweetness came out from the caramelization.  I added the them to a salad, and I loved the warm vegetable on top of cold lettuce leaves!

Radish Nutrition Information (1 cup raw)

• 19 calories
• 0 grams fat
• 4 grams carbohydrate
• 2 grams fiber
• 1 gram protein
• They are a very good source of vitamin C, Folate, and Potassium

Have you ever tried roasted radishes?

Moving on From Infant Rice Cereal

So you’ve been feeding your baby rice cereal, but the big question you may be having is:

“When should I move on to other food besides rice cereal?!”

Source

Well I wouldn’t rush it if I were you.  Remember you may be bored with rice cereal, but your baby is not!  He or she has been having the same milk (breast or formula) for the past 4-6 months and hasn’t gotten bored yet!  So do not rush just because you are bored.

This is a huge learning experience and you want to give your baby time to master his or her skills before you move on.

Here’s How to Progress with Rice Cereal

• Start with one feeding per day and make it very thin
• As you progress add less and less breast milk or formula so it becomes thicker
• Continue until baby is having 2-3 feedings per day and consuming a total of 1/2 cup of prepared cereal
• This will give the baby his or her iron needs
• Spoon feeding is a huge adjustment for the baby, don’t rush it!
• This process may take 3-4 weeks
• As you progress make the cereal lumpier

Look out for posts in the coming weeks about feeding your baby fruits & veggies!

Baby’s First Food: When to Start & Stop

When you introduce solids to your baby it’s not about the nutrition that he or she will be getting, but rather the explorative process of eating and having a spoon in his or her mouth.  So don’t worry if the baby eats very little.  The last thing you want to do is force your baby to eat and end up with an unhappy baby.

The best results in feeding will happen if you follow your baby’s queues!

You want your baby to be interested in the food, to look at the food and open his or her mouth.  Here are some examples from my first feeding experience.  These photos show you that Hannah was interested and wanted to take part in the new situation:

 

But soon after these initial first bites, she had enough.  And she told me so!

Even though Hannah doesn’t speak words, her actions were very clear.  She did not want anymore!  So we stopped.  If I had continued she probably would have started to get very fussy and maybe cry.  Not what you want to accomplish.  Remember this is completely new to them.  As I mentioned earlier it’s fine that she only got the tiniest bit of food into her belly.  She is getting adequate nutrition at this point through breast milk (formula is more than adequate too).  It’s good to experiment for about a month with baby rice cereal until they’ve mastered it.

Next up: When to move on from baby rice cereal

Baby’s First Food!

Sorry I’ve been MIA recently…I promise to start blogging more regularly again!  In addition to posts about healthy eating, nutrition tips, and easy meals I’m also going to be doing some posts about feeding babies!

This past weekend, our now 5 month old Hannah ate her first solids!

The current recommendation is to give your baby solids between 4-6 months.  Talk to your pediatrician before doing so.  Why did we decide to give Hannah her solids at 5 months?  Here were the queues that she was ready:

• She can sit up with support
• She does not thrust out her tongue anymore when something goes in her mouth
• She is interested in food (she watches me eat and reaches for my plate when I have her on my lap).

What to give baby first?

• Baby rice cereal is recommended as the baby’s first solid food.
• Baby rice cereal is a very low allergy food.

How to Feed Baby:

• Choose to feed your baby when he or she is happy and not starving or very full.  Usually halfway between feedings is a good time to do so.
• Take 1 Tablespoon of baby rice cereal and mix with a few Tablespoons of breast milk or formula.
• Use a soft spoon so you don’t harm baby’s gum.
• Take a tiny bit of the cereal on the end of the spoon and touch to baby’s lips.
• This is totally new to the baby and she or he might be very apprehensive at first.  Some babies eat with gusto at first, while others shy away.
• Be very patient with the baby and continue to give him or her tiny bits more.
• When he or she starts turning her head away and closing his or her mouth when you bring the spoon close, then consider the feeding done!
• You can start off once or twice a day.
• The first feedings are meant to get your baby used to the spoon and food, and getting used to eating rather than drinking.
• Don’t be concerned if they only take a couple tiny bites.  This is a learning process!