feeding claire

Since I’ve been making food cubes for Claire I have become much more intimate with my freezer – maybe not that intimate. Still, our relationship has grown for the better. I’ve started to freeze everything and even buying in bulk to freeze for later. Often, it’s much cheaper and I get the self-satisfaction of feeling handy when I need stock for a recipe and there it is already to go, homemade, in my freezer.

At the NYT, Mark Bittman, discusses freezing on a whole new level:

But if you conscientiously use the freezer in two ways, you’ll value it as never before. The first: take raw ingredients you have too much of — or whose life you simply wish to prolong — and freeze them. The second: take things you’ve already cooked — basics like stock, beans, grains and the like, or fully cooked dishes — and freeze them.

To the extent that you do both of these tasks regularly, and keep your freezer organized, you’ll make your cooking cheaper, more efficient and faster.

As farmers’ market season approaches, I think I’ll have to bone up on my freezing skills – well, mostly my organizing skills.

Oh, boy, was this a fun day. It had been raining most of the morning – as it has been for the past – well, it seems like forever now… But it had cleared somewhat and Aaron and I decided it was as good of a day as any to test drive the swings at the tot lot in our neighborhood playground. There was another little girl there, who was around 2, that was braving the wet swings. Claire loved to watch her, especially when she said “weeeeeee!” A good time was had by all (especially mom and dad).

She’s really getting into finger foods now. This is a blessing and a curse, as they say. It’s becoming a problem because she really only wants to eat what she can put in her mouth. She doesn’t want a bottle either. She’ll take it. Sometimes she’ll drink it. Often she drinks half and then throws it down and takes off running. She’s not quite skilled at putting food in her mouth just yet; so, she doesn’t eat very much on her own. The trouble is that she doesn’t want me to feed her, either. She doesn’t get the spoon yet – it’s still a device of mystery when not in mama’s hand. I’m working on various ways to get her to eat pureed foods and trying all kinds of finger foods, probably more quickly than I would have planned. But with a baby, nothing goes as planned so here we are trying eggs and whatever else we can get our hands on.

Claire’s had egg yolks before and they were on the Do Not Eat list for some time. However, with her lack of coordination (and teeth) I am running out of options of what she will eat. So I decided to hard-boil a few eggs and give it another go. Here is the result:

She loved it. The yolks* are mushy and easy to grasp and they melt in her mouth. I’m happy because she’s eating and eggs are such an easy food to prepare. Once they are hard-boiled they last about a week in the fridge, which makes for an easy, ready-to-eat food.

*Note that the whites of the eggs are typically an allergen and it’s advised that you don’t give egg whites to a baby under 12 months.

For some reason I never would have thought that Claire would like broccoli but, boy, does she ever. She’ll eat it plain or a little spruced up like in the picture above (yes, I know, often pureed baby food does not look appetizing to us grown-ups; but, the picture doesn’t do it justice: it’s bright, it’s green, it looks vibrant). This is one of my favorite meals to make for Claire because it’s so jam-packed with goodness. I usually take two broccoli cubes, one cauliflower cube, and then grate some cheddar cheese on top (where it melts into gooey deliciousness). This ends up being a lot of food for one little person; but, Claire – being the Bear that she is – gobbles it all up.

Broccoli food cubes are super simple to make. I usually use the broccoli crowns that are readily available in my supermarket. I trim off some of the stem and leaves (but not too much, broccoli is full of flavor). Then I steam it as I would if I were going to eat it. It’s almost as simple as 1-2-3:

1. Trim (and I cut into smaller bits for easier steaming).

2. Steam until tender.

3. Puree.

Okay, there are a few more things involved; but not too much. Just add some water as the broccoli is pureeing to your desired texture and you’re done.

The cauliflower I make the exact same way. I use cauliflower often as what I call a ‘filler’ veg. Cauliflower is good on it’s own but not always. Sometimes I use it to add a little extra something to veg, like broccoli or carrots. It gives it a nice depth. (Yeah, I just used ‘depth’ when talking about baby food.)

Babble has published a Food Issue. Very interesting stuff. I haven’t read all of the articles yet; but I really enjoyed The Backlash to Breast Is Best:

But is that really what we want? Powder rather than real power? In a brilliant New Yorker piece about the rise of the breast pump, Jill Lepore questions the direction of breastfeeding advocacy, which seems to be settling on the pump as a compromise to this conflict, with tax incentives for businesses with “Mother’s Rooms” in which babies are explicitly not welcome (“pump stations,” Lepore calls them) and Baby-Friendly hospitals sending women home with manual plastic pumps, and the president of the National Organization for Women calling for more “corporate lactation” programs. “It appears no longer within the realm of the imaginable that . . . ‘breastfeeding-friendly’ could mean making it possible for women and their babies to be together,” writes Lepore. “When did ‘women’s rights’ turn into ‘the right to work’?”

What a great question. Why did American feminism evolve in such a way that we think of biology as destiny, and that destiny as a prison? Why are we so willing to surrender the parts and processes that makes us female rather than demanding that society support them? We’ve broken down doors and cracked glass ceilings, when what we need to do is redesign the building.

Also, my friend Jackie has an interview with Nina Planck, the author of Real Food for Mother and Baby – a book I haven’t read but Planck seems to have good ideas:

The term that I prefer is food poverty. A lack of good food for any reason: financial, cultural, geographical. Right now we’re seeing a very rare condition unknown throughout history, a combination of rickets and obesity. In earlier times, this never would’ve existed: overweight children with vitamin D deficiency, excess calories and malnutrition. Food poverty will always be with us in some form. The question is how to eat the best you can on the budget you have. I suggest buying only real foods — not industrial fakes, substitutes, or things engineered to be in low in one thing and high in another. I grew up on supermarket meat and I’m in great health. What I didn’t eat was fake meat, fake cheese, and Fruit Loops.

I admit that I ate Fruit Loops when I was a kid but I am in good health now. But what she is trying to say that is important is that kids don’t grow up thinking that Fruit Loops is food. I’m definitely going to check out her book.

In the winter months fruit has been hard to come by. Oh, I can buy fruit at both my local supermarket and at the Italian Market: pears, apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, but also peaches, nectarines, and even strawberries. I’m always surprised to see these fruits but I’m not surprised to see where these fruits come from – mostly Chile, although the strawberries are usually from California (and often look like very weary travelers, sad and wilted). I am fortunate in that my supermarket is pretty good at letting me know where my fruit has come from; but, that can be a blessing and a curse: do I want to eat peaches that have traveled all the way from Chile (about 5000 miles)? I certainly don’t want to eat those sorry looking strawberries and they’ve only traveled from California (about 3000 miles).

In an effort to feed Claire fresh foods, I’ve been conscious of where and what I buy. Fruit, at this time of year, has been a struggle. What do I do? I could buy the produce that has a busier passport than me or I could stick with the jarred baby food. Both options are less than ideal. Where do the baby food companies get their produce? I highly doubt that they have processing plants right at the source. So most likely, they’re shipping fruit from all over the world, then processing it, and then shipping it back all over the world in convenient little jars or plastic packs. Either way, neither option is fresh and both have left quite a footprint. What’s a mom to do?

I bought peaches from Chile. They were super expensive: just under $2/lb. I bought 3 or 4 and didn’t have to wait very long before they were ripe. And even then they were less than stellar peaches – certainly no Summer Jersey peach. But I made them into food cubes anyway, they’ve come so far already – I wouldn’t want them to have traveled in vain. However, they only yielded about 4 servings which made them very, very expensive. The only thing going for these world-weary peaches is that I have a general idea of what happened to them from whole food to baby food.

But I am not sure it’s worth it. I know, I know. There are so many reasons why giving Claire minimally processed foods is better for her to understand and love food. Jarred fruit is a mystery. It just appears in a perfect package that offers variety, is convenient, and is inexpensive. I know that, also, I should be buying locally (or at least continentally); but, at this time of year, that’s just not feasible when I need to give Claire a balanced diet.

And so (with a little – but not too much – guilt), I have been buying most of Claire’s fruit in plastic packs, with the general exception of apples, pears, and bananas (yes, I know these have a long journey, too). With not many options at the moment, I used cost and convenience to influence my decision. As summer approaches and Claire eats more and more finger foods, she’ll be introduced to real, local, whole fruits.

Some time ago, I decided that I would wean Claire by nine months. I’m not sure why I chose nine months. At the time, it just seemed right; even though, by everything that I’ve read and my commitment to breastfeeding, I should nurse her until she’s at least one. But Claire will be nine months next week.

Breastfeeding, for me, was hard in the beginning. And when I say beginning I really mean the first three months of Claire’s life. Maybe even longer. In the hospital right after her birth, she could latch on but I could tell something wasn’t quite right. I spoke to a lactation consultant who told me how important breastfeeding is (which I knew), told me some pointers, and wished me luck. Right before we were discharged the pediatrician came in to give me all of the baby stats and told me she had a high bilirubin count (her count was high because she was not eating enough and therefore not wetting enough diapers, which often causes jaundice in newborns – this is common in breastfed babies but Claire’s count was quite high) and that she was to return to the hospital the next day. So we did. The count was higher. (Fortunately, I met Sabrina, the most amazing lactation consultant who showed me what I was doing wrong.) We were then to go to her pediatrician the next day. The count was the same. Let’s just say for the first week and a half, we were seeing the doctors almost everyday. We had to supplement with a bottle. I would cry, feeling like a failure despite that I knew – my brain knew – that it wasn’t my fault, that breastfeeding is a relationship between two people who have absolutely no idea what the hell is supposed to happen. Claire would guzzle the bottles that Aaron gave her and I would cry some more. But she needed it so we kept it up for about two weeks. Finally her bilirubin count went down.

The pediatrician still recommended that I feed Claire every two hours. That definitely changes my perception of myself: I was not a mother but a milk machine, and not a very good one. Claire was gaining weight but we were both still unsure of ourselves. Each time I nursed there was pain, pain that would make me cry out – and continue to cry. My boobs went through just about everything that nursing boobs could except mastitis, which I went to the doctor for but I was just engorged so badly. I had tubes of Lansinoh all over the house. It was not rosy. I was the anthesis of blissful. I can’t believe Aaron is still with me because I can’t even imagine what kind of terrible crazy woman I became when everything seemed to be going wrong. But Claire kept growing and growing. Something must be going right. Right? Any self-assuredness I was trying to muster as a new mom was being squashed under my now ginormous breasts. I didn’t think I could do it. I questioned my ability to be a mother. If she rejected something so simple and basic, how is my daughter going to feel about me?

Weeks went by and it wasn’t really getting better. I didn’t really know how I could ‘practice’ but each time I nursed I was focused on technique. I would stop and restart if I thought things weren’t going right. I was determined to get this. It’s so simple: I’ve got milk and Claire needed it – no fancy contraptions, just being human. But often I got so focused on how it should be rather than how it is. This is a relationship, right? Maybe not always a two-way relationship, especially in the beginning, but still a relationship. I started reminding myself that we need to give ourselves time to get to know one another – despite nursing for almost two months. If this is how it’s going to be, well, here we are: mother and daughter, miserable together.

Somehow that made me feel better. As Claire grew and got older, things started getting better. And better. Then all of a sudden things were great. I know it sounds corny but it just magically happened. My cracked nipples healed. I stopped leaking all over myself (and the bed, and the couch, and anything I touched). There was no more crying – at least, from me. Claire and I were learning to enjoy the experience. And I dare say that it became easy and relaxing. It took a long time but it was worth it for us. For as much as the trials shook my confidence, finally getting it right restored it ten-fold. Don’t get me wrong, I am far from super-mom and don’t think that being able to breastfeed qualifies you – millions of moms have been doing it for thousands of years. It just took me a long time to feel like I could be a part of that group.

Apples are a great starter food. Claire has loved them since she first started eating solids. They pair well with lots of food, both in taste and nutrition: the vitamin C helps the body absorb iron – maybe that’s why applesauce tastes so delicious with pork and saurkraut (Oh boy, my Pennsylvania roots are really showing now!).

Making baby food with apples is the same as making applesauce. When we make applesauce, my husband usually spices it up a bit; but, for Claire, I keep it simple. I used three apples and you’d be surprised how much that yields. I got about 6 or 7 servings (Claire usually eats about three cubes per serving – she’s a big girl but more on that later…) from these Gala apples. You can use whatever kind of apples you like although I usually don’t use red delicious or granny smith (there’s just something about the taste when the apples are cooked; but, again it’s all about preference).

Here’s easy-peasy apples:

1. Peel apples and remove core.

2. Cut the apples into quarters.

3. Place the apples in a medium saucepan and cover with water. The amount will vary depending upon how many apples you use. I used about a 1/4 cup, which just covered the apples about half way. Don’t cover them, you don’t want them boiled.

4. Cook over medium heat, covered, until tender, meaning they’re mushy when pressed with a wooden spoon or a spatula. They’ll change color a bit, which also lets you know they’re done. No need to over-cook them.

5. Put the cooked apples into whatever machine you’ll use to puree, saving the water from the saucepan. Add as much water as needed to make the desired consistency of your applesauce, um, I mean, baby food.

I usually freeze my batches for later but feel free to enjoy straight away.

Spring seems to have finally arrived in Philadelphia, so I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and head out to my local market. I live in just about the heart of South Philly, which means my market is the Italian Market – a large outdoor market that spans for many, many blocks along South 9th Street. It’s predominately (and historically) Italian – obviously – but it’s expanding southward with an influx of Mexican and Asian vendors. It’s a great mix of cultures, food, and people.

We were starting to run low on Claire’s food cubes and it was time to stock up on fresh veg and fruit. It’s easy to come to the market and stock up on groceries without spending a lot of money. At least compared to my local supermarket, where the produce is overpriced and there are aisles and aisles of food ‘products’ (but to be fair, the employees are nice and I can walk(!) there from my house).


Here is just one stand that had both veg (above) and fruit (below). Each block has at least one or two vendors that sell a variety of produce.


Here is a picture of my favorite fruit stand. The fruit always looks good and presented beautifully. This vendor is one of the few that tries to display his fruit. This day, I bought three pounds of apples for $2.


It was time to make another meat cube for Claire and I decided I should try my hand at making some beef for her. We are not typically a meat-eating family (despite our love of just about all things pork – by the way, if you’re at the Italian Market, take a step off of 9th St. onto Christian to Fiorella’s, where the sausage is so fresh they don’t refrigerate it!…but now I’m on a tangent); I thought I’d give beef a go for Claire – and make some for us as well. My butcher was kind enough to let me snap some pictures while he worked.


Claire and I had a great time at the market. It’s a great place for her to people watch and see all kinds of new things. Now that the weather is warmer, she enjoys the trip a lot more. I just have to work on limiting how much I buy since I have to carry it all home.