Since Claire has become quite picky in how (and sometimes what she eats), I’ve been struggling to find foods that she can eat herself. She doesn’t have interest in utensils yet and she’s still mastering her pincer grasp. Finding the right mix of easy-to-grab, ready-to-eat foods, is a little bit of a challenge for me. As I browse the market and the produce section of my g-store, I’m always looking for foods her little gummy mouth can handle. Typically an expensive fruit (I just now discovered that avocados are a fruit – I’ve always thought they were vegetables though I’m not sure why), avocados were on sale at the g-store, so I picked one up and thought I’d give it another go with Claire.

Avocados are jam-packed with good fats, something every growing baby needs, and (a plus, especially at lunch time) you can serve them as is. I just opened the fruit; took a paring knife and cubed the fruit in its skin in my hand, being very careful not to cut through; and spooned out the ready made cubes of goodness (I think). Often at lunch I am crossing my fingers that Claire will eat what I give her and if it’s little cubes of something she usually does. She was no different with the avocado. It was like she never had seen it before an gobbled it up as best she could. Because they’re so expensive, I only give her one a week but one avocado is good for two servings for Claire. Now if only I could learn to like them as much as she does. I don’t think cutting them up into fun cubes will do it…

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.

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.

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.