Baby Food.... - 5 Boys and 1 Girl Make 6

Dug for the gloves in the back of the truck – no cigar! Little man had to wear Moms gloves!

We have been busy! I had to change things up a bit around here because my middle son has not been happy. He feels like we spend too much time on school work and he is bored! HA! Although the school work will not change I knew I needed to improve on afternoon activities. So that is what we did this week, we went! We went out…. out of this house which = happier boys and that turns into a happier Mama!

Look at the faces here! Nothing but pure happiness and fresh air!

To my surprise my husband left me an article clipped right out of the Tribune. He left it on the counter where I would see it. What a great guy he is! He knows I have not looked at a paper in over 3 years. HA! Anyway he left it there for me because he knew it would make my day!

You see the Tribune wrote an article talking about 8 awesome foods to add to your babies diet.

1. Breast Milk
2. Iron-fortified Cereal – note recipe from NACD
3. Avacados
4. Sweet Potatos
5. Meat
6. Beets
7. Yogurt
8. Cheerios

They call them super nutritious and this makes me so happy! You see the diet of your children as well as yourself affect so many things. This includes and not limited to neurological development, strengthening of the immune system and building strong muscles and bones for motor development. It is so important that we think about all these things before feeding our children. (MAN! do I wish I knew this with my first 4 kids) I had to learn the hard way.

My first 4 children were sick ALOT! I was told they had allergies and my Dr suggested that I put them on allergy medicine 365 days of the year. Yep, medicate them and move on. I tried that with my oldest 2 and then decided that was not for me. For the next 6 years we worked through cold after cold and ear infection after ear infection and they finally grew out of it. It was rough and I do not miss those sick days!

When my youngest son was born I started reading about an organic diet and implemented it to his diet only. (Why only his diet I have no idea! Seriously?? ) Anyway I saw improvements. He was not as sick as often. We were still eating packaged foods and preservatives left and right.

It was not till I was pregnant with Grace that the puzzle pieces started coming together. We made the choice to get the preservatives out of our house. Since we did that the colds, ear aches and general flu bug have not visited our home as often. It is crazy to think I went from visiting that Dr’s office weekly to only visiting for wellness checks. I am not kidding! That is how drastic the change was.

I gets me excited to see articles like “8 foods to add to your baby’s diet” because it is awareness and we all need to be aware of what are good foods and why they are important. The greener and fresher the foods are the more nutrients they contain.

This brings me to my secret weapon! My green protein packed baby food! I have been making baby food for years. Not because it was healthier because it was CHEAPER! I could not figure out how people could afford those jars of food especially when the baby was 8 months old and eating like 6 of them a day! So I made my own. I would grind up what ever we were eating and feed it to the baby. I never gave a thought about nutrition. After Grace I read the importance of super foods and the nutrients they contain. The changes came slowly but they came.

So I wanted to share with you all the most amazing immune boosting baby food ever! OK maybe not ever… but this stuff does the job!

I take my hand blender and I pack it full of spinach, 1/2 avocado and some sort of bean (Black beans or garbanzo beans) add a little filtered water and blend.

It turns into a mushy green baby food. Often times children do not like the mixture by itself so I add a little agave syrup or cherry juice – another amazing resource of antioxidants! Once the food is sweetened the baby loves it! Spinach is one of the most nutritious foods out there! That is why we as well as Dr OZ are all throwing it in our smoothies. Its because we can not eat enough of it. I have been giving this mixture to Grace since she has been eating food.

Just to explain how well this works…this fall I started tearing the spinach up and adding it to her food. The fall was the worst season yet for Grace. She started coming down with everything. She went from never needing antibiotics to having to have them 3 different times for ear infections. I was so upset and could not figure out why her immune system had declined so drastically.

Grace was evaluated by Ellen at NACD in December and she was disappointed to hear that Grace had been so sick. We discussed the diet and I explained the only thing I changed was the way I delivered the spinach. She told me right then and there Graces only hope of good health is that leafy green. The more the better and by tearing it up she was in no way getting enough.

I went straight home and started delivering it to her the same why I had the past 1.5 years and guess what. Gone! Colds gone, Ear infections gone and mucus gone! The power of this veggie is unbelievable….for all of us!

SIDE NOTE – I also have been giving Grace a cereal packed with whole grains and protein recommended by NACD and my girl has never been constipated. Graces biggest obstacle is tone and with that low tone comes constipation. I am proud to say we have never had this problem! This too is another secret weapon! You can find the cereal here.

Bottom line is that none of us function well with a clogged up system. Special needs children, typical children, and adults we all need to pay attention to how were feel after we eat. We need to think about what goes in our mouth and more importantly what is going in our children’s mouth.

Totally off my soap box!

The winners are……. Dtuman, ibd708 and Beth. Please inbox me on facebook 5 boys + 1 girl = 6 your address and what you would prefer a hat, bonnet or camera strap and I will get them out to you ASAP. Thanks for commenting!