Making Baby Food for MSPI

MSPI=Milk, soy protein intolerance

I will be completely honest (aren't I always) this is a pain. No it isn't easy to keep up with (especially if you are working) because you could spend a couple hours making squash only to find  out your little on is severely allergic to it or the cats decide to lick all of the sweet potatoes.... And no you cannot just blend your dinner unless you too don't eat any dairy or soy (squash, carrots, apples, wheat, etc) in your dinners. I mean I can't blend up tacos for Jackson to eat. Half the foods we do eat for dinner aren't on the approved baby eating list until he is much older. It's not easy to find 100000 organic sweet potatoes so if that's the only food your baby isn't allergic to good luck (now drive all over town to find them and hope your husband doesn't decide to cook/eat the $10 worth of XYZ you drove all the way to the organic food store for. true story.). And I really don't like that it has to take time away from playing with Jackson, doing work, cleaning, hanging out with Jamie or my sleep which I already don't get enough of. OK vent over.

I do like it because my food tastes much better than the can. And you can make different combinations of things that the cans don't. And it actually isn't that much better than canned organic baby food so don't try that one with me either.** I do enjoy cooking and making food for Jackson but I would like to be able to do half/half so I'm not so stressed with the a million things I need to get done in a day.

Whew. Ok so you need:

1. A good cutting knife
2. A good peeler
3. Cutting board
4. Filtered water
5. Steamer/blender- I really like the This Especially if your baby is MSPI because there is no way you can get dairy or soy in it if you are only using it for their food. It's all in one. Easy to clean. It doesn't fit a lot of food which is the only down side.
6. Ice cube trays- BPA free. I really like the Beaba food storage but if you get a bunch of them it's $$$.
7. Foil, baggies, permeant marker

YUM! I do like mama's food!

I try to make all of Jackson's food during his 45 minute nap that I'm actually home for... but basically
1. Peel your fruit or veggie
2. Chop it
3. Steam it (2 cups of water for fruits, 3 for veggies)
4. Blend
5. Stick in the ice cube tray- label it. Freeze
6. Then stick all the cubes in a plastic baggie and label them.
Vola! It doesn't seem like much but once your little one starts eating 3 times a day- 6 ice cube amounts it adds up. And like I said you may end up making 1000000 sweet potatoes and trying to figure out what they can and cannot eat. Our freezer is full of food he can't eat. Boo.

*My other advice is don't try cans until you have gone through all the homemade food first. We couldn't do this because we were traveling but I am pretty sure even though the jars have no D or S listed in it caused him to have allergic reactions (to sweet potatoes)! From what I read Healthy Times is the best cans for MSPI and Earths Best is second (which is what we have that's not working out too well).

**I also know you cannot add any seasonings or anything like that if you are concerned with allergies.

So far we have tried:

• Squash
• Carrots
• Plums
• Beets
• Sweet Potatoes
• White Sweet Potatoes
• Broccoli
• Apples
• Pears
• Avocado

The biggest pain to make is squash and the easiest is avocado. I always mix a little water for consistency and I chose water because if you add milk/formula it takes away from the taste of the food. I think the whole point is for them to get used to different textures and flavors. I want the beets to taste like beets not purple formula. Gross. I taste everything to make sure it's good. And so far so good :)

He is really enjoying it! In fact he screams when I tell him all done. Jamie always comes in and is like what is going on in here?! Umm the bowl is empty duh.