peek a blog

A Natural Constipation Remedy: Prunes for Baby

My children tend towards constipation in their first year of life...whether formula fed, like my son, or breast fed, like my daughter, the results seem to be the same.

Keep in mind, that infrequent pooping does not a constipated baby make.  According to my doctor, and everything else that I have read on the subject (amazing how fascinating bowels are once you become parent!), a baby is only considered truly constipated if they have hard, often marble-like, stools which cause discomfort.  You actually aren't supposed to freak out if your baby only poops once a week, as long as they are having normal stools and aren't having excess gas or any discomfort.  Don't believe me? the experts at WebMD concur.

Because prunes and plums are a food with low risk of allergic reactions and aren't particularly acidic, prunes are a good go to remedy for your baby once he or she starts solids.

I recommend buying your prunes in a see-through bag instead of in an opaque container so that you can see and squish the prunes through the bag to make sure that they aren't too dried out.  Look at the package carefully and make sure that there is no added sugar and (particularly if you have a family history of food allergies) that they are processed in a nut-free facility.

Keep in mind, dried prunes are not the same as dried plums. They look and taste quite different.

Pooping Prunes

1 12-15oz bag of good quality dried pitted prunes (organic is best)

Pour prunes into a small saucepan, and add just enough filtered water to cover them.  Cook them over medium-low heat until prunes plump up and soften considerably--about 10-15 minutes.

Puree them in an electric food processor or blender (if you choose this option for a young baby, I recommend pushing it through a fine sieve after you are through pureeing to remove any bits of skin that may be chokable) OR 2. Puree prunes using the finest setting of a hand food mill (this will give you the smoothest prunes) You may want to add more water to make processing them easier.

To store:  Freeze in a small container or ice cube trays. Pureed prunes will be thick and gloppy and will not freeze into completely solid cubes--you will probably have to store them in the ice cube tray in your freezer.

When introducing prunes to your baby, do so very slowly. More than a teaspoon or two (or 1 cube) may cause stomach cramping.

A peek Into My Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Blondies (Nut Free)

These are just a great stand-in for brownies if you're not into the really fudgey, chocolatey ones.  My nut allergic son is often disappointed when he goes to someone's house and they are serving a variety of nut-filled treats. This is a great crowd pleaser to bring to just such an event!

Chocolate Chip Blondies

4 tbsp.  butter, cut into pieces

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 c. packed dark brown sugar

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. flour

1 c. chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Spray an 8 x 8 inch square baking pan with non-stick spray.

3. Cream together butter with brown and white sugar.

4. Add egg and vanilla and mix.

5. Combine baking powder, salt and flour.

6. Add to butter mixture and mix until just combined.

7. Stir in chocolate chips.

8. Scrape dough into prepared pan (it will be very thick and sticky), making sure to spread the top out as evenly as you can.

9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until light golden and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. (if you hit a chocolate chip with the tester, it may come out chocolatey even if the blondies are done--try another spot before you put it back in!)

Note: You can make even shorter work of this recipe by making it in a food processor--simply pulse after each addition!

More Recalled Drop Side Cribs: Dorel Asia

Clearly there is an ongoing problem developing with drop side cribs in general...if you have one, make sure that all parts are in good working order and that your child's mattress is on the proper level for their age and activity level.

To receive a free replacement kit contact Dorel Asia at www.dorel-asia.com. The repair kits will be provided to owners within the next several weeks.  Until then, you need to find an alternate sleeping arrangement for your baby.

For more info, including the problematic model numbers, go to the CPSC's website to read the official press release.

1.5 million Graco Strollers Recalled 1/20/10

More stroller hinge problems...this time with a a few different Graco models.

Today, Graco announced a voluntary recall of their Passage, Alano and Spree Strollers and Travel systems.  The recalled strollers were manufactured and sold between October 2004 and February 2008  For the specific model numbers being recalled go the CPSC' s official press release

The strollers are being recalled because of reports of fingertip amputations and lacerations in a handful of children...sound familiar?  It may, because it is almost the exact wording for the Maclaren recall of a while back...which means that the injuries were probably avoidable with some extra adult vigilance.

The fix, as with the Maclaren recall, is a hinge cover kit that Graco is providing free of charge. 

For additional information or to receive your kit, contact Graco at (800) 345-4109 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit www.gracobaby.com

Making Your Own Baby Food Is Not Rocket Science--Gathering Your Tools

As I previously mentioned, I have recently started feeding my daughter solid foods. As I did for her brother, I am making all of her food (save for her baby cereal) from scratch.  While all of the peeling, chopping and pureeing takes time I am fully convinced that the results are worth it! Homemade baby food not only tastes better (have you ever tasted some of those jarred vegetables?!) and is generally more nutrient dense, but also introduces your baby to fruits and veggies as they were meant to taste--generally resulting in fewer rejected foods and less picky eaters.

To help other parents see how simple it can be, I am trying to gather all of my tips as I go along.

First and foremost, you need to gather your tools:

1. Basket steamer--one of those folding ones is great for fitting in different sized pots--for steaming fruit and vegetables

2. Food processor or blender--for pureeing large batches quickly (I think the food processor far surpasses the blender in ease of use and quality or purees)

3. Fine mesh strainer--for straining large batches of fruit/veggies that you have pureed in your Food processor or blender

4. Full-sized food mill--if you want to strain and puree simultaneously--takes a lot of elbow grease ;)

5. Travel-sized food mill for making single portions on the go

6. Potato masher--for later, when your baby is eating chunkier foods

7. I oz Ice Cube Trays and small freezable containers--for freezing portions of pureed food

8. Plastic Wrap for covering ice cube trays when you freeze cubes--to prevent other flavors from your freezer from infusing your cubes

8. Freezer friendly zip-top bags--for storing food cubes

9. Permanent marker--for labeling date and contents of bags in freezer (cubes of similar colors can look the same and different foods have different freezer shelf lives)

 

A peek Into My Kitchen: Simple Stir Fry

Stir fried vegetables are a huge favorite in my house--in fact, when my son isn't feeling well and I know that he won't feel like eating, a stir fry will usually tempt him to eat something for dinner.

Here is one of my go to recipes:

Simple Stir Fry

2-3 tsp dark sesame oil

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 red, orange or yellow pepper, cut into thin slices

2 zucchini

I can baby corn, drained

3 tbsp hoisin sauce

3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce or tamari

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1. Heat sesame oil in a wok or other large pan.  

2. Add garlic, zucchini and peppers.

3.Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until peppers and zucchini are beginning to get soft.

4. Add soy sauce, vegetable broth and baby corn.

5. Stir  in hoisin sauce.

6. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes or so until vegetables are thoroughly cooked.

To change it up a bit, you can add broccoli, scallions, carrots, mushrooms, snow peas...the list goes on.  You can also round it out by adding a protein--Quorn, seitan, edamame, tofu...or even chicken or beef.]

Serve with white or brown rice.

A Healthy Glass of Bubbly! SodaStream Soda Maker Review and Giveaway

Full disclosure: I don't drink soda.  In fact, I hate the feeling of bubbles on my tongue. If I do drink any soda, it is usually after I have left the can open on the counter for a while to get slightly flat.

In spite of my distaste for carbonation, I was completely fascinated by the idea of  Sodastream's home soda maker which would make it possible to create our own sodas and sparkling water at home not least because my husband loves soda and would guzzle bottle upon bottle of Fresca and Diet Coke if it weren't a habit that's both expensive, bad for the environment and unhealthy.

Our new Fountain Jet machine couldn't have been much easier to put together--there was so little setup involved--you just take it out of the box, put the CO2 cylinder in the back and get to it! We used the water from our water filter (it's pretty cold, so we didn't even need to chill it as recommended) to refill the reusable bottles and proceeded to try flavor after flavor for the next few weeks.  My husband is a fan of the Cola because, since Soda Stream is an Israeli company--another plus!!--it reminds him of the Cola Syrup that he grew up on in Israel.  I like the Cranberry-Raspberry  and my son prefers the Orange.  There are 25+ kosher certified flavors to choose from including a whole bunch of aspartame-free diet flavors and many which are caffeine free AND none of the syrups contain high fructose corn syrup. My favorite part? For bubble-phobes like me, you can choose the level of carbonation by adding more or less CO2.

Basically, if you drink any soda at home, you can't go wrong with one of these machines--and they even pick up your used carbon dioxide canisters (when you order new ones.)  The only drawback that we found with this machine was that it takes a whole bunch of trial and error to get your preferred amount of bubbles--and the bubble making noise is somewhat disconcerting to small children.

The generous folks at Sodastream have made it possible for me to offer a giveaway of: a Fountain Jet Soda Lover's Start-Up Kit which includes a Fountain Jet machine,   CO2 to make over 100 liters of soda, 2 reusable carbonating bottles, a sample pack of flavors, and 3 full-sized flavors of the winner's choice. Such an awesome giveaway! Shipping only available in the continental US.

Giveaway closes 1/26/10.

To win:

Mandatory Entry: Go to the Sodastream website and let me know what 3 flavors you're most interested in trying.

For additional entries (one comment per entry):

1.Follow this blog

2.Follow me on twitter @peekababy (leave an additional comment with your twitter name) and Retweet on twitter @peekababy.

3. Digg this post, Stumble this post, Fave on Technorati etc and leave a comment per action

4. 2 entries. Blog about the contest mentioning the peek a blog and leave an extra comment with a link to your blog posting. 

5. Become a public Google friend of my blog.

6. Add me to your networked blogs.

7. Grab my button and add it to your sidebar or blogroll

8. Subscribe via RSS feed.

9. Vote for me on Top Baby Blogs.

Winner will be chosen using random.org.

Disclosure: I received a free Sodastream Fountain Jet machine and a whole bunch of flavors in exchange for my honest review.

**Winner Winner Winner**

Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=3615950 | Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 10:59 AM

I blogged about it. entry #2

http://jumpingontrampolines.blogspot.com/2010/01/another-soda-stream-giveaway.html

luv2laugh@cox.net

A peek Into My Kitchen: Baby's 1st Applesauce

Baby's 1st Applesauce

• 12 large apples: Fuji, Macintosh, Gala or Yellow Delicious are all good choices      

  FYI: Apples are one of the 'Dirty Dozen' of produce that are best purchased organic

Fill a pot with enough water to barely touch the steamer when you put it in the pot.  Insert the steamer basket and fill it with your apple pieces.
Cover pot and bring water to a boil. Steam for between 10-15 minutes, until apples are really soft. .
Once apples are fully cooked (just barely falling apart is good) either

1. Puree them in an electric food processor or blender (if you choose this option for a young baby, I recommend pushing it through a fine sieve after you are through pureeing to remove any bits of core or fibers that remain attached to the apples) OR 2. Puree apples using the finest setting of a hand food mill (this will give you the smoothest applesauce.)

To store: Estimate how much applesauce your baby will eat in 3 days and put it in a container in your refrigerator. Freeze the rest in ice cube trays.

My little one's first steps on the Journey to Solid Food...

My daughter turned is 8.5 months.  Unlike her brother, who was so ravenous he needed to start eating solid foods at about 5 months, she remained pretty happy with her liquid diet and, so, we started her on cereal about a month and a half ago.

After a couple of weeks of her rejecting the spoon and ejecting all offered foreign substances from her mouth, she began to actually swallow her food and is now opening her mouth like a guppy for every bite.

Which means that my husband and I will be spending countless hours peeling, chopping and pureeing a variety of yummy fruits and veggies in the next year or so.  Except for the time it takes, there really aren't any drawbacks to making your own baby food--the food is yummier, more attractive AND cheaper than any you can find in a jar..to say nothing of healthier.

Because of a fear of allergies (my son is allergic to nuts and fish), we will be treading very slowly with adding new foods.  I will try to share as much of our journey as possible as we go through it, because this is a confusing topic for a lot of new parents around which they receive little guidance.  My word is definitely not gospel, but I am not only following advice from my pediatrician but have done lots of research as well (and have already experimented on my first child ;)

 Earth's Best Oatmeal Cereal and HealthyTimes Barley Cereal were my daughter's first two foods. Though many people start off their babies with rice cereal, it is not only less pleasant tasting but it can also be constipating.  If you have a baby who tends towards constipation, definitely start with a different grain!

Her first fruit, a couple of weeks after we began the cereal, was applesauce which, after tasting only cereal appeared to be a sweet revelation to a very happy baby!  On Friday, I offered her steamed, pureed carrots--she was unsure about the new texture with her first bite, but has been gobbling up every drop of carrots that I will give her.  Sometime at the end of this week or the beginning of the next, I will move on to a green vegetable or two--most probably peas, followed by string beans.

Happy New Year! and some borrowed resolutions...

A Happy 2010 to all! I have never been one for specific resolutions for the New Year, I'm more of a try to fix it as I go along type..though I do resolve to pay better attention to my blog, to post more often and to get a handle on my product reviews :)

Here are some other more thought out resolutions from around the mommy blogosphere:

Corinna on SAHM Answers resolves to work on family routines

10 Real Mommy Resolutions from parents.com

A mixed bag of resolutions from Alma Klein,the Marketing Mommy

Joanna Zucker's Top 10 Resolutions for the Modern Mom on mommytracked

Michelle Horton's 25 New Year's Resolutions Every Parent Should Make on babble.com

Lisa Belkin's Parenting Resolutions on her New York Times Motherlode blog

Care to share any of yours?