Martha Stewart I ain't

When our Peanut was still a very wee little peanut, I told myself that I was never going to give her jarred baby food. Not that I had anything against it, but because I thought I could easily whip up purees of fresh fruits and vegetables at home. Mind you, I was never much of a cook until recently. Before I was pregnant, my idea of a home-cooked meal was something from the frozen section of Trader Joe's. While pregnant with the requisite ravenous appetite, however, I finally taught myself how to cook. So, I assumed that homemade baby food would be no problem.

Ha! When Charlotte was old enough to start solids, and after the usual cereals, I started whipping up purees of sweet potato, butternut squash, pears, and so on. I froze them in ice-cube trays and she seemed to like most of them. The cooking and pureeing soon caught up to me, though. With a very high-needs baby, I found that I preferred to spend her nap times resting, rather than slaving over a hot stove. So, into the store I dragged myself, to pick up a few jars of Earth's Best Organic to supplement my homemade purees.

Well, now that she is nine months old, she prefers to eat finger foods or chunkier purees (the stage 3 foods). She loves her some Earth's Best and Gerber Organics!

I decided that I should be making some chunkier food for her, to supplement the jars and the table food we are slowly giving her. So, I cracked open my copy of Annabel Karmel's "First Meals", and looked at the recipes for 9-12 month olds. I decided to make her some "cheesy tomato pasta stars, sweetened with carrots" It looked easy enough, and the description assure me that she'd love it.

One hour and three dirty pans later, I pureed my concoction, saved some for her dinner, and froze the rest for future meals.

I'd love to tell you that the Peanut loved it - but I'd be lying. She absolutely hated it. She gagged, crinkled her nose, and spit out every bit of the food I'd so lovingly prepared. She's had pasta before, but it was either from Gerber or from a batch I'd made for my husband and I. I tasted it myself, and honestly, it was alright, but she wasn't having any of it.

I put "First Meals" back on the shelf. Making separate meals for your baby is just insane. She'll either eat what we're eating, or have some Earth's Best, since that's what she likes.