Cooking with Milk

So, my darling boy is nearly six months, which means that solid foods are just around the corner. In preparation for this, I’ve begun to research which foods we should start him out with, baby food in general. Our pediatrician, while incredibly open-minded and holistic in other areas, has actually proved to be a bit conservative in his recommendation of starting off with rice cereal as the very first food. There are some pediatricians which are launching spirited campaigns against cereal as the first food, arguing that it’s just refined carbs, the equivalent of white-bread, and that this trend may actually promote childhood obesity.   So instead of going that route, I’ve decided to try my hand at cooking my own baby food instead.  Armed with a few books (this one, this one, and of course, this one, not to mention this wonderful website) and a bunch of cute plastic freezer cubes, I’ve begun making my own baby food!  On Saturday I made a banana puree which involved sauteing chopped banana in butter and then mashing it.  Quite yummy, reminded my of banana fosters!  Yesterday I baked a sweet potato and then blended it up with….breastmilk.  Yes, it turns out that most of these recipes call for breastmilk, which makes sense given that breastmilk is what the baby has been eating 24/7 up until now, and is still a complete meal in and of itself, full of iron, antibodies and every other necessary nutrient under the sun.  But when I started out on this parenting journey, I never imagined I’d find myself leaning over a blender with my bra down, adding a few squirts to a potato puree in order to get the consistency right.  Wow.  What next?  Guess we’re really cooking with gas milk now.