Where'd that appetite come from?

Over the past week, Mackenna's appetite has changed from almost non-existent to hungry every three hours! Since we've introduced table foods, she's actually excited about eating! The only time she eats "baby" food now is in the morning. She has pureed fruit with oatmeal for breakfast. Then for lunch, she's loving fresh steamed veggies. Yes, that's right, I said veggies. This week she has carrots, zucchini, and celery. On Tuesday I steamed up enough for the week. I put a bay leaf and fresh chopped garlic in the steaming water. I read somewhere that babies enjoy the flavor of garlic. She still doesn't eat a lot at each meal, but she's eating each meal... huge progress! Last night for supper, she enjoyed some Tortellini  & Spinach Soup with us. And of course, some garlic bread. She ate up navy beans, spinach, and tortellini. It's so exciting to see her enjoying her food. We've been very careful to not force her to eat or to reward her too much when she does eat. We really want to make sure she grows up with a healthy perspective on food and we also want to teach her to eat healthful foods right away.

I get so excited to watch her chew her foods and enjoy the flavors dancing on her tongue. She is a great little eater now... that's something I never thought I'd say! I know this may just be a phase and that next week I may have my finicky little girl back, but I'm enjoying every minute of this new found appetite and zest for trying new foods!

The Best Way to Cook Brown Rice... Hands Down!

For all you rice lovers out there... I've discovered the best (and easiest way) to cook up some scrumptious, healthful, brown rice to accompany any great entree. Where did I discover this recipe, you ask? On the Food Network, of course. Alton Brown (one of my favorites) featured rice on one of his Good Eats shows and ever since we saw that show, we've been cooking our rice Alton Brown style. Here's the recipe.

Baked Brown Rice

1 1/2 cups brown rice
2 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place the rice into an 8 inch square glass baking dish.

Bring the water, salt, and butter just to a boil in a kettle or covered saucepan. Once the water boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine, and cover the dish tightly with heavy duty aluminum foil. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for one hour.

After one hour, remove the cover and fluff the rice with a fork, serve immediately.

And that's it folks! You can put it in the oven, forget about it for an hour while you prep your meal, and bring it out once every thing's done cooking and Ta-Da, yummy and healthy brown rice. Another plus is that a lot of recipes (at least a lot that I use) that need to be baked in the oven are usually baked at or pretty close to 375 degrees, so this rice has shared the oven with some baked chicken a time or two and they've both turned out great!

Enjoy some brown rice tonight and let me know what you think about the recipe!

Green Beans anyone?

My newest adventure in motherhood is getting Mackenna to eat a variety of fruits and veggies. I am not a baby food making mommy, but I still try to choose wholesome, organic, and healthy jarred baby food. My favorite is Earth's Best, but I will also grab some Gerber Organics when there's a sale. Anywho, getting Mackenna to eat solids is a battle on it's own. Getting her to eat green vegetables and any other fruit besides pears or bananas has proven to be a battle that I was not fully prepared to fight.

Pre-motherhood I did lots of reading on how to get your baby to eat good food. But, like I have learned many other times in these nine months, what the book says and what your baby does is often times two different things. "Feed green veggies first and your baby will grow to love green beans, peas, and broccoli," the books would say. So, being the health concious mommy that I am, I followed the formula to get my baby to love green vegetables. Only, my baby didn't... and still doesn't. Wanting so badly to see Mackenna enjoy some solids, I whipped out the pureed sweet potatoes (a baby favorite, I had heard), and rather than gagging and funny faces I was met with smiles and an open mouth bidding for more. "That's more like it!" I thought to myself. So, we got stuck in the rut of sweet potatoes, pears, and bananas. Bo-ring!

So, after much research and a newfound determiniation, I am at it again. Re-introducing green beans and following a new technique that makes sense to me. Although, I am not a doctor, scientist, or dietician. I read this article and have decided to try it. Basically, I give Mackenna a bite of green beans for every first bite of a meal for eight days. After she refuses three times, I finish feeding her something that she enjoys. By the eighth day, she should "enjoy" green beans more. We'll see. Today she actually took two bites of green beans... the second bite she wouldn't swallow until I snuck a spoonful of pears in her mouth. I added a little trick to my experiment though. I am going to mix up whatever green beans that she didn't eat in with her pears/sweet potatoes/or bananas so that she still gets the vitamins. My goal for this challenge is for Mackenna to be able to eat one tablespoon of green beans all on their own. I'll let you know how it goes in eight days!