Mmmmm... Garlic...

So we've tried onion, fish (specifically sable fish and salmon), garlic, and cinnamon. I can tell you the Dude doesn't like salmon. He's also breaking out into a bit of a rash. I'm uncertain as to what's causing it. It may be the cinnamon, it may be the salmon, or the combination of the two. It doesn't look too bad, but the Dude is bothered enough to scratch it as it is itchy for him.

Needless to say, no more salmon for awhile.

I'm trying to move towards foods that we commonly eat, so next up is beef. I had to wrack my brains as to how I was going to prepare the beef. I think I have something figured out, will blog about that soon.

The 11 Best Foods You Probably Aren’t Eating - Article

Since this is primarily a foodie blog, I decided to post this article here instead of my other blog.

The 11 Best Foods You Probably Aren’t Eating

• Beets
• Cabbage
• Swiss chard
• Cinnamon
• Pomegranate juice
• Dried plums
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sardines
• Turmeric
• Frozen blueberries
• Canned pumpkin
  

Even more food!

The Dude has had a few more food items since I last wrote. He's had cottage cheese, onions, mushrooms and today, wheat. I gave him some finger O's that are designed for babies. It's supposed to "melt in the mouth" instantly, which it doesn't, I've tried them. I even gave The Dude a few to feed himself. I don't think he has any idea of


Here's an updated list of his food adventure.

• Apples
• Apricots
  
• Bananas
• Blueberries
  
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Chicken
  
• Green Beans
  
• Leeks
• Oatmeal/Oats
• Parsnips
  
• Pear
• Peaches
• Peas
  
• Pear
• Potato
• Quinoa
  
• Rice Cereal
  
• Sweet Potatoes
• Turkey
• Yoghurt
• Zucchini
  

Had a reaction to:

• Squash - will try again soon
  
• Prunes - broke out in hives
  
• Mango - broke out in hives
  

Not certain about:

• Egg Yolk - must try again soon, not certain of eczema flareup. 

Pretty impressive list if I do say so myself!

After wheat, we will be giving him foods that we commonly eat day to day. We're moving towards feeding him what we eat, so that we don't have to make separate meals any longer. It'll be such things like beef, fish, tomatoes, spinach, asparagus, cheese, oranges, grapes, pork, ham... that's what I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm certain there's more. Stuff like milk and strawberries, since they are the top allergens, I'm holding off until he's at least a year old.

Roasted Fruits

I found this recipe on this site that I've been getting email newsletter from for a while. I have to say that this site rocks, and even though her recipes are very simple, they certainly give me plenty of ideas to work with. Dude didn't notice a difference, but he didn't hate it, so it's all good. I have been mixing it with yoghurt though, so it does take away from some of the flavour.

The Dude's tastes are definitely being refined. I'm still trying to work through the baby food jars that I'd bought, but he's beginning to reject them for real home cooked food. While I think it's great, it makes it harder for me to bring food out for him. That means that I have to bring his favourite (banana), or pre-make food and bring it in a thermos. I was planning on doing so anyways, but I haven't had a chance yet to purchase a thermos.

Anyways, the Dude's been eating cottage cheese for the last couple days. So far, I don't think he's reacted to it. I don't think he's that gung ho about it either, but it's more about what he can eat as opposed to what he likes to eat. Next will be mushrooms and onions.

Quinoa and broccoli

The Dude has now had the following new foods: broccoli, leeks, quinoa and parsnips. The broccoli we added to foods that he's already eaten, mostly to mask the strong broccoli taste and to make it a little more palatable. Needless to say this has made the poo situation more interesting.

I bought the Dude some of the Bobo Baby Quinoa and Mixed Vegetables. The Mixed Vegetables are zucchini, leeks and parsnips. I was taking a big chance on introducing three new foods at once, but I really wanted to buy some of the Bobo Baby to try it out. Based on the Joneja Food Allergen Scale, quinoa and parsnips very low on the allergen scale, meaning that the likelihood of the Dude reacting to it is rare. Leeks are not on the scale, but like I said, I was taking a bit of a risk. So far, so good. I also know the owner of Bobo Baby, and had her home cooked food before, she's definitely makes tasty stuff!

Yesterday and today, my mom made some quinoa in chicken stock, and added bits of chicken to it. I've noticed that the Dude's appetite has increased quite a bit, so we added to the packages that were already defrosted.

In other news, the Dude can now eat banana straight from the peel, like how most people eat banana. Of course, he needs assistance, but I'd figured since he now has 4 front teeth, biting should be a skill that he needs to learn. He's definitely getting the hang of it, and he mushes the banana in his mouth, a precursor to chewing skills, which is awesome. I'm glad his eating skills are coming along famously. Next, I'm thinking cottage cheese, but we'll see...

Lumpy food and other such stuff.

Since last posting, I've given the Dude egg yolk and cauliflower, both which he ate with no problems. With both, I had mixed it either in potato, peas, carrots, and chicken, or made some sort of congee with peas, carrots and chicken.

Next will be broccoli. I'm trying to add more fruits and veggies to his diet so that he will have a variety of stuff to eat. The hope is that before he's one, he can eat about 75% of what we eat, I can more or less stop giving him jarred stuff, and simply just make one meal, putting stuff aside and making it lumpy enough for him to eat it. Since his molars aren't in yet, he's not able to grind up the food, so the food still needs to be in small bits for him to digest and not choke on. Still a bit of work, but I will feel better once he's able to eat more and eat what we eat.

I had made a batch of potatoes, peas, carrots and cauliflower and frozen some of it. Tonight I made applesauce. I'm finding it easier to make some stuff as a base and use the jarred baby food as a backup, as making baby food is still very time consuming. I still loathe cooking.

Potatoes!

Today we fed the Dude white organic potatoes.My mom made the food again, same as with the congee, but instead of rice, she put potatoes in. I had to use the hand blender to chop up the peas to smaller pieces, otherwise he couldn't eat them.

This is the first time he's had food that wasn't runny, other than banana, and he's had a bit of a hard time with the consistency of the food. While it's mushy like a banana, it's not as sweet, or as slimy. He choked on it several times, although it may also have been the bits of peas and chicken in it as well. Needless to say, he wasn't terribly impressed with his food, and ended up only eating half of it. But my main concern is that he allergic or react to the potato, so he's going to have to put up with more potato the next couple of days. Saturday we're having turkey Christmas dinner, so yep, the Dude will be getting potato and turkey. Good times!

Breakfast: Earth's Best Apples and Peaches Oatmeal with Olympic Organic Yoghurt
Lunch: Leftover Chicken and Peas Congee
Dinner: Chicken, peas and potato