Solids Starter Kit on sale at Baby City!

When out and about shopping this week, pop into Baby City and pick up a Solids Starter Kit ~ now only $29.99!

Join the Bub Club and be the first to hear about sales, new products, exclusive offers and more!

Sale on in store, online and by phone (0800 BUB CLUB) until 24 December 2010 :)

Mango baby puree

Mangoes are so delicious and refreshing in summer and, as they are grown in so many tropical parts of the world, you can usually find one...if you don't mind the food miles! The Aussie mango pictured here is so tasty and sweet!

I thought to be realistic that I would only use 1 mango for this recipe. They are pretty pricy and definitely a "treat" food in our house as a result.

I was surprised at just how much puree a single mango yielded: 12 and a half 1oz cubes out of this mango :)

Recipe for Mango Baby Puree:
-Wash and halve mango. A large seed will be on one side, like an avocado. Scrape as much of the mango flesh from the inside of the skin and around the seed as possible and into a bowl.
-Puree with a stick blender (or just mash, or slice as a finger food for older babies)and spoon into your mumi&bubi freezing tray.
-Place the lid on, making sure the tabs are on the same side.
-Freeze overnight.

Nutritional Info for Mango:
Mango is packed with Vitamins C & A ~ a single serving will provide 76% of your daily Vitamin C requirements and 25% for Vitamin A. And the orange colour indicates a healthy dose of cancer-fighting carotenoids. What a powerhouse for immunity as well as healthy skin and eyes!

While mango is an ideal food for babies, I would leave it for babies 8m+ as tropical fruit can sometimes produce a reaction in young babies. As always, consult your Plunket nurse or family doctor if unsure of introducing new foods and always introduce new foods exclusively for 3-4 days.

Mango would also be ideal added to banana lollies for older kids :) And for Mum & Dad, pop a couple of these frozen mango cubes into a smoothie to really pack a big Vitamin C punch!

Mango!

Australian mangoes are coming into season, yum!

In many Asian countries, mangoes are known as the king of all the fruits. And for good reason: they are packed with nutrients, anti-oxidants and, their high water content makes them so refreshing on a hot day in summer.

To get ready for mango season, I am posting new recipes all this week. First up: mango baby puree, of course :)

Winehot

In case you were wondering about the romantic French bistro??? I have one word for you:

Winehot

Here are some more words: sexy, unpretentious, best food ever, intimate, amazing service & atmosphere ~ think black walls and glittering old-world chandeliers.

How much? How little! we had 3 drinks before dinner (Gav: 2 beers, me a glass of bubbly) and then a gorgeous bottle of wine with:
1 bread & dip plate to share ~ best in town says Gav, I didn't know he kept an eye on the bread & dips around town, but apparently so and this one's a winner :)
2 mains:
Merino lamb for me because I usually only wear it, not eat it and had to have a taste, yum. Gav had the Steak frites and is still talking about it 5 days later. Gavin even raved about the salad dressing - so light! so tasty! - and if you haven't met him before, he's a pretty laid back, non-rave-y type of guy, especially about salad dressing.
1 dessert:
the creme brulee, of course. Nice and crispy on top.

All of this deliciousness for only $140. If we eased up on the sauce, the total would be well under $100, more like $80. What a gem! We'll be back....very soon.

from Gavin since our Winehot experience:
Saturday ~ all tucked up, nearly asleep and he says, "So, how soon can we have another date night and go back to Winehot?"
Sunday ~ "What kind of blue cheese do you think that was on my steak? I can't stop thinking about it." What???
Monday ~ walking back from the produce shop "What kind of oil do you think they use at Winehot to cook those fries?" Me: "Hmmm, must be a good one, and a pretty special variety of potato, too." Gav: "I think I'm going to buy myself a deep-fryer for Christmas."

Winehot
605 New North Road
Kingsland
Auckland
www.winehot.co.nz

Beetroot puree tip

When cooking beetroot to puree into baby food, steaming is very easy. But if you have the oven on anyway to cook dinner, why not try roasting your beetroot in foil?

Roasting beetroot makes it taste sweeter and brings out a complexity flavours that steaming does not. Wash under running water, shake off the excess water and trim any greens, then wrap in foil. Wrap as many beets as you like in the same foil packet and bake in the oven at 180C.

Check smaller beets after about 25min, larger can take up to an hour. When they are cool enough to handle, you can use a knife to peel but you will find that the skins peel away very easily.

For the baby puree, throw the beets into your blender or use a handheld stick blender for a smooth puree. Hopefully, you will have cooked enough for a big batch of beetroot cubes to freeze in your Solids Starter Kit and some for you to enjoy :)

Intolerance to milk?

Today's solids tip is from our Plunket nurse, Yvonne. She has helped me overcome dietary intolerances in both of my children and today, her tip is about milk intolerance.

The first time I noticed that something was up with Isobel and milk was when we switched from formula to organic cow's milk when she turned 1. She began to get these inflamed, itchy eczema-like patches on her abdomen and thighs. After a few days, it became pretty clear that it was the milk as it got progressively worse and milk was her only new food during that time.

Even though she was 1 and well past the starting solids stage, this emphasised how important it is to introduce new foods - one at a time, for a few days - and keep track of any changes in behaviour or skin appearance during that time.

The good news is, you've got plenty of options if your baby has a milk intolerance:
-boil the milk: bring to a boil in a saucepan. The act of bringing it to the boil takes care of that harsh protein that causes the intolerance, brilliant! We have been doing this, it is easy and it does work. I boil about 500ml a couple of times a week for Isobel, let it cool and store it in the fridge in a glass bottle.

-go back to formula. I had wanted to eliminate the formula altogether by this stage, but she has it a couple of times a week in her Safe Sippy. I notice now, at 15months of age, that she is starting to wean herself from formula and only has about 100ml anyway.

-drink goat's milk! Although theoretically the same chemical composition as cow's milk, goat's milk does not cause this sort of intolerance and people who suffer from allergies or intolerances to cow's milk swear by it. Our friend, Mel, also recommends it :)

More good news for Isobel: this is not an allergy to milk and she will very likely outgrow this milk intolerance. How do we know that? Well, she is fine with formula which comes from cows, no problems with cheese or yogurt either, thank goodness. We'll try her again with cow's milk when she is 2.

I hope this has been helpful! If you have any tips that you would like to share, please add your comments below.

Plunket Charity Auction

Have you checked out Plunket's charity auction on TradeMe? Expore NZ and bid on these amazing auctions for:

-Rainbows End
-Skippers Canyon
-Waitomo Caves
-InterIslander Ferry passes
-accommodation

and....exclusive Dora backpacks designed by Salma Hayek and Jessica Alba! And much more.

Check out the auction and bid today at www.trademe.co.nz

Happy Bidding!

we love ecostore :)

Did you know that you can see & buy the mumi&bubi Solids Starter Kit and The Safe Sippy2 at ecostore? They have a fabulous baby section with all of the good things for your eco-baby.

Our friend, Mel, visited the other day and shared her great ecostore customer service experience with us:

"I've just been into the ecostore to get a few bits and bobs and found a great baby food cookbook, while I was browsing the shop assistant suggested that I might like to get a solid starters kit because they are wonderful. Thought you might like to know. They look great on the shelves as well."

You can find ecostore in Auckland at:
1 Scotland Street
Ponsonby

and online at www.ecostore.co.nz

When you visit, tell them how much you love your mumi&bubi Solids Starter Kit :)

Safe Sippy customer review

Safe Sippy review from Tara, a happy mumi&bubi Customer..

on The Safe Sippy: "what a fantastic product! I am very impressed...my one year old girl always ends up chocking and spluttering because the sippy cups we have seem to "gush" when she tries to drink and it has actually put her off drinking out of cups so we went back to bottles...The Safe Sippy is FANTASTIC.....Awesome!!!

Click here to buy and find our more about The Safe Sippy and The Safe Sippy2 which is a sippy or a straw cup (only one in the world!). Check them out today and use the following code in the shopping cart to save 10% today:
mumi

Om Om, yummy apple spice loaf review

Thanks so much to Shanna from Auckland for submitting this review about our Apple Spice Loaf that I posted recently...

P.S. I forgot to say I also tried out the apple spice loaf recipe from your blog the other day and it was a hit! My 5 year old loved it in his lunch box, he said he 'ommed' it up. Om om.

What a fabulous lunchbox idea! Thanks for sharing :)

You can check out our Apple Spice loaf recipe here. It is so easy to mix together and it makes your whole house smell like Christmas any day of the year.

We Want You!

Well, my baby Isobel is 1 now, and has graduated from her healthy start in life with 100% homemade baby food. She is a bonafide toddler now, toddling around and eating what the rest of us are eating....yay! But it's all gone so quickly and I will miss this stage of her little life. Baby food is so important and the food you serve at this time helps to shape their future health and their eating habits for their whole lifetime.

To continue to show parents just how simple and easy making homemade baby food is using the Solids Starter Kit, we need a couple more babies! We are looking for:
1 Mum with a bub starting solids (or recently started) who is making purees regularly with her SSK, and;
1 Mum with a 9m+ old bub who is still using her SSK to make mealtimes a breeze by freezing meal portions, finger food and adapting family meals, etc.

Ideally, our Mums will submit a recipe along with a photo of their creation in the trays once a week for 2 months showing their passion for healthy, homemade baby food using the Solids Starter Kit. Generally sharing your experience of making baby food so we can follow your baby's progress through the solids stages. Bullet points are fine, you don't have to be a storywriter :)

Is this you or someone you know? We are looking forward to hearing from you! Please introduce yourself at our contact page and we will be in touch.
http://www.mumiandbubi.co.nz/contact.htm

Isobel's new socks!

I usually don't go all gaga over super-cool baby clothes. I love when things are well made and last a long time, that gets my attention.

But I can't stop talking about these totally adorable, fabulous quality Lamington merino baby knee socks! Isobel loves wearing them as they are super-comfy and toasty warm. Even Gavin thinks they are too cute.

Lamington will also be at Mary's Market this Saturday, along with Made4Baby, Snooky and of course mumi&bubi.

Apple Spice Loaf

Simple to make, perfect for morning tea or coffee group and your whole house smells like Christmas!

When I saw Pacific Rose apples at the Takapuna Market last Sunday for 80 cents a kilo, I knew I was going to make this Apple Spice Loaf.

This is one that your whole family can enjoy. And, if your baby has started on finger food, this makes a nice treat for them.

Isobel can make a slice of this apple spice loaf disappear in the blink of an eye - and not down the back of her high chair if you know what I mean. It is one of the only things that makes her happy when a molar is coming in! And cuddles, of course :)

Recipe for Apple Spice Loaf:
Whisk together: 1 cup soft brown sugar, 3/4 cup soya or canola oil, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 eggs.
Mix in 2 cups grated apple.
Add: 1and3/4 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1 tsp salt.
Pour into prepared loaf tin and bake at 180C for 45-55 mins until golden and firm in the middle and the sides are pulling away from the tin. Cool in tin for 15 mins then turn out onto wire rack. Cool before slicing, if you can wait that long :)

Recipe Notes:
*Can also substitute apple for same amount of grated courgettes (2 med) or pureed pumpkin.
*2 cups grated apple is about 2 med-large apples. The more the better I say. I used organic and grated in the food processor with the skins right on - yay, no peeling!
*when baking this recipe with apple, go more for the 45 min rather than 55min to keep it nice and moist.

I have made this 3x in the past 2 weeks: once with courgettes and twice with apple. They are both delish! If making baby food and pureeing pumpkin, make extra and try this with the pumpkin ~ and let me know how it turns out!

Enjoy!

Heidi Klum's homemade baby food

Supermodel Heidi Klum doesn’t give her four kids a choice about what’s for dinner, she says.

'I don't make special things for them,' she said. 'They eat whatever is cooked and if they don’t like it, the kitchen is closed!'

For the baby, the 37-year-old uses a mini-blender to turn whatever she and her husband Seal are enjoying into a quick puree.

'When the baby has baby food I usually give them exactly what we eat ... I don't make special baby food, so I love that,' the Project Runaway host told UsMagazine.com.

What are some favourite menu items in their household? 'They love spaghetti and meatballs, chicken soup, schnitzel and kale,' the German native said. 'They love everything! They eat healthy.'

from monstersandcritics.com

note from Christina:
I love Heidi, have been a big fan ever since I saw her so long ago in the Victoria's Secret catalog. She is such a positive role-model for all of us Mums and our girls. She has proven that with hard work and sheer determination you can accomplish your goals and be successful. But most importantly, she has proven time and time again that nice girls can finish first.

No more bottled water, please

Did you know....1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water worldwide, while others who have clean water spend billions of dollars on bottled product that costs up to 2000x the price of tap water!

Check out this neat video and please feel free to leave your comments.

The Story of Stuff ~ Bottled Water

Pumpkin powers up immunity

Want an instant, proven immunity boost? Want to keep colds and flu at bay in your household this winter? Power up the pumpkin!

The vibrant orange colour of pumpkin is your clue that it is full of beta carotene, an important antioxidant that keep your baby's skin bright and eyesight sharp. Pumpkin is very rich in other carotenoids which are known for keeping the immune system strong.

Click here for pumpkin puree recipe.

Chicken and pumpkin quesadillas make a super-tasty meal out of your leftover chicken roast and are really easy to whip up. You can slice them into finger food for 9-12 month old babies or larger slices for the whole family.

Solids Starter Kit

Single-serve food & beverage packaging is harming our planet. Go green simply by making your own baby food.

The mumi&bubi 'Solids Starter Kit' makes healthy, homemade baby food easy for your modern family.

Freeze & store up to 42 cubes at once in our unique premium freezing trays which are specially designed to stack compactly in your freezer.

Wholesale inquiries welcome.

Get your Solids Starter Kit today at www.mumiandbubi.co.nz

Frozen Banana Lollies

When Isobel was starting solids, we went through so many banana cubes that I made them every week. They are so delicious we all ate them~ Isobel, Max, Gavin & me!

Max called them his "Banana Lollies" and wanted a bowl of chopped frozen banana cubes every day for dessert, and Gav and I kept popping them into our smoothies. A few of cubes of pureed, frozen bananas instead of a fresh banana makes your smoothie smoother & colder.

Now that Isobel is 11.5 months and has 2 molars coming through, this "grown up" version of our frozen banana lolly is such a treat. Bananas don't freeze solid, like courgettes which, when frozen, resemble green ice cubes. Frozen cubes of pureed bananas can be easily sliced with a knife or chewed. They are perfect for putting into those raw food feeders and for teething, Isobel chews away on the frozen cube to soothe her sore gums.

Recipe for Frozen Banana Lollies:
Mash 2 ripe bananas then mix in a few Tbsp yogurt and a handful of frozen or fresh blueberries. Puree, so there aren't any lumps of blueberry. Spoon into your mumi&bubi freezing tray, pop the lid on and freeze.

To easily distinguish these cubes from plain banana cubes that I have stored in zip-lock bags in the freezer, I put a blueberry at the top of each cube (or is that the bottom???). This was also a helpful tip to prevent Isobel eating these cubes by accident when she was just a wee bub starting solids and hadn't yet been introduced to yogurt or blueberries.

Enjoy!

An apple a day....

Pureeing today: a fresh tray of NZ Pacific Rose apples. I used 3 large Pacific Rose apples and, cooked and pureed, they nearly filled 1 tray. Next time I will do 4 apples and have some left over to eat right away.

AND WHAT IS THAT RED STUFF????? Well, the mumi&bubi 'Solids Starter Kit' is not just for baby food, you can use it for freezing leftovers too. Save heaps of money when you can freeze that pizza sauce for next time.

Traditionally what happens in my kitchen is I make a couple of pizzas using only half the tomato paste in the jar. I put the rest in the fridge in good faith that I WILL use it within the next couple of days, before it goes off.

I NEVER do! It always festers in the fridge until recycling day. The tomato paste goes to the worm farm and the pottle goes to the recycling. Ho Hum. What a waste of time and money....

Now, if I have any sauce left over, I spoon it into my mumi&bubi freezing tray and make a couple of perfect cubes to use for next time. I know that 1 of these cubes is good for a medium sized pizza so we are all set for next time.

Pizza, anyone???

Recipe for pureed apples

A lovely apple puree cube!

Recipe for Pureed Apple:
Apple: 250g or 2 medium apples to fill 7 cubes or 1 row, 750g or 6 medium apples to make 21 cubes and fill 1 whole tray.
-wash, peel and core and quarter apples
-lightly steam or gently simmer with 2-3 tablespoons of boiling water with lid on until tender. Mash for older babies or puree using some of the reserved cooking water using a handheld blender or food processor
-spoon portions into your mumi&bubi premium BPA-free freezing tray, cover with the lid and freeze

Nutritional Information for Apple:
Apples are rich in Vitamin C which is important for your baby's developing teeth and gums. 1 medium apple, without the skin, contains approx 65 calories.

In Season: Apples

Apples are still in season in New Zealand. The Granny Smith's are getting a bit tired, but Pacific Rose is just coming in and they are crispy & sweet.

It's hard to tell what is and what is not in season at the grocery store as they carry most produce year-round and it all looks the same. The prices are a good indication. WHAT??? They want HOW MUCH???

Out-of-season produce is shipped from afar and costs a premium - like those courgettes I bought for a spice loaf the other day for $12.99 a kg!!! It was totally worth it as this courgette spice loaf was divine, I will post this recipe later in the week :)

A great way to check out fresh in-season produce is to have a look at your local organic store. If it is not in season, they simply won't have it. And when it is in season, it is stocked fresh and the prices are usually the same as the grocery store as there is such an abundance.

Isobel is 11 months old now, and although doesn't have puree as her main meals now, we steamed and pureed a tray of New Zealand Pacific Rose apples. 2 cubes warmed and added to her morning cereal makes a nice change from the usual banana. A couple of warm cubes on my morning oatmeal (or evening ice cream!) is pretty nice too...

Mary's Market this Saturday

It's Mary's Market time again! This market is sponsored by Covet, Auckland's newest designer recycle store. They will have a drop off zone in the foyer, so clean out your closet, come along and make some money while you are at it :)

Bring the whole family as Neat Meat are going to have a gourmet sausage sizzle, yum!

Mention this blog post when you visit us at the mumi&bubi stand and get an additional 10% off our already amazing market prices. See you there!

(here are the details and directions)

New Solids Starter Kit review

Posted by Sharon at Wrigglepot on 5th Jun 2010

Awesome!
Bought this set and am so impressed that I have recommended them to everyone I know. So easy to remove individual portions! Lids and trays are very easy to wash. I bought set to use for just ice too. No yukky tasting ice cubes due to the lid plus the shape is funky.
---------------------
thanks, Sharon!

Baby bottle suppliers phase out BPA

from the New Zealand Herald...
Suppliers of baby products are voluntarily phasing out the use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles due to consumer concern over the safety of the compound.

Food and Grocery Council chief executive Katherine Rich said its members took the step due to consumer demand, and not because it posed a health risk to babies.

BPA is added to many hard, clear bottles and containers, including those for adult drinks, to make them harder.

Australia, Canada, the United States, Denmark and Australia have also taken steps to limit the sale of baby bottles that contain BPA until research demonstrates its safety.

read the whole article here, and please feel free to leave your comments...

Been to the Museum Lately?

Gav & I took the kids for the very first time the the Auckland Museum yesterday - and what a great day! Isobel just loves a good outing and, being Sunday, there were plenty of people for her to check out. And at 3 and a half, Max is the perfect age to discover the Weird and Wonderful area and just old enough to partake in the organised kids' activities that are happening every day from 10-12 during school holidays.

At the end of the Kai to Pie exhibit, there is a fabulous "garden" with more kids' activities and tons of books - all about food! Isobel loved crawling around in the long "grass" and Max had a turn on the cow's udder and discovered where milk comes from.

It is such a gem of a place and FREE to all Aucklanders. Cost for the entire day: $5 ~ we splurged on parking as it was hosing down with rain outside.

I am looking forward to our next outing there and Max can't wait to go back to the "Mooseem" :)

Love that green!

Today, I am pureeing more courgettes. We ran out of our homemade courgette cubes ages ago and I am making a whole tray (21 cubes) for a good months' supply.

I forgot just how vibrant and green courgette puree is, which only means one thing: goodness for your baby! Packed with Vitamins A and C which are immune boosters and potent antioxidants, we all need an immunity boost at this time of year :)

Its mild taste means that your bub is likely to enjoy courgettes and, as it naturally purees to a fairly liquid-y consistency, it is ideal to pop a cube or two into pasta sauce, soup or stew to add nutrients to an older baby or toddler meal.

Here is the recipe for pureed courgettes, so quick and easy!

Courgettes also make an ideal warm finger food which can also be frozen into perfect portions using your mumi&bubi 'Solids Starter Kit' and heated as your baby needs them. Click here for an easy courgette finger food recipe!

If Tori Spelling can do it...

From people.com ...

When son Liam Aaron, 2, was first introduced to solids, Spelling fed him only jarred organic baby food. She charted a similar course with Stella before turning to the food processor, and says that the difference was immediately apparent.

"She's an eater. Like, she loves her bottle. She would take the [jarred] food and she was fine with it," Spelling explains. "But once I made my own baby food ... I literally gave it to her that first day, it was a spoonful, and her face lit up. She had this huge smile."

Stella's reaction was so positive, in fact, it left Spelling longing for the camera crew that normally follows her family for Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. "I was like, 'Oh my gosh. This is an infomercial of why you should make your own baby food,'" she recalls. "It's happening right here in my backyard and no one is here to see it."

Noting that jarred food contains preservatives and is often bland, Spelling says that Stella is now hooked on her fresh fruits and veggies, and there will be no going back – for mother or daughter.

"It was so amazing. Ever since then, I'm like, I'm telling you: Make your own baby food. Because it's such a huge difference for them."

BPA linked to asthma

From the Natural News...

The controversial chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), already linked to a wide array of health problems, may also increase the risk of asthma in children, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

BPA is an industrial chemical widely used in the manufacture of hard, clear plastics like those used in water and baby bottles, as well as in resins used to line cans of food, beverages and infant formula. Exposure has been linked to an increased risk of cancer, heart disease, birth defects, and hormonal and reproductive problems. Its use in products for young children has been banned in a number of countries and in three U.S. states.

Read the whole article here.

Mary's Market tomorrow!

It's raining, it's pouring, and there's a new river outside my house!

Looking for a rainy Saturday morning activity in Auckland? Mary's Market is back at the Freemans Bay Community Centre from 9am - 1pm. It is toasty and warm inside and mumi&bubi will have all of our range on offer.

Go to www.marysmarket.co.nz for directions and to see who else will be there. Please stop by our stand and say hello :)

Tasty smoked fish pie with kumara/potato mash

When preparing meals for your family, one way to get preschoolers excited about dinner is to serve in personal portions. This smoked fish pie is delicious and gets extra points from our 3 yr old son, Max, in his own special serving.

This easy family meal is also ideal for pureeing up a tray or 2 of homemade baby food cubes at the same time in your mumi&bubi Solids Starter Kit without any extra time or effort.

Ingredients:
500g smoked fish
1 leek, 1 onion
1 cup milk + extra for mashing, 1 Tbsp flour
3 potatoes, 1 kumara
+750g kumara if also making kumara baby puree
parmesan or other cheese, grated

Directions:
-Boil potato & kumara in large pot, remove your portion for baby puree into another pot or bowl and cover. Mash the portion for the pie with milk and a knob of butter.
-saute onion until soft then add sliced leek for a further 4min
-add the flaked fish
-mix flour + milk, stir into the onion/leek/fish mixture

Assembly:
Layer individual 10cm baking ramekins with a thin layer of potato/kumara mash on the bottom, follow by a thicker layer of the fish mixture, topping with another potato/kumara layer. Sprinkle top with grated parmesan or other cheese.

Cooking:
If cooking to eat right away, grill in the oven until cheese is melted and top is golden and crispy. As this is an ideal dish to make ahead, cover and then pop into the fridge until you need it that evening or the next day. Bake covered in 180C oven for about 45min, then uncover for the last 15 to colour up the top.

For babies 9-12 months+, you can also puree portions of this yummy pie for either serving right away or freezing in your mumi&bubi Solids Starter Kit.

Enjoy! If you have any questions, please ask in the comments section below :)

Fish pie baby puree

Although Isobel is really into her finger food and feeding herself, she still appreciates a good puree and being spoon fed on a regular basis. At 10 months old, this isn't surprising, and it is also a good way to ensure that she is getting all of her vital nutrients.

Although I didn't puree any of this fish pie for freezing in my mumi&bubi 'Solids Starter Kit', I did puree a small bowl for her on the day - and she loved it. Will definitely put this on the monthly meal roster and make extra next time for freezing a couple of meals for her.

Hmmm, doesn't photograph very well but tastes exactly the same as the yummy smoked fish pie, unpureed :)

Recipe for Kumara baby puree

Healthy, homemade baby food is so easy to make and kumara baby puree is no exception. You simply wash, peel and then cube the kumara into large chunks and cook.

Kumara is very versatile to work with and can be steamed, boiled or roasted to suit whatever else you are doing in the kitchen. As we were cooking up our tasty smoked fish pie with kumara and potato mash, we boiled 2 extra medium-sized kumara in the same pot as the potatoes to puree for Isobel. We separated out the potatoes before pureeing as she doesn't do well with starchiness potatoes at the moment but if your bub is okay with both kumara and potatoes by all means puree them together for a lovely kumara potato blend.

It is such a time-saver when you can simply throw in a bit extra of this or that and make your homemade baby food when you make your family meal: No extra time or effort required!

How to remove the cubes: kumara is one of those veggies that seems really "stuck" in the trays after freezing. Simply run warm water over the back of the cubes that you wish to remove, press on one end of the cube and, as the bottom of the cube is rounded, it will "lever out". Please do not twist the trays!

Not into meat - what about the iron???

Isobel is totally not into meat. She will tolerate chicken, barely, and it must be paired with something favourable, like pumpkin or zucchini. But lamb and beef, no way. Not just yet, anyway.

So what about the iron, she really needs a consistent supply of iron at her age. And then I just happened to run into Ellie, our fabulous Devonport Plunket solids advisor at Devonport Wholefoods - it really is the local hang-out! - for some well-timed and very practical advice:

Freeze a portion of your choice of uncooked red meat and simply grate a teaspoon or so into her lunchtime vegetables. The little gratings are so small that they will cook from the heat of the veggies. Easy-peasy.

Of course I already had my cubes of prime beef mince and organic lamb tucked neatly amongst all of the ziplock bags of veggies and fruit in my freezer, but no worries - frozen cubes of pureed meat are ideal for grating and already perfectly portioned.

I use the tiny parmesan-sized grater disc for light and fluffy gratings, I figure the smaller the grating the better to hide in her veggies. She is a smart little Bunny and can detect - and then refuse - just about anything I am trying to slyly get past her! Which kind of makes me proud as I wouldn't want her to be a pushover even at her young age :)

And the winners are....

Thank you to everyone who entered the Littlies May competition for a fabulous mumi&bubi 'Solids Starter Kit'. The winners are:

Vanessa Wills, Blenheim; Tanja Klumpers, Havelock North; Sarah Hayward, Hobsonville; Rebecca Warwick, Christchurch; Melissa Warrington, Christchurch; Toni Mitchell, Glendowie; A Chard, New Plymouth; Claire Butler, North Canterbury; Allison McPherson, Wellington.

All winners were randomly chosen by Littlies. I will be ringing the winners to confirm address details and your new 'Solids Starter Kits' will be couriered to you in a few days.

Congratulations!

The Hip Infant SSK Review

We savvy Mums love our SSK's! And for good reason - here is the latest SSK review from The Hip Infant...

This neat little kit includes a recipe book with 27 recipe ideas (surely even the fussiest of first time eaters will find something in there that they like!!) that are designed not only to tempt your little ones taste buds but also teach the chef (that’s you!) how to cook the optimum way to ensure you retain all the goodness and nutrition of the ingredients you are working with. Did I mention one stop shop? But wait there’s more! The starter kit also includes 2 BPA free, dishwasher safe, portioned freezer trays. That come with a lid to prevent freezer burn and maintain hygiene. Over at Mumi and Bubi I think they’re onto that weaning can be a difficult time so they’ve thought of everything to make it easy for us! SO they’ve rounded the trays on the bottom so you can leverage out however many cubes you need at the time and not have to empty all the other filled cubes.

Not sure on how much to cook to fill them? Leaving no stone unturned the recipe book also includes a shopping list of what to buy to perfectly fill the 2 freezer trays so there is no wastage!

Check out the entire article at The Hip Infant

Mary's Market

It's Mary's Market this Saturday the 22 of May. mumi&bubi will be there with the ever-popular 'Solids Starter Kit' and Safe Sippy range of stainless steel drink bottles for the whole family.

Check out Mary's website to see all of the stallholders.

This month's market is sponsored by Karitane Nurses and Nannies Bureau. Enter the draw to win a nanny for 5 hours!

Come along, stock up on all the goods and be sure to stop by our mumi&bubi stand and say hello :)

Recipe for Cauliflower

Here are all of my little cauliflower florets washed, trimmed from the stalk and ready for a light steam.

Isobel is 9 1/2 months old and into her finger food so I will cut the steamed cauliflower into bite-sized pieces for her and freeze handy servings in my mumi&bubi freezing tray.

If your bub is just starting solids, puree the cauliflower to a nice consistency (adding some of the reserved steaming water) and then spoon into your mumi&bubi freezing tray. If bubs is a bit older and into lumpy textures, you can mash to his preferred lumpiness and then freeze.

It's amazing what you learn doing this - I had no idea that cauliflower was sooooo good for you, lifesaving almost!

After checking out this article, you'll definitely want cauliflower on the menu a couple of times a week :) I think I will even keep some extra cubes of cauli puree on hand to sneak into pasta sauces and casseroles this winter.

Eco Family Expo in Tauranga

Live in the Bay of Plenty, or know someone who does? Come along to the Eco Family Expo on Saturday 15 May at the QE2 Centre in Tauranga.

There will be 50 stalls (including mumi&bubi, lola & ben, pipi child) and exhibits showcasing eco-friendly products and services. The first 300 families through the door will receive a generous goody bag.

See you there!

9 months!

Happy Birthday Isobel, 9 months old today! She started solids nearly four months ago and I am so happy to say that she has had 100% healthy homemade baby food made by me, and sometimes her Daddy :) It has been so easy with the Solids Starter Kit.

Isobel celebrated this milestone by totally feeding herself her dinner! No one was more shocked than me as Max didn't do this until a little later. Which goes to show that all babies are their own little people and will do things at their own pace.

Moving on from the puree stage, I am going to continue using my 'Solids Starter Kit' for keeping her meals organised and freezing portions of finger food - mushrooms, swede, carrots, etc. so that I have freshly prepared food that Isobel can feed herself on hand in the freezer.

I am also going to be freezing portions of our family meals and I am going to try the Chicken and Kumara Dinner that was submitted by Rebecca one day soon.

It's all about being prepared saving time and not having to cook all the time, but still providing healthy homemade food for your precious little ones.

The Clean 15

The Clean 15 is the opposite of The Dirty Dozen! These are the top 15 fruits and veggies in the Environmental Working Group's list that are least likely to be contaminated by pesticide residues:

1. onions (even though it is not necessary to buy organic onions due to their pesticide residues, I find they taste much better!)
2. avocado
3. sweet corn
4. pineapples
5. mango
6. sweet peas
7. asparagus
8. kiwi fruit
9. cabbage
10. eggplant
11. canteloupe (rock melon)
12. watermelon
13. grapefruit
14. sweet potatoes (kumara)
15. honeydew melon

It is interesting to note that nearly all the studies on which this list is based tested produce after it had been rinsed or peeled.

You can download your wallet-size guide here

Even though this is a US-based list, it is good food for thought. I will try to find a similar NZ list as I know that there are some pesticides that are still in use in NZ that are banned in the USA. If you have any info on this, please let me know!

The Dirty Dozen 2010

Every year, the Environmental Working Group, in their Shoppers Guide to Pesticides releases their Dirty Dozen: a comprehensive list of the food most likely to be contaminated by pesticides.

Food for Thought
According to the EWG methodology, "You can lower your pesticide consumption by nearly four-fifths by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and instead eating the least contaminated produce, according to EWG calculations. When you eat the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables, you’ll be exposed to an average of 10 pesticides a day. When you choose fresh produce from the 15 least contaminated fruits and vegetables, you’ll consume fewer than 2 pesticides per day."

Best to go organic for these 12 fruits and veggies:

1. celery
2. peaches
3. strawberries (although this is a US list, I know someone who works at a strawberry grower in Kumeu and guess what....they grow their own!)
4. apples
5. blueberries (we are so lucky to have Omaha Organic Blueberries in steady supply at our grocery stores, no reason to not eat organic blueberries in NZ)
6. nectarines
7. sweet bell peppers (capsicum)
8. spinach
9. kale
10. cherries
11. potatoes
12. grapes (non-USA)

It is interesting to note that nearly all the studies on which this guide is based tested produce after it had been rinsed or peeled.

Reading stuff like this highlights the importance of being aware of how different life is for our children that it was for us. Small changes really do add up to a better quality of life for our families, you can discover more in A Wake-Up Story that I posted a little while ago.

Come back tomorrow for the good news: the list of those fruits and veggies that are least likely to be contaminated by pesticide residue, The Clean 15.

Win a Solids Starter Kit with Littlies!

Grab your May edition of littlies magazine to win a mumi&bubi 'Solids Starter Kit'. See the freebies page or enter online here

We have 9 Kits to give away in this competition! Contest closes 28 May 2010.

Congratulations to all of the winners, listed here

Isobel's first finger food

Isobel is still mostly having purees as she is not the least bit interested in any kind of mashed or lumpy food. Fair enough!

Lately she started making gestures with her little hands as if she was picking up imaginary food and feeding herself. Normal? Who knows :) It was totally cute though and the clearest sign in the world that perhaps it is time to let her indulge in some well-deserved finger food.

Babies are so good at letting you know when they are ready for the next level! They definitely tell you in their own little way.

But what to give, since she is not used to actually chewing and swallowing bits of food??? I started with something soft that she could easily chew or "gum", like courgettes, pictured above.

I cooked the courgettes sliced in rounds, steamed until soft and then placed 5 or 6 into each cube of my mumi&bubi freezing tray and popped into the freezer. These cubes "lever" out just like cubes of pureed food.

**You can see in the pic that I pureed half of the rounds to mix in with other veg and meat. This finger food thing is new so I'll still need to feed her most of her solids for now :)

For serving, I warm the courgette cube of frozen rounds, then cut each round into smaller pieces. I'll give her the whole piece when she is a bit older.

It is so handy to have a supply this easy courgette finger food ready to go in your freezer!

Courgettes are a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals important for your baby's health and development. See nutritional info and puree recipe here at our original courgettes puree post.

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who came along for making Mary's Market another fun and successful morning!

It was great to see all of our friends who stopped by our stand to say hello and share their homemade baby food experiences and fabulous to meet new ones too.

See you at the next Mary's Market on 22 May! Put in on your calendars as it will be that last one for a couple of months...

Directions and more info on Mary's Market here.

Who's cooking with mumi&bubi?

Rebecca McLeod, owner of Made4Baby, joins us this week to share a little about her family, business, and how the Solids Starter Kit (SSK) helped her to prepare healthy homemade baby food in no time at all:

Family
I have 2 wonderful little boys, Sammy is almost 4 (and the face of Made4Baby) and Will has just turned 1, a Labrador called Charlie and my wonderful husband Jimmy.

Made4Baby
Made4Baby is a range of natural skincare – our fabulous easy to use range includes a Fragrance Free range for super new and super sensitive skins and we also have an Organic Citrus Fragrance, loved by Mums and kids!

The Made4Baby office is out the back of our home so it makes it easier to look after the boys, manage the business, especially while Will has been a baby.

As a busy working Mum, how has the SSK made it easy for you to make your own healthy homemade baby food?
Great – when Will was a baby I would just choose one meal for the whole family and take the first part off for him and then pop a row in the cubes. Then I could add all the herb, spices and extras. This just mean on nights when I was in a rush or not prepared, I could just pop out a cube (or more as his tummy expanded!), and he had a healthy homemade meal.

What percentage of baby food was homemade by you (or someone in your household), using the SSK?
75% - wish it was more but there were times when it was just all too hard and I succumbed to the readymades (but mostly when out, never really used at home as Will didn’t like them as much)! Also Will moved quite quickly to wanting to finger feed.

Thank you, Rebecca! You can find out more about Made4Baby skincare at www.made4baby.co.nz Max loves his Bubbles!Bubbles!

Chicken & Kumara Dinner

This super-easy meal for older kids and bubs who have started eating meat was submitted by Rebecca McLeod from Made4Baby:

2 x chicken drumsticks
1 kumura, peeled and cut into cubes
Water to cover in pot

Just bring the chicken to the boil, and then cover and reduce to a simmer for 30 min add the kumura and cook for another 15 min, once all is cooked then take out and puree or mash to the consistency required. Take out what you need for the night and put the rest in the SSK.

Also love putting cheese sauce in there so that if any meal isn’t looking that flash, a bit of cheese sauce can improve it a great deal!

Who's cooking with mumi&bubi?

This is an exciting new feature of my blog where I will profile a fabulous Mum who is cooking with mumi&bubi.

You may be surprised - I sure am. Because it's not who you think! It's not the leisurely Mum with time on her hands to be puttering around the kitchen all day making baby food.

Mums who use the 'Solids Starter Kit' are a savvy, tuned-in bunch: they are super-busy Mums from around the world - professionals, WAHMs (work at home Mums), Mums working part-time and SAHMs with babies, toddlers and busy households to manage.

And they all use our mumi&bubi 'Solids Starter Kit' because we make it easy for them to save time making their own healthy homemade baby food.

So who's cooking with mumi&bubi? Check back soon to see our first profile...

Two Spoons - the key to a happy meal

Isobel is 8 months old now and wants to be interactive at mealtimes. It is getting harder to negotiate spoonfuls of homemade baby food goodness into her little mouth without Isobel trying to grab the spoon.

I am not one of these Mums who gives her child a toy to play with during mealtimes because that is simply too messy. It's one thing for her hands, face and clothes to get messy - it's another thing entirely for a puree-covered toy to be hurled across the room and land on my carpet. Or curtains. And, not to mention, questionable manners with all that racket at the dinner table. Best to start them off right from the start as far as manners are concerned. No toys at the table.

Besides, our after-meal cleanup routine is already more than enough and includes:
-clean Isobel (all of the time)
-clean the high chair (most of the time)
-clean the floor (sometimes)
-change our clothes, yes mine too! Things can really get out of hand sometimes (depends on what was for lunch and/or our agenda for the rest of the day: see my Beetroot post)

So what to do??? She needs something more as me making funny noises while feeding her is just not working for her any longer....

So I came up with a simple solution: If she wants to pretend like she is feeding herself, give Isobel her own spoon. It has worked a treat for us, she really thinks she is feeding herself, the little spoon goes back and forth from her imaginary bowl on her tray to her mouth and, in between, I get a spoon full of homemade baby food in there once in a while too.

Everyone is happy...

Organic Brown Rice

From around 8 months or so, babies can be introduced to brown rice. Most babies are on the move by this time - Isobel is so fast these days crawling from room to room and scrambling to climb up on the coffee table, etc. - that some more carbs & this exciting new texture may be a welcome change.

To save you from the time-consuming task of cooking brown rice on a regular basis just for your baby, the 'Solids Starter Kit' is ideal for freezing "cubes" of rice and having a 1-2 month supply at hand in the freezer.

Leanne Cooper, the Organic Bubs nutritionist and owner of Cadence Health, recommends that brown rice can be introduced around this time. Just make sure that it is cooked thoroughly until soft.

Avoid GM rice, but this can be easily done by choosing organic brown rice like the one we use from Ceres Organics. It is widely available at regular grocery stores, has a wonderful nutty flavour and is great for the whole family.

Wrigglepot 'Solids Starter Kit' review

The cost of these seem high in comparison to other trays on the market, however, unless you only want to cook up a single carrot you will be forced to buy several of the others which will end up being more expensive. These trays really will save you money and are a joy to work with.

* Super easy to clean because of the unique shape of the individual portion sections and only 2 trays to contend with. The individual pots of other brands means individual cleaning and are a lot more time consuming.
* The unique shape of the portions makes removing the food easier than any other tray I have tried.
* A total of 42 portions means I can cook more food at one time.
* Easy to stack in the freezer.
* They are a great shape and in between babies I fill them with lime and lemon juice and melt them in jugs of soda water, etc and they look great.
* BPA free!!

I used to make up a big batch and then take out all of the portions and store in a zip lock bag in freezer for super easy access.

review from wrigglepot In Australia, buy your Solids Starter Kit from Wrigglepot and get free shipping nationwide!

Tonight's dinner

Isobel's evening meal is the only one she has before her bottle. This is simply due to the fact that she is hungry long before her bottle is due, so I feed her dinner early most days, anytime between 4:30 and 5:30 depending on how her day is going.

This is also practical as I can feed Isobel her solids and she is happy to entertain herself with a tasty frozen cube of banana or other treat in her teething feeder while Max and I have our dinner together. She also likes sitting up at the table in her chair with us as part of the family meal. (Gavin works afternoons so it's just the kids and I in the evenings) She has her bottle after her bath sometime between 6 and 7pm depending on her naps for that day.

Tonight's dinner consisted of 2 cubes of carrot baby puree and 1 of swede along with 2 cubes of pear puree on the side. She loves drinking from her pink Safe Sippy2 which she can use all by herself.

I still haven't found a good stainless steel baby feeding spoon so - for now - I like this nifty silicone one that I found at Smith & Caughey. Although it wasn't intentional, I love that the vibrant orange colour of the spoon exactly matches the handles on the Safe Sippy :)

No Time? Think BIG!

These 4 du comice pears are at least twice the size of the pears I normally see in the produce section. One glance and I knew that they would be a huge time-saver. You can see how big they are, just a bit shorter than my mustard bottle!

It takes roughly the same amount of time to peel and quarter a large piece of fruit as it does a small one and the same effort will yield twice - or more! - the number of homemade baby puree cubes.

So, to make twice as much baby food in the same amount of time and with the same effort as using small or medium-sized fruit, GO BIG.

Choose large-sized of produce when taste or flavour isn't compromised by going big. This works well for fruit such as apples and pears and veggies like potato and pumpkin. Just be careful with things like parsnip and swede, the bigger ones tend to be a bit woody in the middle.

Introducing chicken!

Around 7-8 months is a good time to introduce chicken into your baby's diet. Your baby's digestive system has been getting stronger over the past couple of months, experiencing all sorts of fruits and vegetables and may now be ready for some protein.

It is very important to serve your baby free range chicken that has been exclusively corn fed or, ideally, organic chicken. Any hormones or antibiotics that have been added to the feed of non-organic chickens are not ideal for the optimal development of your baby.

Serve chicken at lunchtime, this will allow the rest of the day to digest. It takes a lot longer to digest protein than the simpler structures of fruit and vegetables.

Recipe for Pureed Chicken:

A chicken breast of approximately 300g made 8 portions. Using 2 portions per week, this works out to nearly a 1 month supply.
-bake or grill the plain breast as you normally would for yourself.
-chop into small pieces and process, using cooled boiled water, until completely smooth.

Chicken is one of those foods that may need extra water added once thawed and warmed for baby's meal. You can also add formula or breastmilk to achieve the desired consistency.