Attention Baby Food Making Moms!

I have a product review for you today! My friend bought me a Reynolds Handi-Vac and gave it to me as a present last night because she knows I make Baby J's baby food and lots of things from scratch. This thing is pretty cool!
So the thing on top sucks the air out of the bags so that things don't get freezer burned or frost on them. Take these carrots for example. They are not freezer burned...yet, but they have a lovely coating of frost on them from each time I open them and then try to re close the bags (yes, double bagged with Ziploc freezer bags) with no air. Before I was using a straw and sucking the air out the best I could.

I rinsed each cube and dried it on a clean towel and then used the Handi-Vac...looks much better and every time I remove some cubes I can just suck the air out in like 5 seconds and move on. I have NO idea if it will really work, but I'll let you know. Getting the air out was a breeze though!

I don't like using lots of plastics because of BPA, but after perusing some BPA sites, they say that hard plastics are the biggest offenders and one researcher from U of Missouri (Vom Saal) said that "heat acid, alcohol, harsh detergents, age and microwaving" are what speed up the release of and release the most BPA. I will hand wash my bags with Melaleuca dish detergent and hopefully not be contaminating too much food!

Moving on...CF Mama had mentioned in a comment recently she'd have to check into my Superporridge. Well, it isn't mine, at least not the concept or the name. Those are from "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. However, his particular blend is made by me!

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Caution: Do not use unless your doctor thinks you need to. It is about 29% of the calories the average 11-13 month old needs in a day...and only makes 1/2 cup. HOWEVER, if you want to try it use breastmilk or 'regular' formula (instead of PediaSure) The University of Michigan Health System (C.S. Mott Children's Hospital site) says that the average 'regular' formula and the average woman's breastmilk is 20 calories/oz. That would knock this superporridge from 251 cal down to 231 cal. Making it more like 26% of their calories for the day. OR make it with water and that makes it 191 cal (21%).

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Of course your doctor can tell you what your child needs to grow, I have no idea (I only know my kid!). I just know that on average, a child 11-13 months consumes 900 calories/day. Baby J needs 1,250 to grow right now...that will go up when he starts walking. Which is only like 350 more (but our dietitian says kids eat too much in general...so the 900 may be too high) I try to keep him right at 1,250. Anyway, all I am saying is be careful because that is 26% of what most kids would need, even if made with breastmilk and that is only one meal...you have got at least 2 more meals, a snack or so, and bottles/consumption of milk/formula to consider on top of that. Don't forget that kids in this age range need around 24 oz (480 cal) a day. Again, I'm not a doctor, I just have done lots of asking questions of Baby J's dietitian and online. Ok, I shouldn't get sued now that I got all of that out of the way. If you click where your mouse turns into a hand, there were different things above you could click on to see where I got some of my information. Sorry, I can't video tape our dietitian and put her on here...something about privacy...

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MOVING ON! For those of you who made it through that rambling, here is the recipe for the 251 calorie Superporridge.

1/8 c. instant rice cereal (I make it also...but a friend gave me 3-4 boxes of organic rice cereal and I'm not complaining!)

2 Tbs avocado, pureed

1/2 tsp. moringa (if you don't have this, don't worry about it...great stuff though!)

1 Tbs. tahini

1/4 c. PediaSure (strawberry flavored takes the edge off the tahini)

1 tsp. ground flaxseed (grind fresh daily or grind and freeze)

1 tsp. wheat germ

liquid vitamins

Mix well

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You can make 2 days worth at a time, just make sure it is covered and refrigerated. The second day it may have some brown streaks in it because avocado turns brown when exposed to air (normal). When you make avocado puree, keep the extra covered tightly and either freeze or refrigerate and use within a few days. It gets nasty if you try to make more than 2 servings...turns all brown and runny and smelly. Trust me :o)

Let me know if it works for you!