Here we go!

Hello!  Just a little intro to tell everyone who I am and why I'm here.  My name is Beth.  I'm the mother of 3 mostly-adorable children:  Nathan, age 13, Kaleb, age 3, and Amelia, almost 5 months.  We've just moved from the cold and lonesome North (read: Michigan) to Sunny Florida, where I've had the opportunity to meet some fantastic people.  Notably, some very 'crunchy' Mama's, who are all about organic stuff and attachment parenting.  These women are astoundingly smart, funny, warm, welcoming and make me want to be a better mother.  Which is how I got to this blog...

A couple of these ladies I have met here have babies just a smidge older than Amelia, and children who are also closer to Kaleb's age.  In conversation, we started chatting about Baby Led Weaning.  It seemed so pure, so natural...so EASY.  So on suggestion, I picked up this book.  And proceeded to read it in one day.  (I have it on my nook, should anyone want to borrow it. :-) )  I was complete convinced that this sounded like not only a good idea, but really, the best idea I'd ever heard!  So here we are, ready to start teaching Amelia all about food and skipping purees completely.  My hope in this process is to not only show people who are skeptical that this is an awesome way to teach babies how to eat, but that it inspires my family and my other particular, picky children to eat better on the whole.  So with no further ado, here we go!!

Amelia has been showing some excellent signs she's ready for food.  She sits up mostly on her own, with a little support, and can grasp and take objects to her mouth with a good degree of accuracy.  She is at the age where she really enjoys watching other people and being a part of the activities around her.  I recently made her a homemade Mei Tai for our trips around the stores, and so far, she really loves being able to see everything from a big girl angle.  Also, she's been a bit fussy and a LOT droolie as of late, leading me to believe we're on the brink of teething.  Since I'm not doing purees and am planning on offering healthy choices to get proper nutrition into her eventually, I decided I would try to make some homemade teething biscuits.  I found a very simple recipe over at  Everyday Champagne and substituted apple sauce for pears because I didn't have any pears.

First, I mixed it up.  Because I used Mixed Berry Applesauce, it took on a lovely pink tinge (hard to tell in the photo):

Then I shaped them and baked them for 30 minutes and then 10 more to crisp them, per the recipe:

 

 

Let me tell you, they were very sticky to shape.  I found it worked nicely to spray my hands with cooking spray, like I do when I make Rice Krispie Treats.  After they were cooled, I put the majority of them in the freezer, leaving only a few for the fridge to start with.

 

Nathan says they look like the Spicy Chicken Nuggets from Wendy's.  I'm inclined to agree.  But I did taste one, they are pretty delicious, especially for there being no sugar in there, only the applesauce to sweeten them up.  Amelia has yet to try them; she was not in a very stellar Baby Led Weaning mood at mealtime, and is now content to lay on her floor mat and play.  I will update with pictures when she does have them!