My All-Natural Baby

I hate to say, I've turned into rather a snob about my all-natural little baby Elvis. He was born after a natural (hard) childbirth in an antique brass bed at a birth center, attended by wonderful Midwives. Because of his "all-natural" beginning; I have endeavored to keep him as natural as possible. Now, I'm not taking anything away from babies that were born in a hospital; I had my first three babies in a hospital and know that the "natural" route is not safe or desirable for everyone. But for myself, as someone with no risk factors and a good track record; a Midwife-attended birth was a good fit. Since I also decided to use cloth diapers for the first time, I think I've been even more careful with what I put on my baby. After the birth, I was given a sample of Calendula balm which is made by Sierra Sage, and let me tell you, that's the stuff! It's good for everything from dry skin to diaper rash, which is what I mainly use it for. After doing research on Calendula, I found that it is excellent at getting rid of even the nastiest rashes, and has natural antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. I also found that it was rather expensive, so almost as soon as I began to make soap, I bought some Calendula balm through my supplier, and have used it for everything from soap to lotion. I seem to have misplaced that jar of balm I've been using for seven months now, so I decided to use my new-found skills and whip up a batch of my own. I got a little carried away and didn't really measure, so I'll do my best to give the proper proportions, although it's not an exact recipe and is easily modified and customized.

Baby Balm:

You'll need:

Olive oil
Virgin coconut oil (unrefined, it even smells like coconut and has tiny specks of the "meat" in it)
Castor Oil
Shea Butter
Hempseed Oil
Caldendula Extract
Rosemary Essential oil

Now, I realize that this may be more of a pain than it's worth, as the average person is not likely to have these ingredients on hand, but all of these ingredients are good for all sorts of things and can probably be found at your local health food store or online.

You'll also need a small food processor, for emulsifying the mixture. I don't usually use my kitchen equipment for making my beauty supplies, but all of these ingredients are "eatable", or at least not toxic, so I felt ok using my food processor and washing it out well. Although I would certainly not recommend ingesting this mixture, no matter how yummy it smells!

I basically started with a "base" of olive oil, it making up the main portion of the amount I wanted to use; for a 4 oz container probably 2 ounces would be olive oil. I then added a scoop of virgin coconut oil, about an equal amount of shea butter, melted; only a smidge (maybe a few teaspoons) of hempseed oil, a little castor oil to make it smooth, a teaspoon or so of Calendula extract and a few drops of rosemary essential oil. All of these ingredients serve a purpose, and blend together nicely. I then pulsed the heck out of the mixture in order to emulsify and thicken it. I did this until the blade was hitting just air, because the mixture was stuck to the sides and thickened.

I used this on Elvis; note that this is not a zinc oxide cream, and doesn't make a thick coating, it absorbs really well into the skin; the only little issue I had with it is that there was a small amount of minuscule specks of coconut occasionally, but they are really tiny and didn't present a problem. I know that diaper creams are a no-no with cloth diapers; but I think this might be ok, because it absorbs into the skin so quickly, also all these oils are very washable and soluble. At least, I'm willing to risk my cloth diapers on this balm!

I've applied it a few times to Elvis; I guess I'll see how it works and whether I like it as much as the balm from Sierra Sage!

Gerber baby without the Gerber!

This vintage Gerber advertisement made me laugh! I didn't realize my baby was saying "Mm mm for Meat"! I have been making homemade baby food since my first baby, Andrew; but I've always "filled" in with jarred food at times, like Gerber. There's just nothing as convenient as being rushed on a busy morning and grabbing a jar of baby food! And then too, there are some things that, try as I might, just are not possible to make in a home setting without certain equipment. For example, how in the world do the baby food companies create banana puree that is neither stringy nor discolored? I know they add ascorbic or citric acid (just vitamin C) to the mixture to prevent the color from changing, but I have never been able to make such a smooth puree of bananas. I've tried using a food processor, which usually changes even the most stubborn of foods into puree easily; but bananas stay clumpy and stringy no matter how hard I try!  I think they must cook the bananas in some fashion, then liquefy and strain. Needless to say, I often buy jarred bananas. In addition, there are some fruits and vegetables that are not readily available in my area, and any of those varieties that I could purchase would be out-of-season and not the greatest quality. I've given jars of things like mangoes, plums, peaches, and blends of things I don't often (or ever) have on hand, like Mango Risotto. For most other things, and to provide the basics, I make baby food, which always seems more daunting than it really is. Some people like to go the old-fashioned route, and use a baby food maker that works on a hand-crank, but that requires buying the silly thing, and I've never been able to justify the expense. I used to use my good 'ol Kitchen Aid blender, but that meant dragging it and all it's parts, and making a huge quantity of one food at a time; not ideal. A few years ago, I got a small, simple 2 cup food processor, which I love for making salad dressings and chopping garlic; then found it was perfect for whipping up some baby food with a minimum of cleanup. I even have plans to use it when Elvis begins eating more variety; to quickly mash table food. For purees, this is what I do.

Scrub, Peel and chop into chunks harder foods; like root vegetables or apples.

Put into a microwave safe bowl, add a small amount of water and pop in the microwave. Cook in 5 minute increments until soft. Add some of the fruit or vegetable, along with a little of the cooking water to the bowl of the food processor, pulse until pureed; adding water as needed until it reaches desired consistency.

For other foods, like soft fruits, peel by placing in boiling water, then "shocking" in icy water, a process also called blanching, then follow the same procedure as above; although the fruit may be sufficiently cooked by the peeling process, and probably needs less water in the pureeing process.

You can also do this with meats; fair warning, pureed meat is not appetizing, but I have done this by boiling a chicken breast  which is well-trimmed, then pureeing with small amount of cooking liquid, then straining through a strainer. This could also be done with beef, although I don't want to think about boiled beef; but the end product is great mixed with some vegetables or fruit or cereal and given for a "dinner".

After the food is pureed, I spoon it into an empty (clean) ice cube tray, freeze until solid, then pop out the cubes and store in a Ziploc bag in the freezer; well labeled because frozen cubes of food start to look the same after a while, and it would be bad to accidentally give your baby pureed chicken instead of applesauce in his or her morning cereal! It's also a good idea to warn your family members about the ice; James has received a shock a few times when pulling out an ice cube tray for ice for a drink and finding it full of food! He warned me that it's only a matter of time before he serves himself a quite unusual drink!

In this picture; I have made a small batch of applesauce along with a small batch of sweet potatoes, and divided the food into one ice cube tray. I also love to create my own blends of food, by simply putting a cube of two of a few different, complimentary foods (like apples and sweet potatoes) into a bowl, putting it in the microwave on a low setting until thawed, then combining. Of course, you must be careful of "hot spots" when using the microwave; it's best to leave the thawed food out for a while to be sure it has time to cool. None of my babies have ever preferred warmed-up food, and that makes it easier to be sure I'm not going to burn them with hot food.
As you can see, it's very easy and economical to make your own baby food; no special equipment required!