Yum!

Add to Mary's list several more meals of guacamole (she loved the spicy guac served at a birthday party this weekend) as well as a delicious, ripe strawberry. I squished it by hand and fed her minuscule squishy bits, which she loved. Later I remembered that berries are highly allergenic so one of those foods one is supposed to delay introducing, so maybe I'll hold off for a while on giving her more, but I saw no reaction.



I did see her first reaction today: to cinnamon. Mary seems to much prefer spicy foods and has not cared much for pureed fruit (apples, peaches, pears). She just closes her mouth and turns away, disinterested. Today I added cinnamon (no sugar) to unsweetened apple sauce and she really enjoyed it. However, within five minutes the skin around her mouth and chin were bright red. A little Internet searching revealed that there is rarely a true allergy to cinnamon, but that the spice can cause mild burning on sensitive skin. So, I won't try cinnamon again for Little Girl for a while, despite the fact that she liked it!

Another food experiment was meat: I made Mary a baby meatloaf based on this turkey recipe.


Apple Turkey Loaf/Sticks

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
1 whole egg or 2 egg yolks, beaten [I used yolks only]
1/2 cup pureed carrots
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup unprocessed natural wheat or oat bran
1/4 cup bread crumbs
pinch of basil
pinch of garlic powder

Directions:
Place ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg/yolk, carrots, applesauce, spices, bread crumbs and bran. Mix well - If this mixture appears too dry, add more carrots or applesauce. If this mixture appears too wet, add more bran and/or bread crumbs. Place mix into a lightly oiled (olive oil) loaf pan and bake at 350F for approx. 45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. **You may wish to cover with foil to prevent the top from burning. When finished baking and cooled, remove loaf from pan and slice as you would for bread. Break into small bits for finger feeding or Mash or chop gently. This recipe may also be made into "Turkey Sticks" for Toddlers and older babies who are able to handle more textured/chunky finger foods.

Variations:
Cook the ground turkey separately, add the other ingredients and puree


I admit, it smelled suspiciously like wet cat food--not good to my nose! Mary seemed to enjoy the flavor just fine, but even squished up, the consistency was slightly chunky for her at this age. I might try pureeing it to see if she likes it better.