Food, Baby!

I am a big nutrition buff. Being a vegetarian for so many years has turned me into a label reader. When I started to read more labels, I started to find out more about nasty little food additives and nutrition as a whole. Now that I'm the parent of a toddler, I find myself looking for even more creative ways to make the foods we eat more healthy and nutrient-rich.

Since I'm fairly well versed in these topics, I have become a resource for many of the people I know. When someone realizes that they have a gluten allergy, they talk to me about it. When people are curious about why I eat so differently, we engage in detailed discussions of vegetarian foods and the impact they have on health and environment. When people have kids with sensitive stomachs, they ask me if I know what would help.

In the course of these many conversations, I have realized that there is one little thing I do that doesn't always occur to people. I assumed that many people do the same thing, but based on the feedback I've gotten from those around me, I might be wrong. I will share here, and I'm curious if anyone else does this too!

We eat baby food. Yup. That's it. My husband and I eat it. My daughter still eats it. I try to throw it into anything I can. I can't take credit for the idea of using veggie puree in meals. Jessica Seinfeld wrote a cookbook on the topic. I always hoped to purchase it, but I haven't yet. I think I saw her talking about it on Oprah, and the only problem I had with her plan was that it involved making large batches of veggie puree on the weekend and planning ahead for the week's meals. I just don't have that kind of time. I made my daughter's baby food when she was little. Now that she's older, I want a break! Conveniently, organic baby food is easy to find. It's probably more expensive than doing it yourself, but I still find it fairly affordable and simple. That's worth a lot to me.

Here are a few of the ways I use it:

-squash or sweet potato in applesauce. Put some cinnamon in it and you'll never taste it.

-Carrots in spaghetti sauce

-squash, mixed veggies, or sweet potato in enchiladas. Just mix it with the rice/beans/spices inside the tortilla, pour on sauce and sprinkle a bit of cheese. It blends nicely.

-any kind of veggies in chili

-any kind of veggies spread onto pizza crust under the sauce and cheese (although I find that carrots are less likely to be detected!)

-carrots in tomato soup

-small amount of squash in scrambled eggs

I realize that one jar of babyfood in a batch of sauce doesn't elimate the need for fresh veggies on the side, but I think every little bit of nutrition helps - especially when you have a toddler. My daughter doesn't always finish her veggies, so it's a good way to complete the serving. I also find that she gags easily when she has a stuffy nose, so we try to feed her soft foods and avoid things like peas that can set her off. Adding a little bit of baby food helps her get more veggies during those times.

Eat your baby food! Does anyone else do this? If so, how do you work it into your recipes? If not, try it and let me know what you think!