Linna's first meat... chicken.

This week, we introduced Linna to her first meat... chicken! I stopped at Lakewinds Natural Foods on the way home from swimming lessons on Wednesday to pick up some free-range, organic chicken breasts, so I could make her food at home. We really try to buy all of Linna's food organic, especially meat and dairy. We do realize she will eventually have non-organic meats and dairy, but if we can limit those choices when she's at home, we feel we're making a healthy choice for our daughter.

All the ingredients in the food processor.

The Gerber "chicken" baby food in a jar has always creeped me out, so I decided to make her a little "meal" myself. I bought a pack of chicken breasts and separated the pieces into freezer bags, because I don't make more than one piece at a time. I put the chicken breast in tinfoil with a little olive oil and herbs, and baked it in the oven for about 20-ish minutes. Then, all I did was throw the chicken in our food processor with some leftover lentils (cooked), a piece of a tomato, leftover sweet potatoes, and some fresh parsley that I had in the refrigerator from another dinner I had cooked this week. I blended it all up, adding water to thin it out, and TAH-DAH... Linna had a fresh little chicken dinner.

Since we only keep her food in the fridge for around three days, I just made a little batch and stored it in a baby food jar. I put a clear piece of tape on the front to label it with the date and ingredients. Linna LOVED the chicken dish at first, but then I made the mistake of pulling out her Stonyfield Organic Yogurt out of the fridge. This yogurt is her FAVORITE, so of course she preferred eating that over the chicken meal (as you can see in the video below). I alternated bites of the chicken dish and yogurt, and that seemed to go well... minus her "whines" when she had the chicken dish in her mouth. At least she didn't spit it out!

I tried this dish, and it actually is delicious. I'm planning on making it again, using whatever leftover veggies and grains I have in the fridge to mix it with. The dish has a thicker texture, but if you add water, it will thin it out.

Here's to creating healthy little eaters!