Mexican Baby's Diet {No, en serio...}

This weekend I got an idea for a post as I fed my Lil'Momma...

I wrote something about it HERE. But, not sure if I have ever expanded on it.

So, we know that I am Mexican. Mi familia es Mexicana. Mis hijos son..pues MEXICANOS! {HA.}

No fighting it...

Here is proof:

Therefore...it's true that you ARE what you EAT.

We are Mexican..so we eat Mexican..not people..the food! {Hehe...a little Mexican humor!}

Ever since my son started eating "solids"..more like "mushies"... he has been eating Mexican food or homemade food. {Pozole, Caldo de Res, Arroz con Frijoles negros, Bolillos, Tortillas con sal, Crema y queso fresco, Sopes, Elote en vaso, Barbacoa, Sopa de fideo con platano, Carne Asada, etc etc..yes most is not that good for you but homemade it's a little better than store bought.} We have made it a point not to make our children into fast food or processed food kids....in a PERFECT world that would have completely happened...don't get me wrong.... My kids do eat healthy homemade meals but EVERY once in a while..Momma is tired and Daddy gets home late, so those nights we allow not only ourselves but our kids as well to eat processed foods...more so than fast food.

We have planned meals most weeks and on days when things don't go as planned we make things like:

Frozen Pizza{Usually DiGiorno..it's pretty good} , Mac'n'Cheese {Classic favorite, sometimes I use the box and others, I make my own..just pasta shells and Velveeta cheese, super easy} and Instant soups {Spicy ones for us and non-spicy for the kids}....

These are actually pretty good {They have several flavors and there are other brands} :

One of the most used processed food in our home is BEANS. {Duh.} This brand is actually pretty good:

 
As for fresh fruits and veggies....

We eat them all!

Some of my son's favs are:

Watermelon, Bananas, Blueberries, Cherries, Apples, Peaches, Pears, Pineapples, Melon, Platano Macho and Grapes.

He will eat just about any Vegetable; Carrots, Chayote, Sweet Potato, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Broccoli, Cauliflower, you name he loves it. Raw or cooked! With Italian dress or without! He also loves Lemons and Limes!

When he was little I simply boiled or baked {baked it better!} and then mashed them up and gave them to him...NO SALT. NO EXTRA CONDIMENTS. Just the veggie or fruit.

I didn't take any pictures of the food. But, I love making them all for Santi and now for Cami!

Also, Santiago also loves CHEESE and Yogurt! LOTS! It's another thing we got him used to since he was a baby...but he loves Doritos and Kool-Aid the same....so who know what he will be like in the future; I do know that he will NOT eat chicken nuggets or hamburgers from any fast food restaurant and he will NOT eat any type of canned pasta! He definitely knows the difference and that was what we wanted to get at when we started him on "mushies".

He also loves fries but we limit them from fast food places and bake our own instead. He has only been inside of a  McDonald's once and once to Chuck-e-Cheese. We don't want to totally deprive him of the world but we want him to know that he has options and that home cooking for the most part is cheaper and better for you.

We also limit sodas, sweets and too much bread or tortillas. We cook most meals with Extra Virgin Olive Oil {Or as Rachel R. like to call it..the good'ole EVOO} and we try not to fry to much, our oven is used often and we cook as a family! {Clean up is all Momma's! HA.} 

On top of that both of my kids are super active...Santi could spends days at the park and never get tired!


And, we drink lots of water and don't go a single day without it...


And trust me, we do eat junk food but try REALLY hard not to! We try to be as healthy and active as our busy Momma and Daddy lives allow us to.....


Is your baby a Mexican baby?

{Again, I receive NO compensation what so ever for any type of product advertisement.}

Momma Yo Quiero!

There were many things that I didn't get to do with my son that I hope to do with my daughter like; Breastfeed and Baby Wear!

And although I would LOOOVE this sling:

A Silk Artisan Baby Sling by Sakura Bloom...it's a BIT overpriced!

But, no worries I found something similar on Amazon for a lot LESS! So, when I have the money I will purchase it! I love it.

Wearing children, it reminds me of Mexico and the indigenous Mayan Women wearing their babies. Such a vibrant and beautiful cultural reminder of that bond between a Mother and Child. It makes me feel amazing to know that I am a Mom. That I can feel the love and simple touch of 10 tiny fingers on my face every morning! These days it's referred to as Holistic Parenting. A lot of which really just comes from culture and how you were raised.



My husband and I though it is not recommended by our Pedi, have allowed our son to sleep in our bed the last 15 months. Some of which, I will admit some nights, scares me. But, it has been such a great bonding experience. We don't see him most the day and to be able to hold him and kiss him at night is a great Blessing. Although now we joke that we need a bigger bed with Camila on the way but uhm no, that will not happen! Santiago will get a big boy bed and his sister will then sleep in his "old" crib,we hope to make that our goal. Don't  get me wrong Santiago slept in his bassinet until he was about 6 months or so and too big for it. And, since then he has slept with us. We don't have the heart to let him sleep all alone in a cold room across the hall. We just can't! Sorry! But, it is one of the Holistic concepts: Co-Sleeping.

Another way that we attempt to be "Holistic" parents is by not allowing our son to consume too much, if any at all, processed or fast foods. Santiago eats mostly fruits and vegetables, raw or cooked, he loves them all. And, he mostly eats home-made foods such as; frijoles con arroz, sopa de fideo,pozole, caldo de pollo, chorizo con huevo, albondigas and many others. He loves milk, cheese and sour cream. He will try anything once. He LOVES water. Rarely drinks fruit juices or anything other milk and water, we've tried, he always goes back to water. We do this mainly because of our own bad habits, not to mention bad health, which we don't want Santiago to inherit. Don't get me wrong, we do feed him chicken nuggets and tater tots every once in a while, we are still full-time employees to the outside world and some days are just toooo hectic to get some home cooking in but we try! Plus it's much cheaper than eating out every night!  

In all we do our best to be the best possible parents and give our son and now our daughter the best possible life and up bringing! We can only try! Plus I don't think our parents think we can do it or that we do but we really do and really can be great parents if we set our minds to it!

Any thoughts or suggestions? Let me know! I would love to hear from you!

Las Recetas Que Me Dan:

Those of you who know me, know that number one..I say that a lot, those of you who know me, and secondly, I am not the best cook ever to live! I am a great "fake-cook" though. Give me a recipe that requires little to no cooking and I can whip it up! No joke.

Is it good? Suuure.

This is a recipe that we will call La Ensalda de Fruta de Mi Suegra ( My Mother-In-Law’s Fruit Salad), although it has been modified many Christmas’ ago when she gave me the original recipe, it’s very similar and everyone enjoys it!

It’s a very good all year round type of fruit salad that I mostly make around the Holiday’s.

What you will need:

• 8 Medium to Large size Red or Green Apples (Both makes for great Christmas colors!)
• 1 LARGE can of canned Peaches; preferably halves
• 1 Regular can of canned Pineapples; preferably crushed
• 1 LARGE can of Fruit Cocktail
• 1 Large tub of frozen Cool Whip (You can buy one large container and one small to make it creamier just add them both when it’s time to add in Cool Whip)
• 1 Large container of Daisy’s Sour Cream
• 1 Regular size can of Condensed Milk (Not evaporated, Condensed)
• 1 Large bag of crush Pecans (Really you can add any type of nuts; this year I did Walnuts)
• 1 Regular size box of Raisins (optional, some people don’t like raisins, i.e. My Dad)
• 1 Regular size bag of Marshmallows (Colorful ones again make for great Holiday colors!)
• 1 LARGE TO SUPER LARGE Mixing Bowl
• 1 Mixing spoon
• Cutting Board and Knife (Unless you have a fancy chopper, which I prefer makes 20 minutes into 10!)
  
  

  

What to do:

First; finely chop the Apples, I have a chopper and it makes my Apples into small thin rectangular shapes.  If I use the cutting board and knife, I just dice them as small as I can. BUT, If you like big chunks that works also.  You will also dice the Peach halves into small pieces, which I always use the cutting board and knife for.

Then; you start mixing. To my super large mixing bowl, I add the Apples, Peaches, Pineapples and Fruit Cocktail first, so all the wet ingredients stay on the bottom makes mixing easier. Mix together.

I then add the Cool Whip and Sour Cream, all the contents in the containers. And, only about HALF of the Condensed Milk, you can add more later, if you think it needs to be sweeter. Mix together.

On top of that I add the bag of crush Pecans, HALF the box of Raisins, and half the bag of Marshmallows.  

One final mix to get everything covered in the creamy goodness of Cool Whip, Sour Cream and Condensed Milk.  You can add more condensed milk here if you think it needs more sweetener and you can add more Marshmallows also!

After that is all mixed together, I then place it in the freezer at least 2 to 3 hours before serving it. If you leave it in the fridge it gets a little soggy.

After a couple of hours I place it out on the serving table and as my son would say “Tah-dah!”

It’s ready to eat.

**If you want a nicer presentation, empty the contents of your mixing bowl into a nice serving dish before you place it in the freezer!

It’s fast, easy and VERY DELICIOUS!

I hope you try it. I would LOVE to hear from you if you do.

Enjoy.

BTW: I think some call it Ambrosia Salad and there are many versions of it...but this is the best, HA. Trust me!