How do you serve spinach to a baby?

Update on Monday, April 26, 2010 at 9:22PM by Suburban Style

We started spinach at 9 months and now eat it 3x/week.  I steamed and zipped up in blender with unsweetened applesauce.  Gradually reduced the applesauce, but still haven't completely eliminated.  Steamed and zipped it shows up in meatloaf, lasagna, and tomato sauce.  It's easy and good nutrients.   I use fresh spinach instead of lettuce on wraps and sandwiches.  They like it in salads as well.

This year we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday with green eggs and ham. K is not a fan of eggs, but does like spinach. The boys are a couple of inches taller than K even though there is only 5 weeks between them.  One day my mom commented that they were taller.  Without missing a beat, L said, "It's the eggs."   I am not a fan of ham so we have probably only had it 3 times in 4.5 years.  I went for the all natural organic ham (surely that's an oxymoron).  Lee cooked the eggs with spinach, basil and a little garlic.  Really good.  

Update on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 1:48PM by The Urban View

Green Eggs and Ham

Spinach and anything leafy has proved a difficult texture.  Even with 8+ teeth and enjoying food that offers the opportunity to use them, leaves are hard to eat.  After considering that eating leafy greens is largely a back tooth adventure, I looked for a way to serve it that was baby front tooth friendly.  I suppose I could have blended it, perhaps into a pesto like consistency, but I didn't.  Instead at first we bought Spinach baby food, in plastic pots, when we saw it at the store.  This was so infrequent that it was unreliable as a source of green vegetables.

Spinach, torn into small pieces, scrambled into eggs became our solution.  This was a dish that anyone taking care of A could make and serve.  We started with fresh spinach thoroughly washed, and used 5 or so large leaves per egg.  I add them before the eggs begin to set and add nothing else, no salt no butter, just spinach and eggs.

So far all other methods of green vegetables are tried but not actually consumed.  And here I mean leafy green vegetables, not peas.  A will eat peas as fast as you serve them.  But peas are not leafy greens and don't provide the same nutrients.  So we're back to green eggs, and we hold the ham.  Finger size cubes of ham would be so easy to eat, but it's very salty and has many added ingredients. After reading the labels I have yet to buy any for A.  I'm still reading...we may yet have green eggs and ham.