Baby Led Weaning (BLW) - Asparagus

Baby-Led Weaning

I've read a bit about it and I decided to give it a go. I don't quite understand why you can't do both, but hey, that's not for me to argue about. I'm just going to do both. My reasons for trying it? I wanted to see what my kid was going to do with cooked asparagus, and I have to tell you, it's quite funny.
My husband was sketched out and initially, said that he was against it but warmed up to the idea. Well, while I was texting him, he said, "Do whatever you want." That's a 'yes', right?
If you own a kindle, there are a ton of books on the topic. If you have Kindle Unlimited, there are about three decent books you can download.
Right now, I'm reading the following:
A Practical Guide to Baby Led Weaning: A Brief and Empirically-Supported Method for Introducing Solids to Your Baby
A Mom's Practical Guide to Baby-Led Weaning
Baby-Led Weaning: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide to Baby-Led Weaning (can't find a link, the cover is pink)

The one that seems to be the most popular one is titled, Baby-Led Weaning and they also have a website. The non-conformist that I am, I haven't purchased it yet. Also, I love this wholesomebabyfood site for pretty much everything - best website ever...ever.

Anyway, I pureed some asparagus, but I saved four spears for Max to try. I put them into his bowl and watched him carefully (except for when I had to shoo the dogs away because he tried to feed them his food). Here's what he did:

1). "Cool! Toys!"
(He had just woken up from a nap and wasn't super happy yet. He gets it from me.)

2). "Um, mom, where's the puree? I'm looking, but I don't seem to see it."

3). "That's cool, I'm just going to play with it again."

4). "K, well, maybe I'll eat it, but only if I can do it out of BOTH hands at the SAME time."

In conclusion, he sucked off the tops and the dogs ate the rest because they all ended up on the floor. It was pretty entertaining though! We will definitely try again after I purchase an egg cutter.

Making (Stage 2) Baby Food - Asparagus (Steamed)

I know you're all dying to know...did asparagus make my baby's pee smell weird? I don't know, I forgot to check I was too distracted by another issue - constipation! It looked like he pooped green beach pebbles...poor guy!

I cooked just one bunch of asparagus, just to try. I've been reading a lot about BLW (Baby Led Weaning) and said, "What the heck, I'm going to try it." My husband doesn't seem too excited about a second baby (yet), so I'll do the most I can with this one. Also, my husband is definitely not excited about baby led weaning because he thinks LO will choke. Well, I have been 'certified' by the American Red Cross in infant first aid and CPR, so...yeah, I'm going with it #hubbydontreadthis. I will post some pics/video of how our first time turned in another entry.

If you buy an asparagus bunch but choose not to use it that day, wrap the stems in a moist paper towel, or you can even stick the stems in some water. I've read that it's good for about 3-4 days in the refrigerator. My husband LOVES asparagus with lemon and garlic salt, so I cooked Max's as we do ours - save the salt and lemon.

1). Clean your cooking area and wash the asparagus. I went with the 'skinny' asparagus, I like it better than the thicker ones. Plus, they cook faster. Asparagus is not on the 'dirty dozen' list and I did not purchase this organic (I don't think).

2). I think there's some 'bendy' trick you can do, but I just chop half of the asparagus stem off and throw it away. I did a little extra for Max because the closer you get to the bottom, the tougher it is to chew, gnaw, whatever.

3). Bring about three cups of water to a boil, add the asparagus, and cover with lid.

4). Steam for about 15-20 minutes or until the asparagus is soft. Since it was my first time trying BLW, I steamed for the full 20 minutes and checked made sure it was soft throughout. Mine looked like limp green noodles...ahem, that's official cooking terminology for ya ;)

5). Blend! I blended with a bit of breast milk in an attempt to sweeten it up. You can also save some of the liquid that you cooked it in, since the asparagus was fully submerged in the liquid and use that instead. You won't need a lot, maybe and ounce or two.

6). Voilà! Delicious asparagus mush! (Mine came out a bit runny because I accidentally dumped in too much milk.)

One bunch of asparagus yielded 6oz of puree for me (that's with a bit too much liquid). I served it with some sweet potato and it was a hit!