Rice cereal! ...spoons?

After the cucumber burping incident, I decided to begin feeding Jack rice cereal and add probiotics to it. It's been going on now for a few weeks. It originally was a solo meal, followed by another meal later in the day. Now, he has cereal with a fruit of some sort on the side. 

There are commercially available organic brown rice cereals out there, I prefer to make my own. It really doesn't take very long to prepare and to make and I like the fact that I know exactly the processes that were taken. The nutrients are more abundant this way!

To prepare rice cereal: 

Soak 1 cup of organic brown rice in water for a half an hour, drain and spread on a cookie sheet.

Toast in a 300 degree oven for 15-20 min. or until the rice turns a light shade of brown. This increases the digestibility of the grain and gives it a nutty aroma.

I then keep all of the rice in a clean mason jar with a tight fitting lid. I now have enough prepared rice for two weeks worth of cereals!

To make the cereal:

Take one Tablespoon of rice and grind it in a clean grinder (I use a clean coffee grinder) Ground rice begins to lose it's nutrient value quite quickly, so make sure you use it right away.

Place the ground rice in a small saucepan and add 1/2 cup of water.

Bring to a boil for one minute and then reduce heat to simmer for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. 

Pour in to bowl and let chill to room temperature (to quicken this time, I pop the little bowl into the freezer for a minute or two)

I then take a 1/2 teaspoon of infant probiotic powder and stir into the cereal. This helps Jack digest his food, as well as ensuring that his intestinal tract is adequately populated with good bacteria. This seemed important to me at this time. The probiotics will help to strengthen his immune system and considering how many new foods we are introducing at this time in his life, his digestive system will be able to handle it like a pro!

So, the spoon was interesting!

He really likes to put it into his own mouth, which is exactly the point.

I load it for him and he brings it to his mouth. Some goes in and some dribbles down his chin... somehow he gets it EVERYWHERE! His hair, ears, fingers, knuckle dimples, belly, legs!

Considering how much he loves to drink water from a cup, I thought he might like to drink his cereal from his little bowl... um, yes! He appears to get a lot more in that way and he loves it! I particularly love the little "tick, tick, tick" sound his teath make as he's 'drinking' from his bowl! The whole endeavor is CRAZY messy!

We now strip him down to a diaper and a bib before this morning event and then he gets a little sponge bath followed by a creamy massage. Oh, what a charmed life he leads!