I love to cook, so you can imagine my excitement as I now get to start introducing Edmund to different foods. I got a couple of baby food books for Christmas, a steam basket, looked up different recipes online, read way too many articles, and finally came up with a strategy.
Admittedly, I might have overthought this just a little bit. What did I learn? There is no right way to introduce baby food. Sigh. I like it when there is a right answer. The one thing that I did know is that I wanted to start him on food that I would be willing to eat myself. Food that was fresh and delicious, which meant making my own baby food.
I decided to start with orange vegetables first. I thought that it would be a good compromise into the world of vegetables since I have read that babies that start fruit first sometimes reject vegetables. The first baby food that I made was pureed carrots. Below are the directions to make it yourself.
Based on Edmund’s face and the quantity that he ate, it was a huge hit!
I am excited to see what else he likes.
-Anna
Pureed Carrots
Ingredients:
4 large carrots
Water
Directions:
Peel and cut carrots into large chunks.
Steam the carrots for 20 minutes.
Place steamed carrots into a blender or food processor and process until smooth, adding water until it reaches the desired consistency. (I made it thicker so that I could add breast milk later after I put it in the microwave since you are not supposed to microwave breast milk.)
Scoop into individual storage containers.
You can freeze it for up to 6 weeks.
Other Orange Vegetables
Pureed Squash
Ingredients:
1 small butternut squash
Water
Directions:
Peal the squash, cut in half, and remove the seeds and stringy core. Cut into 2" chunks. Place into the steamer for 20 minutes. Place steamed squash into a food processor or blender and process until smooth, adding water until it reaches the desired consistency.
Pureed Sweet Potato
Ingredients:
2-3 medium sweet potatoes
Water
Directions:
Wash the sweet potatoes and bake in the oven at 475 deg F for 45 min. Scoop out soft insides, leaving skins behind, and mash in a bowl or puree in a food processor, adding water until it reaches the desired consistency.
Or, peal the sweet potato, cut it into 2" chunks and place in a steamer and steam for 20 min. Place the cooked sweet potato into a food processor or blender and process until smooth, adding water until it reaches the desired consistency.
