Baby Food

OK, I know you have all been wondering about baby food and what recipes I might have. I haven't been ignoring you and I haven't forgotten. I just sometimes take a little time to reflect and figure out exactly what it is that I am doing. baby food is just a more bland version of what we eat. of course there are more restrictions imposed by our babies digestive systems and by their pediatricians. So, do check with your pediatrician on what your baby can and can't handle at different times. Other than that I simply go to the market and look for everything I can find. Don't let your tastes and fears limit what you can make. Yes, most babies will learn to like a lot of things that you don't. Turnips, Rutabaga, beets, spinach, Broccoli. Pears, Peaches, apples. Potatoes, Sw. Potatoes, rice. beef, chicken, lamb, pork. you name it, if it's fresh I will make it. I steam most anything. it allows the maximum amount of nutrition to remain. Blend it up in a food processor or blender and either add water to get the right consistency or add some rice cereal to thicken it up. then I freeze it in ice cube trays and transfer it to freezer bags. this way I can have a lot of food in the freezer and pull it out in nice serving size pieces. this will come in handy later too when you are blending things. At first, you know, they recommend you give the little one only one food at a time to make sure they are not allergic. This is the boring part. Once they have some things they can eat I will start blending foods. oatmeal cereal with fruit is good in the morning. Think of it the way you eat. if you like pot roast, thaw a beef cube and a potato and a carrot. mix and go. California chicken? thaw a chicken cube and mash some avocado.(i don't freeze these, unless you like your avocado brown). how about pork and beans. Yep, you can make the little tike beans the same way. boil them though instead of steaming unless you have all day. I even made K some lentils. what about pork with applesauce and sweet potatoes. when they get a bit older you can start doing things like grilling meat for the yummy flavor and blending it up. how about chicken Florentine? chicken cube, spinach cube and some rice. by the time K was ready to eat from our meals she would try just about anything. she even ate my gumbo once and loved it. spice and all. She loves seafood and we try it all the time. She is getting a bit more picky as we go but will still try most things. I like to think she just developed diverse tastes along the way, but I think I was mostly just lucky to have a kid who didn't protest too much. I hope I have the same luck with J. so far He seems to eat everything we put in front of him. I am starting to blend a bit now. Sorry I don't have a lot of specific recipes but I like to keep the options open so I can use the same foods for different meals. good luck and don't be afraid to experiment. also, don't hesitate to call me so we can brainstorm ideas.

OK, I will slow it down a bit. if you understand any of that then you can go for it. if not, I will try to start at the beginning.
I like to freeze my baby food in small portions, so I can pull it out a meal at a time. To do this I freeze it in ice cube trays and then transfer them to a freezer bag. It will last about a month this way. basically, I pick a food. Let's say Sweet potatoes. I will peel them and then cube them into about 2-3 inch pieces. then I put them into a steamer basket. If you don't have a steamer set up then just use a pasta pot and a colander. put an inch or two of water in the pot and start boiling it. put the colander over it and you are steaming. I put a lid on mine and wait until the veggies are tender. When they are tender I will transfer them to my food processor. if you don't have one you can use your blender. I then puree the veggies. if they are pretty thick I will add a little water to thin them to the right consistency. If they are too thin, like spinach will be, then I will add a little rice cereal to thicken them up a bit. This works with meat too and fruit. just start cooking things. you can grill food too or bake it. anything that would cook it and add some flavor. Once I build up my inventory then I can start putting things together. It is just a matter of finding the things that taste good together. Think of things you see on restaurant menus. I have some suggestions above but really just start playing around and feeding that wonderful baby. They will let you know if the combo doesn't work. I would love to hear from you guys with some suggestions comments or questions. let me know how it is going.