Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Homemade Baby Food






I've opted to make my daughter's baby food. Her all time favorite is sweet potatoes. I understand completely. Especially when roasted in the oven... Holy Deliciousness, Batman!

When she first started eating solids, I would scrub them, prick them all over with a fork, wrap them in foil and roast them in a 400 degree oven (on a baking sheet) until they were soft and beginning to ooze the sugary goodness. Then I would puree them, and freeze them in ice cube trays. I can't tell you how many sweet potatoes we went through. I also can't tell you how many times I had to resist the urge to lick the blade on the food processor. I have very little self control where sweet anything is concerned.

The last time I made them, I just couldn't bring myself to do the puree and ice cube part of the process. It's time consuming, and it was getting late. I decided to cut the cooked and unpeeled sweet potatoes into portion size pieces and froze them that way. This has worked wonderfully! Now when I need one, I take it out, peel it, cut it up and heat in the microwave. This way you can mash it, if necessary or dice it if your child is eating finger foods.

One last tip - I always mix in mashed black beans with the sweet potato. If you try this, DO NOT taste it. If you do, baby just may go hungry. Take my word for it, it's amazing. I've been known to have it for lunch too. Maybe with a little sour cream. Oh, the yumminess...

For more Works for me Wednesday tips, visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

7 comments:

  1. Wow! Great tip.. And I gotta try that black bean/sweet potato combo!

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  2. I never thought of adding black beans to sweet potato. I'll have to try that. Not sure how it will work with my daughter now being on regular food, but it's worth a shot.

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  3. I plan on maiking and freezing baby food (when the time comes) for newest little one. I love the idea of mixing sweet potatoes and black beans!

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  4. That's a great idea! Puree-ing is just annoying, so maybe this would work better for me. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Love it! I have a nearly 6 month old and we're just heading into the solids - this trick will be put to use!

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  6. Black beans with sweet potato? I never would have thought of that. My husband loves sweet potato, though... AND he loves black beans. Hmmm... I think I may have a new recipe to try out! :)

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  7. I use the Babycook machine (available at Williams Sonoma) so pureeing isn't too much of a chore, but I HATE freezing the food in ice cube trays. It just seems so impossible to pop out of the trays. Thanks for the tip!

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