Baby Food Making- Day 4 - Bananas

Oh Bananas...
 I feel bad devoting a whole post to this but...


Bananas truly are the easiest to make(next to avacados).
You really dont even need a blender when your child gets a little older. But here it is!

1. Peel
2. Puree    (don't forget to sniff and enjoy the beautiful scent you have just created)
3. Store

(* the only unfortunate thing is that frozen bananas will brown.)

Thinking about bananas I remember i used to not be so fond of bananas. Then one day my husband bought some organic bananas and told me I HAD to try some. It rocked our world. They were so much more tasty than the gross ones I had been used to eating.

I don't blame people when they say they don't like bananas, all I used to taste was an unripened banana PEEL not the fruit that is supposed to be inside!

As I am always telling my students and non vegetable eating relatives... Just try it!


You might just like it better than you thought you would!

Baby Food Making- Day 4 - Pears

First of all let me say how much I love pears.

Last year about hits time and earlier we (I the pregnant one) would go through about 8 pears a week. Maybe that's why I knew the Shenandoah would just eat em up! So when I got ready to make pears I knew they would be a hit even though I would have to NOT eat the pears so that I could make baby food with them.

So I went to the store to get an apple corer/wedge because after my APPLE experiences I knew it would make things go alot smoother!

1. Now with the appropraite tools in hand I washed, peeled, and cored the pears.
2. I then placed them in a baking dish with a small amount of water, covered with foil and baked for about 20-30 minutes.
3. When they had thoroughly steamed and gotten very tender, out of the oven and into the blender.
4. Puree.  With pears, because they are so juicy you may not even need any of the remaining water from cooking to thin out your baby food.
5. Place in containers and store.
6. Enjoy!

Baby Food Making- Day 5 - Carrots

And so it began... My attempts at making baby carrots which I am proud to say was not that hard nor was it really that time consuming. After trying some myself I will be making carrot popsicles in the future. I thought they were just delicious! I would much prefer my carrots frozen and on a stick than in cooked pureed form!

So Shenandoah and I set off... her with her teething ring in hand while I scrubbed the beautiful bounty of carrots which I have been drooling over for days. We began and the beautifully fresh organic carrots were smelling lovely. (I wish I had taken a picture of the carrots before I broke them from their stems and greenery!)

Now they were scrubbed, prepped, and ready for cooking!

I added about and 1/2 in of water to the bottom of my pot sliced the carrots fairly thin (so the would cook faster) and added it to the water. They steamed for about 20-30 minutes on high heat until they were very tender.

Shenandoah says... that was quick!

Mmm, my kitchen now smells delicious!

 All of the materials you need to make baby food out of your carrots are pictured here. Fancy baby food makers are nice but really my experiences with my blender have been super easy. 

I added the carrots to the blender and I added about a 1-2 cups of water (or breastmilk) small amounts at a time. (this will depend on the "stage" of baby food you desire to make and also how much water is already in your carrots.) 

I found much of my information about carrots and other baby food here... http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/nitratearticle.htm

 Once I blended the carrots well I alternating adding water and more carrots until I reached my desired consistency.

Since my food here is "1st" foods consistency, all i had to do is pour the food into the hard plastic ice cube trays and guide with a spoon.

Once all of the trays are filled give the tray a little rap on the counter so that they settle. (I advise against the cheap plastic ice cube trays. They are a pain to get the food out of and not to mention for repeated use the type of plastic DEFINITELY matters!)

As far as storing your freshly made wholesome baby food, most guidelines say frozen baby food can be stored between 1-3 months. If you are going to use it sooner, refrigerated baby food should be used within  a week.

Bagged and tray baby foods! (and a lasagna)

Then all that is left is finding room in your freezer and letting the set overnight! The next day I pop them out of the trays and put them in ziplock bags and label them. 

Next time I would love to find the right type of peas to make with my carrots!!! Mmm.. peas and carrots!

That was a lot of description but all in all it is not that hard. 

For all the concise folks here is your "recipe" for success!

Now that all the work is done... I think its time for a nap!

1. Clean (peel carrots if not organic) & chop carrots

2. Steam carrots until tender.

3. Puree carrots and water or breast milk until desired consistency achieved. 

4. Add to desired containers.

5. Store
6. Enjoy!

A Spring Break of Baby Food Making

And so it began...

Mmm. Fresh Pears

Spring Break was a week of baby food making. Sunday we went to market and gathered a plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables and stocked the shelves of our home and all for the smallest member of our family. The 6 month old is finally ready to REALLY start eating baby food. She has been super interested for a while now and we have fiddled with some food in the fresh food mesh feeders which she loved!

On the agenda was bananas, pears, apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and avacados.

As I was discussing with Mother in law and sister in law, regular store bought food (not even organic) costs about 50cents per container for starter foods. For my prices I made Pink Lady apples for about 8 cents a serving and made about 50 servings from one and a half bags of organic apples.

Monday I started with apples, which was quick and speedy even considering I didn't have an apple wedge/corer. (That has since been remedied). Apples Link

I also made lasagnas this day and cut grass followed by getting sick. This is why Tuesday there was almost no baby food making. Luckily I managed sweet potatoes. This took more effort than I expected, maybe because I would have rather been sleeping but oh well. Sweet Potatoes Link.


Wednesday I was feeling better but baby was sick all night/day and only wanted to be held... even during naps. Tough day. Needless to say there was definitely no baby food making today. (Was glad I got all done yesterday!)

Thursday I had a rejuvenated spirit and tackled pears and bananas. Both are very easy to make! PEARS  BANANAS

Friday I was my busiest since I knew my week was coming to an end. I had a happy baby who watched and played while mommy made CARROTS, finished assembling lasagnas, and made dinner and breakfast for months... WHOLE WHEAT WAFFLES! Luckily for Sarvis, Ross and Forrest they got to sample these delicious treats as they were being made. In the words of Forrest... "How do you make these? They are so good you don't even need syrup!"
This was a great compliment seeing as how I ended waffles and cleaning etc around midnight...(short visit to grocery store to gather needed ingredients for this weekends cooking adventures!)

In upcoming posts I will tell how I made each of these delectable items. Unfortunately for you, I did not document all of the cooking experiences with pictures like I should have.
Hey... give me a break I am still new to this whole blogging thing and it has been quite a week!