First Eats for the Babe...

So, my mama was a total hippy chick.  I am talking hitch-hiking across to country to spend time in a commune in New Mexico with a group called The Diggers who lived off the land type of hippy.   She raised us on good, healthy food and taught me to do the same with my little ones. 

For those who haven't made their own baby food, it's super easy and makes you totally feel like a total super mom!  Here is how I made a batch of homemade organic carrots for Gabe the Babe...

Items Needed:
Fruit or Veg
Large Pot with Lid and Steamy Thing that goes in the bottom
Food Processor or Blender
Ice Cube Trays
Gallon Zipper Bags

1.  Scope out some good fruits or veggies that are on sale and stock up.  If you don't want to splurge on organic every time, try to at least do it for the things that grow in the ground since they absorb so much of the nastiness from all the chemicals used to treat crops. 

2.  Wash the produce and place in pot with enough water to come to the bottom of the steamer thing (yes, I know you are impressed with my culinary vocabulary right now...).  Since I went with organic, I didn't bother peeling them.  Save all the time you can Mama!!!

3.  Cover with the lid and turn heat on med-high heat (watch to be sure it doesn't boil over if there is a lot of water AND that it doesn't evaporate all the water and scortch your pot if there's not enough water- been there, done that!).  Steam the carrots until the are easily pierced with a fork.

4.  Take the cooked carrots and place in the food processor.  I had to do the carrots in a few different batches...  (Before I had this food processor, I used my blender and it worked just fine.)

5.  Puree veggies.  If it's to thick and pasty, add some of the water from the bottom of the pot that you used to steam the carrots.



6.  Pushing the "On" button can be oh so tiring, so this is when you enlist the help of a near-by button-pusher!  Miss Ava is highly trained and came with very strong recommendations!  Don't let the fact that she's in jammies fool you folks, it wasn't morning, it was noon when we did this ;-)

7.  Puree and add water until you get the consistency that you want.

8.  Spoon into ice cube trays.  Two bags of carrots made 5 1/2 trays full for me.

9.  Stick in the freezer (next to your bags of breastmilk ;-) until frozen solid.

10.  Once frozen, put about an inch of hot water in the bottom of your sink and put the ice cube trays in there to loosen up the cubes (this only takes a minute).  Then, pop into a freezer zipper bag and label.  Next time your little one is hungery for some good stuff, just grab a cube, heat it up, and your ready to go!

Hey look - Gabe loves them!  It was all worth it!  Okay, actually, he hated them and this was a fluke picture.  The only way I can get him to choke the carrots down is to mix them with some of his beloved apples or pears.  But I will slowly start adding more and more carrots until he loves them by themselves...  

Other good foods to start with:  Apples (peel and core), Peas (frozen work great), Sweet Potatoes (poke with a fork, microwave for 5 min, turn, 5 more min, then cover with foil and let sit for 10 min, then the skin pulls right off).  Experiment and mix the different cubes!  Another easy one is mashing up bananas or avocados with a fork and feed to your baby fresh.  Have fun - Happy Feeding!