In lou...

...of a regular post this week, I'm trying something new. I'm headed to Michigan for the week, but wanted to post something (although thanks SO much to my amazing sister, you're getting plenty of great ideas for dinners). Since I have a baby right in the "baby food phase", I decided to share my best tips regarding baby food.

Some people probably don't get as excited as me when this phase begins, but I love being able to introduce my babies to real food. It is a lot of work (if you make your own baby food) or money (if you buy it all), but I love knowing my babies tummies' are full of good fruits and veggies.
With my first child I strictly bought baby food. With my second baby, I used a hand held immersion blender and made it myself, and now (thanks to my Mom last year for my birthday) I love using my food processor.
As far as I'm concerned, making baby food is extremely basic and very easy. I choose what veggies I want my baby to eat, steam them until they are soft, and then mix the living daylights out of them (with a little water or chicken/vegetable stock) until they are the consistency I like. The other day I made peas, roasted butternut squash & carrots--each mixed with brown rice. I love my Beaba freezer trays (I also love that I found them on clearance at our Land of Nod outlet), but ice cube trays work just as well.
There are many websites that can help and lots of books, like this one, this one, and I have mainly used this one.


I recognize that babies should receive most of their nourishment by breast milk or formula until about 12 months of age. But my children get their teeth fairly early and I like them to be used to eating regular food by the time they turn 1. Here is the simple recipe I used for my 3 baby foods this week:

-1 medium sized Butternut Squash, seeds & skin removed, roasted in the oven until soft (or about 5 carrots diced and steamed, or 1/2 bag frozen peas cooked)
-1 1/2 c. water (or you can use stock)
-1/2 c. brown rice, cooked

Blend all ingredients in food processor (or with immersion blender) until smooth. Add water if needed to reach desired consistency. Refrigerate or freeze in individual portions.

Other things I like to feed my 6-12 month old babies are:

-sweet potatoes (I bake a sweet potato or 2 every week and leave them in the fridge. When my baby is hungry, I toss half of a soft sweet potato in the microwave and I've got an easy meal.)
-soups
-avocados
-whatever we're eating (usually my babies end up not caring for baby food because they want to go right to the real stuff!)
-oatmeal
-spinach/broccoli (I like to have these cooked/pureed to add to other baby foods. They seem like they are 2 flavors that kids shy away from...not around here!)
-bananas
-pumpkin (canned or fresh)
-Beans (these are a GREAT finger food, and a good protein too!)
-eggs (scrambled or boiled & diced)