Project Baby Food

         I have recently started to make my own baby food. I have experimented with different things and that has been kind of fun! The problem I was having was that Grayson was not wanting anything to do with jarred vegetables. In fact, the only things I could get him to eat was bananas, apples, and pears. I started wondering if he was getting all of the nutrition that he needs just eating fruit all day. So...I decided to try making MY OWN recipes, and Voilà! he was eating VEGETABLES!!! 


       First I started with sweet potatoes, he LOVED them! I did, however, sweeten them a little bit of all natural brown sugar and cinnamon. This morning, I made butternut squash sweetened with a little bit of honey, fresh mangos (YUMM!), carrots (sweetened with a little brown sugar), and apples! Not only did my house smell WONDERFUL while I cooked the fruits and vegetables, but they all tasted really yummy. I got the approval from two of the best (and most honest) taste testers in the world, my girls. :)


          Not only was making the baby food really fun (I love to cook), I also KNOW what I put in it, how much, and where the vegetables and fruit came from. I know that my baby is getting the most nutrition and no preservatives. I am also saving a ton of money. Initially, buying all of the produce cost more than buying a weeks worth of jar food, but in the long run, the food I made out of the produce made WAY more baby food than 1 weeks worth. 

Here are the recipes for the stuff I made today...

MANGOS

• Make sure the mango is ripe (soft when you squeeze it)
• If you buy a mango that is not ripe yet, set it in your window sill and it will be ripe in a day or two, depending on the state it is in when you buy it. 
• Peel the skin off of the Mango with a potato peeler
• Slice it up and put the pieces into your food processor or blender
• Blend!
• If you want a smoother texture you can add a little bit of soy yogurt to the mangos before you blend it.
• I didn't add ANYTHING...Mangos are so sweet, they are delicious by themselves.
• After it reaches the consistency of your liking, spoon it into an ice cube tray
• Cover the tray with plastic wrap and freeze until frozen
• When frozen solid, transfer the mango cubes into freezer safe bags 
• Keep the bags in the freezer and get out what you need when you need it!
• A great way to thaw your mangos is in warm water (you can put the mango cubes into a baggie and place the baggie into the warm water)
• Try not to microwave, as that kills the good stuff!!!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH

• Preheat the oven to 425
• Peel the squash with the potato peeler
• Cut in half length wise
• Spoon out the seeds
• Cut into smaller pieces and place the pieces into a baking dish
• Add about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of the dish
• Sprinkle with brown sugar (or whatever tickles your fancy)
• Cover with foil and bake until squash is soft enough to cut with a fork.
• Spoon pieces into blender (add some of the juices from the baking dish) and blend!
• I added a little bit more brown sugar for taste
• Let it cool completely BEFORE freezing (freezing warm food can cause bacteria to grow)
• Follow the steps above for freezing and storing!

CARROTS

• Preheat the oven to 425
• Place baby carrots in baking dish (you can use regular carrots but baby carrots were way easier)
• Pour about 1/2 inch of water into bottom of pan
• Sprinkle with brown sugar 
• Cover with foil and bake until carrots can be cut with a fork
• Spoon carrots into blender and add juices from pan and BLEND!
• Cool completely BEFORE freezing
• Follow steps above for freezing and storing!

APPLES

• Preheat oven to 425
• Peel apples with potato peeler
• Cut and core the apples
• Place into baking dish with 1/2 inch of water on bottom
• Sprinkle with cinnamon
• Cover with foil and bake until apples can be easily cut with a fork
• Put pieces into blender (DO NOT add juices or the apple sauce will be too runny)
• BLEND to the consistency of your liking
• Let cool completely BEFORE freezing!
• Follow the steps above for freezing and storing!

          I hope you find these recipes helpful. You can sweeten the vegetables however you want to. Use as little or as much as you like. Everyone is different and every baby id different. Like I said, my boy would NOT eat the veggies until I made them myself (prob has a little to do with the sweet I put into them). Don't be afraid to let your little one have a little bit of sweet. Use natural sweeteners (DO NOT USE ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS!!!) And most importantly......ENJOY!