News Taffy

My youngest, Story, is now 7.5 months old and so I've been making her some homemade baby food. I made all of London's food as well, and learned more about cooking and seasonings and herbs during that time than I could have imagined. I thought I'd make a quick tutorial to show everyone how easy and cheap it is to make your own baby food without being some crazy Supermom. There are plenty of websites online that give information about making your own, but my favorite is wholesomebabyfood.com. There, you'll get great tips on picking out the perfectly ripe fruit or veggies (I mean, who knows how to pick out a ripe papaya?) and on the exact nutritional value of each food.

For my tutorial, I just took pictures as I made Story some butternut squash. I bake almost all of the foods in water or juice to cause a steaming effect. It's the best way to cook it that keeps the most nutritional value. I first took the squash and cut it in half length ways and scooped out the center of the bottom (the part that looks like the inside of a pumpkin). Next, you lay it face down in a cake pan and fill with half an inch to an inch of water. (If your baby is over 8 months, you can shake some seasoning into the water, NOT salt or sugar. You want to try one at a time, for example, pumpkin with nutmeg, then maybe after a couple months, you can have pumpkin with nutmeg, cinnamon, and a dash of all spice.) I baked it on 350 until the skin softened enough that it could be easily pierced with a fork (this took about 15-20 minutes.)

Once it's cooled enough to handle easily, you scoop out all of the "meat" of the food and then put it into a blender, processor, or bullet. Just puree it and add water from the pan to thin it out for younger babies. You then spoon it all into an ice cube tray and once that is all smoothed, stick it into the freezer. I label large Ziploc bags and dump all the frozen cubes in them for easier storage than containers.

I can't remember how much the squash was, even though I kept meaning to look to write on here, (If anyone knows, comment and let us all know!) but each cube is 1 ounce. A tray has 14 cubes and the squash made one tray. (In season, they are larger and make a tray and a half.) Two sweet potatoes make one full tray. Those are currently on sale this week at Kroger for $.48 a pound, which is 2-3 depending on the size. 14 oz of homemade baby food, no preservatives, for 48 cents! It's also more convenient because you can pop out a cube of one thing and a cube of another to make a meal. For example, I baked some organic chicken breast in apple juice, and then I microwave a cube with a cube of the squash for 30ish seconds. It smells so good, especially when you start adding seasonings. I do, however, warn you. Once your baby starts eating home cooked yummy seasoned food, you will NOT get them to eat jarred food anymore ; ). London began refusing all jarred food, even fruits, after a couple months of eating her solids.

In the picture, the bags are butternut squash, apple chicken, avocado, and banana avocado mix. These are also great to throw into some oatmeal for baby or thick oatmeal for another child, like a cube of peaches. You can give baby a cube of something to play with and teeth on when the summer heat is unbearable, or you could throw a cube of frozen fruit into a glass or pitcher of your iced tea this summer for a nice treat. Hope you all enjoy!

Until next time,
Heather