10-12 pears, washed and diced
1/3 c. water
Clean your pears. Leaving the skins on cut up the pears and place in a crockpot, with the water, on low heat for 6-8 hours or until the skins are almost dissolved. Puree in a blender. Scoop into ice cube trays and flash freeze. Put in a ziploc bag labeled with the contents and the expiration date.
Showing posts with label Baby food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baby food. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Applesauce for babies
10-12 of the sweetest apples you can find ie: gala, fuji
1/3 c. water
(babies aren't going to like applesauce that is really tart so sweet apples are the way to go that way it's natural sugars, if you have more tart apples laying around then add a Tbsp. of sugar for every tart apple you add. I had 3 granny smith apples that I needed to use so I put in 3 Tbsp of sugar.)
(I got the idea for how to cook the applesauce from this blog). Pull out your crockpot and turn it to low. Wash your apples well with a fruit and veggie wash, look here for an easy at home substitute. Dice the apples up leaving the skin on(unfortunately apples don't have very much nutrition unless you eat the skin). Place your apples in the crockpot with the water and sugar if you are adding any. Now you just play the waiting game. For like 8-10 hours adding a half hour very every time you open the crockpot...if you don't want it to take longer resist temptation and don't open that lid(if you are like me it is incredibly difficult to do that). When the apples are nice and soft set a collander over a bowl and pour the apples into the collander. Once drained put the apples in a blender and add as much of the liquid as you think you'll need to puree the food. I used a 1/2 c. of water and ended up not need some of the liquid so I changed it to 1/3 c. of water. So it's likely you'll need all the liquids but pour them out just in case they are too much. Puree the apples until they are entirely pureed. Place into ice cube trays, let cool, flash freeze and place in a ziploc bag labeled applesauce and expiration date: 3-4 months from when you made it.
1/3 c. water
(babies aren't going to like applesauce that is really tart so sweet apples are the way to go that way it's natural sugars, if you have more tart apples laying around then add a Tbsp. of sugar for every tart apple you add. I had 3 granny smith apples that I needed to use so I put in 3 Tbsp of sugar.)
(I got the idea for how to cook the applesauce from this blog). Pull out your crockpot and turn it to low. Wash your apples well with a fruit and veggie wash, look here for an easy at home substitute. Dice the apples up leaving the skin on(unfortunately apples don't have very much nutrition unless you eat the skin). Place your apples in the crockpot with the water and sugar if you are adding any. Now you just play the waiting game. For like 8-10 hours adding a half hour very every time you open the crockpot...if you don't want it to take longer resist temptation and don't open that lid(if you are like me it is incredibly difficult to do that). When the apples are nice and soft set a collander over a bowl and pour the apples into the collander. Once drained put the apples in a blender and add as much of the liquid as you think you'll need to puree the food. I used a 1/2 c. of water and ended up not need some of the liquid so I changed it to 1/3 c. of water. So it's likely you'll need all the liquids but pour them out just in case they are too much. Puree the apples until they are entirely pureed. Place into ice cube trays, let cool, flash freeze and place in a ziploc bag labeled applesauce and expiration date: 3-4 months from when you made it.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Butternut Squash for babies
Like I said in regards to the sweet potatoes making baby food is incredibly easy and squash is no exception. You'll need:
1 butternut squash
water
1 deep cookie sheet
2 ice cube trays
extra liquid if needed
Start off by preheating the oven to 375. Wash the outside of the squash. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the innards. Lay the squash open side down and bulbous side facing out in a deep cookie sheet. Pour water into the cookie sheet(about a quarter to a half an inch up the squash). Cook in the oven for about 45 minutes. When it is nice and cooked very carefully remove from the oven so as not to spill the water on yourself or in the oven or perhaps on your child or something(don't worry, I didn't do that that was just something I worried about as my pesky 2 year old came running at the sound of the oven opening). Let the squash sit for a bit. Pour some, or all of the liquid from the pan into a blender. Scoop out the meat of the squash and add to the blender. Puree until really smooth. Separate into ice cube trays, flash freeze, and consolidate into one large freezer back labeled Butternut Squash with an expiration date somewhere between 3-6 months after you prepared them.
1 butternut squash
water
1 deep cookie sheet
2 ice cube trays
extra liquid if needed
Start off by preheating the oven to 375. Wash the outside of the squash. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the innards. Lay the squash open side down and bulbous side facing out in a deep cookie sheet. Pour water into the cookie sheet(about a quarter to a half an inch up the squash). Cook in the oven for about 45 minutes. When it is nice and cooked very carefully remove from the oven so as not to spill the water on yourself or in the oven or perhaps on your child or something(don't worry, I didn't do that that was just something I worried about as my pesky 2 year old came running at the sound of the oven opening). Let the squash sit for a bit. Pour some, or all of the liquid from the pan into a blender. Scoop out the meat of the squash and add to the blender. Puree until really smooth. Separate into ice cube trays, flash freeze, and consolidate into one large freezer back labeled Butternut Squash with an expiration date somewhere between 3-6 months after you prepared them.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Sweet Potatoes for babies
Sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest items in the produce section. So this is an ideal meal for those little growing babies. The key to making healthy baby food is to buy the fruits and veggies that are in season, prepare them in a way that will retain an optimal amount of nutrition, prepare a bunch at a time, flash freeze them and use them within 3-4 months of freezing.
4-6 sweet potatoes(or yams it really doesn't matter)
water or vegetable infused water leftover from steaming veggies like carrots
Aluminum foil
ice cube trays
ziploc bags
Preheat the oven to 350. Wash all the sweet potatoes and jab with a fork a few times. Wrap in the foil and place in the oven for about an hour or until the meat of the potato has become entirely soft. When done remove from the oven and remove from foil. Cut the sweet potatoes in half length wise. Using a spoon scoop the meat of the potato from off the skin. Place in a blender and add a bit of liquid to help smooth out the mixture. Puree until it has become entirely smooth. Add liquid as needed keeping in account that when you defrost the cubes in the microwave a little liquid should be added. Pour sweet potato puree into the ice cube trays. Flash freeze for an hour and place the cubes in a ziploc bag labeled with contents and expiration date. For young babies it is good to start with only 1 veggie at a time. For older babies feel free to puree this with any other fruit or veggie.
4-6 sweet potatoes(or yams it really doesn't matter)
water or vegetable infused water leftover from steaming veggies like carrots
Aluminum foil
ice cube trays
ziploc bags
Preheat the oven to 350. Wash all the sweet potatoes and jab with a fork a few times. Wrap in the foil and place in the oven for about an hour or until the meat of the potato has become entirely soft. When done remove from the oven and remove from foil. Cut the sweet potatoes in half length wise. Using a spoon scoop the meat of the potato from off the skin. Place in a blender and add a bit of liquid to help smooth out the mixture. Puree until it has become entirely smooth. Add liquid as needed keeping in account that when you defrost the cubes in the microwave a little liquid should be added. Pour sweet potato puree into the ice cube trays. Flash freeze for an hour and place the cubes in a ziploc bag labeled with contents and expiration date. For young babies it is good to start with only 1 veggie at a time. For older babies feel free to puree this with any other fruit or veggie.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Homemade baby food
If people realized how simple making your own baby food is we'd probably do it rather then waste all our money on pre-packaged baby food. It's not quite as convenient and involves more effort but isn't that worth saving money and feeding your child healthier more nutritious food? I want to start with the basic rice cereal. Did you know that you do NOT need to purchase the pre-packaged stuff? Let me tell you how simple it is to make your own.
1 cup brown rice
2-2 1/2 cups water
about 6 oz of breast milk or formula(depending on how thick or thin your baby requires)
Bring the water to a boil. Add the rice, stir and return to a boil. Turn heat down, cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes. When the rice is done put it in a blender with the breast milk/formula and blend until smooth. You can make more or less following these basic guidelines. If you want to make more and freeze it just make the initial mixture a little thicker, place it in ice cube trays, flash freeze for 1 hour and place in a ziploc bag. When you are ready to serve it defrost the cubes, add milk or formula and serve, just remember that the consistency may change a little more rubbery. You can also use basmati or jasmine rice.
Alternately you can actually grind the dry rice grains to a powder using a blender or a food processor. You can grind as much as you want and store in an airtight container. When you want to serve just get 1 cup of water, bring it to a boil, add 1/4 c. of the rice powder, stirring constantly, and simmer for about 10 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat, cool, add breast milk or formula to reach desired consistency and serve. Veggies/fruits can also be added at this point. Store the rest in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Wanna make oatmeal cereal? Using the previously mentioned method just grind rolled oats to a powder and use the ratio of 1/4 c. oatmeal powder and 3/4 c. water. Proceed as directed above.
1 cup brown rice
2-2 1/2 cups water
about 6 oz of breast milk or formula(depending on how thick or thin your baby requires)
Bring the water to a boil. Add the rice, stir and return to a boil. Turn heat down, cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes. When the rice is done put it in a blender with the breast milk/formula and blend until smooth. You can make more or less following these basic guidelines. If you want to make more and freeze it just make the initial mixture a little thicker, place it in ice cube trays, flash freeze for 1 hour and place in a ziploc bag. When you are ready to serve it defrost the cubes, add milk or formula and serve, just remember that the consistency may change a little more rubbery. You can also use basmati or jasmine rice.
Alternately you can actually grind the dry rice grains to a powder using a blender or a food processor. You can grind as much as you want and store in an airtight container. When you want to serve just get 1 cup of water, bring it to a boil, add 1/4 c. of the rice powder, stirring constantly, and simmer for about 10 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat, cool, add breast milk or formula to reach desired consistency and serve. Veggies/fruits can also be added at this point. Store the rest in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Wanna make oatmeal cereal? Using the previously mentioned method just grind rolled oats to a powder and use the ratio of 1/4 c. oatmeal powder and 3/4 c. water. Proceed as directed above.
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