Adventures in Baby Food: Blueberries and Peaches

I am really enjoying making all of Hadley’s baby food.  I thought I’d share another quick tutorial on how to make fruit (it’s not recommended for babies under 8 months to eat raw fruit [with the exception of bananas and avocados], so you should cook it in some way prior to pureeing.) 

I made a batch of peaches and blueberries at the same time using two different methods (warning: this will make your house smell soooo delicious you might just have to make a pie).  I decided to bake the peaches and simmer the blueberries. 

We’ll start with the peaches:

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Slice desired amount of peaches in half and remove the pits.  Place peaches “meat” side down in a baking dish with about an inch of water.   I only made 2 peaches this time around because I wanted to see if Hadley likes them before I make a huge batch, and as you can tell from the picture below, they were already pretty ripe when I made these. 

Bake in the oven at 400 until the skin wrinkles and peaches are soft to the touch.  (I think this took about 20-25 minutes or so, but because I was making the blueberries at the same time, I can’t remember exactly!)  This is what they should look like when they’re done:

The skins should just “slide” off at this point – see picture below.  If you have a few pieces of skin that hang on for dear life, you can either cut that part of the peach off before throwing in the puree, or just call it good. (They say that the skins of fruit can be tougher to digest for little tummies, so just use your best judgment as to what your little one can handle.)

After removing the skins, throw it in a food processor or blender and puree!  I didn’t even need to add water to these because they were juicy enough on their own.

The blueberries were just as simple. 

Dump a package of blueberries into a sauce pan and add just enough water to cover.

Simmer the blueberries until they turn a nice deep purple – if I remember correctly, this only took about 5-10 minutes. 

Drain the blueberries and reserve the water in case you want it to thin out your puree (I didn’t need any of this water either, they came out nice and juicy!)

Stick in a food processor or blender and puree! 

Easy-peasy!   I added some avocado to this tray to freeze, and filled the rest with the peaches and blueberries. 

We haven’t tried the peaches yet, but I’d say the blueberries were a hit!

Making Baby Food: Sweet Potatoes

I decided, after doing a little research online, that I wanted to make Hadley’s baby food.  By making it, not only do we save a lot of money, but I like knowing exactly what it is that’s going in her little tummy.  Not to mention, it’s super easy!  I thought I’d share a quick little tutorial for anyone else thinking they might want to make their own baby food! 

I started with just one sweet potato – I wanted to see how much one would make and whether or not Hadley liked them before I went overboard. 

• Pre-heat your oven to 400 (you can steam or boil these, or even stick them in the microwave, but I think the taste is better if they’re baked, and it makes clean-up a lot easier!)
• Wash and dry your sweet potato(s)
• Using a fork, poke holes all around the potato and wrap with foil

• Place the potato in the oven for about 55 minutes (until soft)
• Let cool for about 5 minutes, then slice in half

• Using a spoon, scrape the “meat” of the potato out (if it’s fully cooked, this should be really easy)

• Place the “meat” in a food processor or blender and add breastmilk or formula to thin to your desired consistency (I used a little over an ounce of breastmilk for this batch). 

• Place in whatever containers you choose to store in – I actually have a bunch of items coming in the mail that I ordered to make solids, but since they’re not here yet, I had to improvise.  I just used some silicone cupcake liners I had, measured with water how much they hold (approximately 2 ounces when filled 3/4 the way full), and scooped the puree into them!  I left one out to try tonight and stuck the other two in the freezer.  Once they were frozen, I just popped them into a Ziploc bag and labeled it with the name of the food and the date!  From what I’ve read, most homemade baby food will last about 3 months in the freezer. 

• In case you didn’t put 2 + 2 together, that one sweet potato that I baked made just over 6 ounces of puree.  With the amount Hadley is eating right now, that’s at least a weeks worth! 

In case you were wondering, I ordered one of these – it’s a silicone brownie-squares baking mold by Wilton.  I read some reviews and decided to get something like this rather than the ones made for baby food – that way, when we’re done with this stage, I can re-use this (plus it was cheaper!).   Each cavity holds about 1/2 an ounce, so I can just pop a couple squares in the microwave (or stick in a bowl with a lid if we’re going to be out and let them thaw on their own). 

If you’ve made your own, I’d love to see your recipes and here how it went! 

Sweet potatoes didn’t go so well for us the first time around… but I think she was a little bit tired, too, so next time we’ll try earlier in the day

Well… we tried.

This past weekend, we attempted to start Hadley on “solid” foods!  Her pediatrician actually gave us the go-ahead at her 4 month appointment, but after doing some research, I decided to hold off a little while.  Hadley really wasn’t showing a lot of signs that she was ready, and the fact that her tummy would get so upset if I had dairy made me think her digestive tract just wasn’t quite ready for more than breast milk. 

In the last week or two, however, the girl has been SUPER fussy if we are eating in front of her.  She has been studying us like crazy when we eat or drink anything, and the other night, I was holding her while I was eating and she was literally LUNGING at every bite I took!  So, we decided to give it a whirl. 

We started with oatmeal (I had read that plain rice cereal has no more nutritional value than processed white flour, so I wanted something a bit more nutritional).  I mixed up a little with some breast milk until it was just barely thicker than liquid. 

Here she is, all ready for some oatmeal!

First bite!

Dad – is it okay that I’m eating this?

Hey!  Where you goin with that?

Ummmm, I’m not so sure about this stuff.

Here, let me just take that spoon for you.

All in all, her first experience went pretty well.  She actually swallowed a tiny bit and didn’t seem to hate it!  However, I tried to make it a tiny bit thicker the next couple times and she has not been a fan.  I also made some sweet potatoes for her to try – I’ve got a post almost ready to show you how!