Prepped baby food jars

These prepped fruit/veggie jars would obviously work for smoothies in addition to baby food or if you're doing a juice cleanse. After we shop things get chopped up and put in jars to throw into the blender to make fresh squeeze pouches for baby Aislynn who is now 15 months old and still loves her squeezy's. Posted in the photo is a strawberry, carrot, mango and parsley jar and a mango, banana, parsley and peas jar. Both batches are topped off with lime juice and refrigerated for 24 hours or frozen until you're ready to blend a yummy nutrient packed puree.

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Best first baby food purée

I can't say enough about making my own baby food for Aislynn. Since the very beginning she has suffered from allergies and food sensitivities of all kinds so early on I learned to make sure I knew exactly what was going into her system. 

Here's the recipe for the first puree we tried with her and to this day she still loved it in a squeeze pouch with her shredded chicken or as a to go snack.

Apple Carrot Puree- Blend 1-2 apples with 3 carrots that have been steamed. For a quick steaming method, you can place the chopped and peeled fruits and veggies in a microwave-safe glass bowl with a little water, or use the steamer basket. We use this electric steamer contraption, which makes everything easy to steam at once in layers. Add enough water to thin it out. Apples and pears can also be boiled for 7-9 minutes until tender. Fill squeeze pouches and freeze or refrigerate.

I love using the infantino squeeze station system the best but there are plenty of pouch options out there. 

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Chia seed cereal

Mom and baby both love chia seeds!! They make any liquid the consistency of pudding as they soak in the moisture. We add fruit to our Chia, Buckwheat and Hemp cereal that's yummy hot or cold.

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Baby food tips

I love making baby food from fresh, yummy, and healthy ingredients. I also spend much less making baby food instead of buying it, especially the packaged organic stuff! Here's a few of my tips on making your own baby food purees at home!

Tip#1

Always start with the best ingredients. If you are using frozen or canned ingredients makes sure the packaging is BPA free and contains no added sugar or chemicals. Buying organic is also pretty important for babies just starting out on foods. I'm only religiously organic with the following foods...Apples, grapes, and especially bananas (see below) others fruits and vegetables are based on my budget. 

Organics

Apples and imported grapes (most of the grapes I can get in winter are from Chile) are two fruits that should be bought organically because the conventional ones are heavily contaminated with pesticides. They are #2 and #9 respectively on the Environmental Working Groups Dirty Dozen Foods.

Bananas fall way down at #37 on their list. Because they have a thick skin, the fruit inside is fairly protected from the chemical pesticides and fertilizers that are sprayed on banana trees. Some get through, but compared to some other fruits, they are less contaminated.

I used to buy conventional bananas because I wasn’t too worried about the fruit and used my money to buy other foods organically. But then I read something that made me willing to spend the extra money on organic bananas. The fruit inside the bananas may be protected from many of the chemicals that are sprayed onto banana trees, but the time frame in which non-organic bananas are picked compared to organic bananas makes a huge difference. Bananas have a natural latex chemical that is present while ripening, this chemical naturally disappears once the banana is ripe (still green but ripe inside). Non-organic bananas are picked far earlier and this process does not have a chance to happen naturally thus the latex chemical remains and is then ingested by you and your children causing cramping and agitation to intestines. If you cut open an organic banana you'll notice it's yellow and looks like it has a peace sign on it. Non-organic bananas look very white when cut open because of the latex chemical still in them. So next time you go shopping be sure to add organic bananas to your list! The price difference is worth it to me especially with my daughters food sensitivities.

Tip #2

Sugar is not your enemy. I used to be crazy about making sure to not give my child sugar and while I agree high fructose syrups and processed white sugar are not ideal to spoon feed your child, I'm a big fan of using natural fruit sugar as a sweetener for purees with things like kale, broccoli or spinach in them. I'm happy if my child gets these super foods in her system even if it takes being a little tricky. You're little one needs natural sugar and so do you! 

Tip #3

Make purees in bulk and freeze. Tuesdays are usually preparation day for us. I spend morning nap time bulk blending purees like the ones on the Kids and Baby purees page. The mix below is just two servings so obviously you would double or triple the amount of ingredients based on your freezer and blender size :).

This is a carrot zucchini puree sweetened with organic applesauce. I always add spinach or kale as well as a good probiotic (at least 5 Billion CFU) to all of my baby purees. 

The carrots and zucchini are steamed so they blend well and if your consistency isn't quite right just add 1 tsp purified water until its the texture you're looking for...not too runny, not too thick.

I used the "Fresh Squeezed" by infantino system. The pouches come in packs of 50 and you can either use the stand to fill multiple pouches or attach the filler to a single pouch at a time (like if you need one right now because you forgot to freeze the last batch ;/).

Most kids love squeeze pouches and they help teach coordination skills.

Happy puree-ing to ya'll!!

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Turkey quinoa and raspberry puree

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup shredded turkey breast
1/4 cup washed organic raspberries
1/2 cup water

Directions

1. To prepare the quinoa, bring two cups water to a boil and then add one cup dry quinoa. Allow to simmer over medium heat until all water has absorbed, which takes about 10 minutes. Stir the quinoa often to keep from clumping or burning to the bottom of the pan.
2. To prepare the shredded turkey, place one or two turkey breast in crock pot with enough water (or organic vegetable stock) so that the top of the turkey breast isn't covered. Cook for 4-6 hours on high. Then separate with fork or tongs. Pack leftovers for other meals in the fridge for later use.
3. Measure and add one cup of the cooked quinoa to a blender. Then add 1 cup shredded turkey breast and 1/4 cup washed raspberries. add to the blender along with the steamed carrot. Pour in the water, cover the blender, and pulse until the baby food comes together. You can also use a hand blender to puree.
4. If the blend is too thick, thin with additional water, formula, or breast milk.
5. For additional flavor, add fresh parsley. Yum!

This recipe makes two cups of baby food .Freeze leftovers in an ice-cube tray and pop out single servings when needed. Let come to room temperature in a small bowl or warm in the microwave.

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