Yummy Baby Food

One of the things that I really wanted to do when Luke started eating solid foods was to make my own baby food, and aside from iron fortified cereals, I have stuck with it! It's really not as hard as one might think - usually I will make a large batch and than freeze at least 3 or 4 meals worth in ice cube trays for use later. As he's gotten older I've adapted a lot of the regular foods we eat to be more baby friendly (less salt mostly), or I will cook a slightly different version of in a separate pan alongside our meal. Below are a few of the simple recipes that I use. For everything else, there's Slap Chop!

Mashed Sweet Potato

1 medium sweet potato
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp sour cream
dash of nutmeg, mild curry powder or cinnamon

Peal & chop potato. Steam or boil until tender, drain. In a bowl, mash or puree sweet potato. Stir in butter, sour cream & choice of spices. Variations: include peas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower etc. with sweet potatoes when steaming/boiling. You may also mix in some finely diced cheese or cooked meat.

Favourite Apple Sauce

1 Apple pealed, cored & finely chopped
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp raisins, chopped
dash of cinnamon
water - a few tablespoons

Melt butter over medium heat. Add all ingredients except water and fry for 1 - 2 minutes, until apples well coated. Add a little bit of water, stir well and cover. Stir occasionally, adding a little water if pan gets too dry. Cook until the apples are very soft and liquid is reduced (about 7 minutes). Cool slightly before serving - puree or mash if necessary. Delicious by itself or mixed with oatmeal.

Oatmeal with Fruit

1/2 cup whole milk
3 tbsp quick oats

Mix milk and oats in a small pot over medium high heat. Stir often until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, and stirring occasionally, simmer until thick (about 3 minutes).

With Banana:
Add oatmeal to a mashed banana, mix & serve

With Blueberries:
Add 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries at the beginning of cooking. Instead of 3 tbsp oats, use 4 tbsp (due to extra moisture in the berries). Make sure berries are cooled before serving.

With Peaches:
Score a peach (mark and X on the bottom with a sharp knife). Drop in a pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Remove peach from hot water, peal and dice (remove pit). Add peach to oatmeal about halfway through cooking. Allow to cool before serving.