good eats

today i took a few hours and made some baby food for Brenna. I had made most of Garret and Raelyns food too. For convenience i always had a few jars in the cabinet if we were going to eat out or whatever. It isnt hard, just takes some time. Usually I make a bunch all at the same time and then dont have to do it for awhile because i can freeze it. When i was making food for Rae i found a great little book called "Top 100 Baby Purees. 100 Quick and Easy Meals for a Healthy and Happy Baby" by Annabel Karmel. I love this book because it gives me ideas i never would have thought of for baby and toddler food. It also has great pictures. There are a couple of reasons i decided to make the kids baby food. Making your own baby food is not only more economical but also assures me that my kids are eating foods made from fresh, top-quality ingredients. Here is a quote from the book... "take one of those jars and look carefully at the expiration date. The substance inside has been designed to last two years past the date of purchase. That's not exactly the fresh food that you intended to feed your baby. But that's not the worst of it. At their best, commercial baby foods are bland and tasteless. How can children develop any sense of taste if they start out with foods that don't have any?" I am not one of those moms that goes crazy about this, i just feel like if i can make the time to do i would like to do it. Like i said before i always have an assortment of commercial baby food in the cabinet for convenience some times.

When i first started out, i had no idea how to make it or where to start. So i thought i would go through the process of making apples for any one who is interested in trying this out too.
First I have to recommend my peeler, corer and slicer. It is the best invention in the world! you can use it for apples, pears, potatoes and probably other things too. all you do it stick the apple on the the end, spin the handle around and around and it peels, cores and slices the apple all at once. this makes the process SO much faster and creates such thin pieces it helps the apples to cook much faster.

To make about two ice cube trays (this is how i freeze the baby food) full of apples i use 6 medium sized apples.

1. peel, core and slice about 6 apples
2. put the fruit into a saucepan and add about a cup of water.... i never measure so sorry this isnt exact.
3. cover and cook over low heat until fruit is tender.
4. place in blender with some of the water that the fruit was cooked in and puree. add small amounts of extra juice at a time until you get it to the right consistency.
5. pour into ice cube trays and place in freezer.
6. once frozen label a freezer storage bag with contents and date and store in freezer.








Pretty simple, and like i said earlier i usually take a few hours and just make a bunch of things all at the same time. Today i made a tray of regular apples, a tray of cinnamon apples, a tray of sweet potatoes and a tray of sweet potatoes and broccoli mix. This will be enough food for brenna for about a 3 weeks to a month. right now she is only eating about one cube and cereal at lunch time and two cubes and cereal at dinner time. as she like to eat more we will start giving her more of the fruits and veggies.

Yummy Yum!