Frozen baby food cubes | Photo by Wendy
While you’re still making all that good fresh baby food, hold a food swap with some other mom friends to introduce your kid to new flavors and broaden his palate. Here’s how:
- Make a huge double batch of sweet potatoes or winter squash (steam, puree, put in a large tupperware in the fridge)
- Your pals, Bettina and Henrietta, make a huge batch of lentils or stewed pears following the same process
- You give some to Big B and some to Miz H and open your arms to receive from them.
- When you get home, put the fresh and tasty mush in ice cube trays, freeze into little food cubes, and store in labeled ziploc freezer bags (after some experimentation, I now realize how impractical it is to keep those suckers safely frozen and swap ’em that way!)
Voila! All three babes have some new foods to learn about.
Our favorite combos were : Squash/Pear, Carrot/Apple, Pear/Mango/Banana, Carrot/Sweet Potato.
Worst experience: Green Beans/Tofu, Carrot/Parsnip
We’re trying green beans and tofu today with a little pureed pear to sweeten the deal. Wish us luck!
Is it just me or does the green bean and rice smell (and taste) awful?! We tried cumin because it worked for the avocado, but the kid was not falling for it.
I’m just wondering why you would put those two together after I ranked it as worst experience. How did it go?
Let me explain… the green beans are hated in this house anyway, the tofu is my new plan for lunches, and the pear was supposed to make it all ok.
As of 7.5 months, H gets cereal and fruit for breakfast, tofu and veggies for lunch, and yogurt with fruit and veg for dinner… but the answer to your question is:
PEAR OR APPLESAUCE CAN SALVAGE THE GREEN BEAN TOFU COMBO MONSTROSITY… at least for this little guy.
I have some Glass food prep bowls from Williams Sonoma that are a perfect size and shape for reheating baby food cubes and don’t get their use as fancy food prep bowls these days.
how about some spices to help that out?
Excellent recipe for apple-pear sauce: 5 apples, peeled, cored, cut to small pieces. 5 pears, peeled, cored, cut to small pieces. 1 cinnamon stick. 1 tsp vanilla. 1 tblsp butter. Some (~3/4 cup or so) water. Boil it all up, reduce heat, simmer for 30-45 minutes till apple and pear bits are tender. Remove cinnamon stick! Puree. My little guy (11 months now) loves it!
If the food tastes pretty good fresh, I don’t worry about it. If it’s super bland, I spice it up.
I like to add a little cinnamon to the pumpkin (I buy organic pumpkin already pureed – genius!) either before freezing or after thawing.
I add some cumin to the avocado, just a smidge.
I recently had a baby food swap party at my house. A couple helpful things I learned…..specify whether you want all organic foods or not in the beginning, if the people are just starting solids — do single item purees rather than mixtures, have people rsvp with the dish they are preparing so you don’t have duplicates, have an rsvp deadline so that everyone can portion out their own dish into ziplock bags for the number of guests – that way all people need to do at the party is set out their bags and then take one of each. Also, when you get home, cut the corner of the ziplock baggy and squeeze out the puree like cake frosting into your ice cube trays….this really saves on the mess. I found that if I hit the trays on the counter a few times, the mush settles into the squares really nicely. Also, if you have trouble getting your frozen cubes out of the trays, turn them over (if they have lids) and run some hot water over them — slam them upside down and they should all come out on the lid. Was a really fun party – thanks for the idea!!!