Broccoli, butternut squash and zucchini puree

I have a confession, I no longer puree Pixie's food to this pictured consistency, this just happens to be a very late entry. Simple really, broccoli, butternut squash and zucchini. The Babycook to steam and then pureed in a little bit of the cooking water. Older babies with broader pallets might like some seasonings, herbs and or butter.

Carrot Puree

I am sure I have posted a carrot puree before, but it's a great vegetable to add to other baby puree's, it's naturally sweet and let's face it carrots are cheap. For baby you can roast them, steam them, put them in soups. If you roast them you can add other root vegetables like turnips and toss with a little olive oil and rosemary sprigs. They can be steamed with other vegetables but also compliment fruits well. When added to vegetables like broccoli, spinach or asparagus that aren't sweet they can help you introduce less popular vegetables to baby. When cubed and cooked until tender they make great finger foods.

Summer Squash with Rice for Baby

YAY for Summer Squash! My older girls love Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash. For Pixie I cut the squash into cubes- with the skin on. Steamed it in the baby cook, drained the cooking liquid and pureed. One batch I did with steamed rice and the other without. Now that Pixie is a little older I just mash this with a fork for her.

Roasted Butternut Squash

This is a simple roasted butternut squash. Peeled, seeds removed and cubed. Tossed in olive oil and roasted in a 375 degree oven until tender. It makes a great finger food for older babies served as is (in smaller cubes), it's great for the whole family actually. For older babies a pinch of curry, cinnamon, nutmeg, a little butter, yogurt or sour cream would be a great addition. I pureed Pixie's in the babycook.

Chicken and Vegetables for Baby

I have a picture of the finished dish somewhere but I can't seem to find it. The beauty of the baby cook is less pots, pans and what not to wash, smaller batches for fresh meals fast with the option of making a couple of extra batches to freeze. This is chicken breast, sugar snap peas and red bell pepper. Once it's cooked and blended to the consistency you baby likes add some cumin, pepper other herbs/spices to broaden your baby's pallet.

Tilapia and Fish Packet for Baby

This method of coking fish for babies is versatile. You can use almost any vegetable or fruit that your baby has had. I prefer parchment paper because, for me at least these packets cook up faster in parchment as opposed to foil.

Beets for Baby

The humble beet, kind of ugly and homey on the outside but so beautiful and vibrant on the inside. I like beets, I think I am the only one in the house that does. Besides Pixie I mean. The older girls try them whenever I have them because I ask them to but I don’t make them take a second bite. The first time I had fresh beets at the house, as in made them myself was when SIL and her family were visiting form Uganda one summer. They were so easy I couldn’t believe I never made them before. Beets are good roasted in the oven also. They are great for baby plain or with other vegetables or yogurt. I like them plain or with butter, salt and pepper.

 

Wash and trim the beets. Boil until tender- this takes a while.

 

Once they are fork tender, run them under cold water to rinse. Then peel with a paring knife. The skin should come right off easily.

 

Puree for baby using a little water or if you let baby have it juice. I wouldn’t use the cooking water, for no other reason than the fact that I don’t like the color. It’s not a vibrant pink like the beets, it’s a mucky brown and beets are dirty since they are a root vegetable. Oh and be careful they stain everything pink. Including diapers.

 

Tropical Oat Breakfast (Baby)

Now that Pixie is getting a little older I don’t blend dry steel cut oats into a powder before I fix them for her. I do cook plain steel cut oats a little longer then blend them leaving a little texture. This breakfast has organic coconut MILK in it, unsweetened. NOT coconut water.
This is great for kids also, just don't blend it.

Asparagus and Potato Puree

Confession- I never made my older girls white potatoes. They never had them really unless it was off our plates and I don't generally eat white potatoes, so we don't buy them often. I bought one the other day, notice I said one, for Pixie. I thought potato and asparagus would be a good combination and she really liked it. Or it seemed like she did. But then again she seems to like everything so who knows.
I just peeled and cubed the potatoes, trimmed and roughly cut the asparagus then steamed and pureed them in the babycook.
Save the asparagus ends for a veggie stock!

Pear, Apple and Peach Puree

The sweetness of the pear helps cut down the tartness of some of the apple purees I make Pixie girl.

Sweet Duo Puree

A puree of sweet potato and sweet peas for Pixie girl. Both of these vegetables are naturally sweet they would be good mixed with spinach or other greens that aren't sweet to get your baby used to them. Pixie loved the mixture of these two vegetables.

Blueberry Puree

Pixie isn't at the stage where I will give her fresh blueberries whole yet, I do give them to her frozen to help her with teething though. This puree is steamed blueberries. Simple and easy to do. What a lovely color too, I don't think jarred blueberries looks this vibrant.

Peach Puree

Peach Puree for Pixie.
You can use frozen peaches, make sure they are just peaches with no sugar added. Or you can use fresh ripe peaches

To skin fresh peaches put a pot of water on the stove and let it come up to a boil. Score the top of a peach with an "X". Not a deep cut just through the skin. Dip it in the boiling water for about 30 seconds, remove with a slotted spoon and place in an ice bath. Use a paring knife to peel the skin off.

For the puree cut the peaches into slices, remove the pit. Steam until tender. Puree to desired consistency. If using frozen peaches don't bother thawing them just place them in the steamer frozen.

Green beans (Baby)

We had stir fried green beans for dinner so I steamed some for Pixie in the babycook and pureed them with a little bit of water. My green beans have never looked as well purred as jarred baby food. That's just how it is. Pixie didn't like these. I will keep trying but she wasn't a fan.

Cinnamon Sweet potato Mash

We had baked sweet potatoes with our dinner so I mashed one up with a little water and cinnamon for Pixie girl. She liked it! I didn't use the babycook, I just used a spoon to mash it up.

Roasted Pears

Nothing fancy. Pears- peeled, cored and sliced. Then roasted in a 375 degree oven and pureed for Pixie girl.

Spaghetti Squash Puree

We had roasted spaghetti squash so I pureed some for Pixie girl. No salt or anything just plain old squash and some water. As you baby's pallet grows you can add tomatoes, basil, butter, spices... whatever you'd like to jazz this up!

Related posts

Spaghetti Squash... medley?
For babies
Simply seasoned

Other noodle "replacement" posts

Zucchini/ Squash for Spaghetti

Daikon for Curry Noodle bowls

Carrot and Daikon for Pho

Zucchini for Chicken Paprikash 

Give Peas A Chance... no really...

You had to know that eventually I was going to use that as a title right? I happen to like sweet peas. Diva does too, Piglet occasionally. The DH not so much. Pixie girl liked them, I gave her a few frozen ones too I think she's teething. My girls love having frozen berries and peas when teething.I steamed these in the babycook and gave them a whirl. The nice thing about them is I didn't have to push the puree through a strainer. I just gave them to her as is.
Check here for more baby food ideas.

Mango

Mango, you either love or hate it huh? I don't like it ripe. The aroma is even too strong for me. I like my mangoes green with a yummy sweet and spicy sauce.

But like many foods that I don't prefer, I still give them to my girls- I'm so nice. THis could explain why Diva loves raw onions and neither DH and I like them. I steamed this mango in the babycook. Normally I wouldn't bother cooking it, but Pixie is a bit young so I decided to cook it. You can roast these too. For more baby food ideas check here.

Freezing babyfood...

When my first child was ready for solids I knew I was going to make her food. I was excited to have her try new things, tastes and textures. In retrospect I should have waited until she was 7 months or so, but I started her on solids at 5 months, where I am going with this I have no clue. Anyway, one time we were visiting my parents and I was making a batch of food for Diva and my mom and I were talking. I asked her if she had an ice cube tray to freeze some purees to store. My mom looked at me and said, "do you like eating frozen reheated food?" OK... well... no, not really. So with that in the back of my mind I didn't freeze a lot of purees for the girls. But when I did I either used an ice cube tray or little containers. It's nice with the ice cube trays because you can store the cubes easily and mix different purees for variety. I just wouldn't leave them in there for months on end.
For more baby food ideas check HERE.