Jack hit another milestone last month with the addition of pureed food. We elected to breastfeed exclusively (pumping while I was at work) until 6 months, so I was excited and nervous to start another process with Jack. I did what I do with everything and asked other moms, searched the internet, and had a plan in place to start the process of introducing food. It’s surprisingly been a super fun process, relatively easy, and overall enjoyable for both me and Jack. I’ve really enjoyed discovering raw foods with Jack and find that sometimes simple food, baked or steamed, are so flavorful by themselves that they really don’t need all the salt and spices most of us have grown accustomed to in our adult lives.

On Jack’s 6 month visit, his pediatrician said to use the “3 day rule” for introducing foods. Try something for three days, see if he has a reaction, and then you can move on to additional foods. And how much to eat? Our pediatrician said whatever he can get down in 10 minutes is fine. At this point, its more of getting your baby familiar with the spoon and swallowing than the actual nutritional value. I put on our refrigerator calendar every three days what new foods we are introducing so I won’t get confused. I found an awesome list on this site; they have printables of what your baby can eat at which age, plus a bunch of recipes and other great information about feeding your baby.

Cooking for Baby & Top 100 Baby Purees

Two baby food books I bought (and like) are pictured above, but honestly you can rent them from the library or just look up recipes online to save yourself money. Plus, early on, all you need to know is bake and puree or steam and puree. Simple!

The items I purchased or already had in my kitchen:

• Cuisinart Hand Blender – I use this a lot for smaller items I don’t have to cook and can be made up the day of. Such as bananas, avocados, mangos. It’s a smaller food processor and works great.
• Cuisinart Blender and Food Processor
• Tovolo Perfect Ice Cube Trays They are perfect squares and exactly 1 ounce of food! They fit perfectly in the Wean Green containers too.
• Wean Green Baby Food Containers
•  Ziploc Bags
• Spatula

An easy puree to make is sweet potatoes. Preheat oven to 425°. Place sweet potatoes on baking sheet and pierce the potatoes with a fork. Bake for 45 – 60 minutes until potatoes are wrinkled and tendered. I cut mine in half and spoon all of the contents into a blender or food processor. I, then, add a little water to the mixture, but you can add breast milk or formula, too. If you’re making something you steam, such as apples, pears, peas or carrots, I use the juice from the dreaming process and add it to the puree. Puree until smooth.

Once pureed to the consistency you like, place them into ice cube trays. I fill the trays using a spatula; once filled, I shake/tap the trays to get any air bubbles out and use the spatula to smooth out the top of the cubes.

I also put one glass container in the refrigerator for the next meal.

Clean off the edges of the tray and place them in the freezer over night.

The next morning, you just pop those cubes out and place them into a Ziploc bag until you need them! Don’t forget to label them with the date! Simple, right? That’s 20 meals of sweet potatoes!

I just grab one of these at lunch or dinner after I nurse Jack, and he loves them. I do add a little cinnamon to my sweet potatoes and sometimes a little breast milk to make the best consistency for Jack. The best prize of all is seeing your little one gobble up all the goodness! Well worth your efforts!

Jack’s happy, I’m happy. Happy Week Friends!