More Homemade Baby Food

In my previous post about Homemade Baby Food, I focused on yummy food combos.  These were a big hit with the babe, but were a bit more work that I am willing to do on a regular basis.  Once my freezer started running low, I bought some more ingredients to replenish my supply...

For this batch I decided I would focus on prep speed.  I want to streamline my process and be as efficient as possible, while still providing Little J with some fun variety in his meals.

While my Young Chap munched on his finger food, I devised a cooking plan.  Only about half of the produce I bought actually needed to be cooked before pureeing, so I planned the order in which I would cook these items, then got some water boiling.

My Prep Plan:

1. Start boiling water while peeling and coring my 4 pears
2. Drop my pear bits into the pot to cook until soft (for 10-15 minutes, depending on their ripeness)
3. While cooking pears, cut pineapple and cantaloupe, removing skin and cores
4. Puree pineapple, pour into containers, rinse blender and repeat with cantaloupe
5. Remove pears from stove and allow to cool before pureeing, meanwhile bring water back to boil
6. Pour frozen green beans into pot to cook until soft (this took longer than I expected, 20-30 minutes)
7. Puree banana, pour into containers, rinse blender
8. Remove beans from stove and allow to cool before blending.
9. Repeat bean process with frozen peas (needed less time to cook, 10-15 minutes)

1 oz. servings

This batch was just as large as my previous batch, but took only a little more than half as long to prepare.  The downside for me when making big batches is that I only have 2 freezing trays, so I am forced to refrigerate my purees until the first round of freezing is done and I can transfer them to bigger containers.

2 oz. servings

I make sure to label my containers (I use a washable marker, like Vis-a-Vis) with the type of food and the date it was made.  I don't let my frozen baby food sit for longer than a month before tossing it, to avoid tummy aches and other bad stuff.

I cropped the Toaster Studels out of this picture out of shame

Once I'm ready to feed Little J a serving, I either defrost in the microwave at 15 second intervals until warm, or thaw overnight in the fridge in one of these Baby Bullet containers.  At 10 months old, my babe eats 3-4 ounces of puree at each meal (sometimes more), so I'm still allowed the freedom to create yummy food combos by mixing individual servings of food.

I really need more of these freezer trays!