Baby Recipes, Part 1: Loaded Baked Potatoes

Today I'll start my series of baby food recipes that I have made for Charlotte. It may take awhile to get through it, as I'll need to remake many things so that I can get pictures of the food. Chris didn't give me this idea until I was pretty much done making the loaded baked potatoes this past Saturday, so I don't really have measurements since I threw everything in to taste. I'll do my best to give you an idea of the amounts. I would say this recipe is more of a phase 3 recipe since it's pretty chunky. However, you could puree it further and add more formula or breast milk to get it to a phase 2 consistency (slightly chunky).

Loaded Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 12 baby yukon yellow potatoes or 2 to 3 baking potatoes

• approx. 1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

• approx. 3/4 cup broccoli florets

• approx. 1/4 cup sour cream

• 1 TBSP unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prick the potatoes several times with a fork to allow steam to escape during baking. Wrap the potatoes in foil. Bake for about an hour or until tender. We left the skins on, but you can remove them, if desired.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, steam the broccoli florets. (If you don't have a steamer, fill a stockpot with a few inches of water and place a colander on top that is large enough to not reach the bottom of the stockpot. Alternately, you can just put the broccoli in the water.) When the water starts to boil, put the broccoli in the colander and steam until cooked and bright green, about 6 to 7 minutes. You'll know they're done when you can pierce the broccoli with a fork. When the broccoli is cooked, let it cool slightly and then chop it finely.

3. Mash potatoes with the butter. Add the cheese, broccoli, and sour cream. Stir to combine.

4. Let cool and portion into ice cube trays or baby food trays and place in freezer. I generally portion about 3 days worth into baby food bowls and place in the fridge. When I'm ready to give it to Charlotte, I'll thin it with baby formula until it reaches a smoother consistency.

Often times, I'll make Charlotte's food when I'm making dinner for Chris and I. Chris doesn't like potatoes, so this isn't a good example, but if I were making dinner for all of us, I would bake a couple large potatoes for Chris and I at the same time I baked Charlotte's potatoes. In this case, I'd probably just use large baking potatoes for Charlotte, too. When the potatoes were done baking, I would split two potatoes open for Chris and I, add some butter, cheese, broccoli, sour cream, and maybe even some bacon. In other words, I wouldn't mash our potatoes like I would Charlotte's, but this way you can easily make both your dinner and your baby's dinner at the same time. And since baby food stretches further than adult food, you won't have to use this technique every time you make dinner...only a couple times a week. Most of the recipes I'll be posting will use this technique so that you can maximize your time.

Big grin!!!!!!!