Baby Recipes, Part 3: Applesauce and Pear Sauce

Apple sauce and pear sauce is very easy to make and it makes the house smell heavenly! Apples and pears are both stage 1 foods, so when the apples and pears are cooked, puree them to a phase 1 consistency. Otherwise, this recipe is great for stage 2 and above.

Applesauce

Ingredients:

• Apples of different varieties that are peeled, cored, and sliced into wedges (The number of apples depends on how much applesauce you want. I usually buy 15 apples of five different varieties)
  
• Cinnamon, to taste
  

Directions:

1. Place apples in a large saucepan over low heat and pour 1/3 cup water over the apples.

2. Place a lid over the saucepan and let the apples slowly break down, stirring the apples occasionally.

3. When the apples begin to break down, sprinkle cinnamon over the apples, to taste. You can always add more later if you feel it's not enough.

4. Applesauce is done when the apples are all broken down. This will take a few hours, but you can further this process along by breaking up the soft apples with a wooden spoon, or you can leave it chunkier for bigger babies.

5. When applesauce is done, remove from heat and let cool. 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.

Pear Sauce

Ingredients:

• Pears that are peeled, cored, and sliced into wedges (More pears will yield more pear sauce. I usually buy around 15.)
  
• Cinnamon, to taste
• A pinch of nutmeg
• Ginger, to taste

Directions:

1. Place pears in a large saucepan over low heat and pour 1/3 cup water over the pears.

2. Place a lid over the saucepan and let the pears break down, stirring them occasionally.

3. When the pears begin to break down, sprinkle cinnamon, ginger, and a pinch of nutmeg over the pears, to taste. You can always add more if you feel it's not enough.

4. The pear sauce is done when they are all broken down. This will take awhile since it takes pears twice as long as apples to break down, but you can further this process along by breaking up the soft pears with a wooden spoon.

5. When the pear sauce is done, remove from heat and let cool. 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.

**You can also make an apple-pear sauce by cooking both together and just using cinnamon to flavor. The picture I posted above has apples, pears, and half a bag of frozen strawberries in it (fresh strawberries are expensive here) with cinnamon.


Chris taught Charlotte how to drink out of a water bottle a couple weeks ago. She can't do it herself, but she loves it when we hold the water bottle up to her mouth and give her a bit of water. I guess this has translated into our drinking cups. She doesn't quite get that she has to lift up the glass. If baby's could use straws, she'd be in business!

Baby Recipes, Part 2: Broccoli and Cauliflower Puree

Here's another recipe that is very simple yet fresh tasting and full of flavor. It only has 3 ingredients, but the three ingredients go together very well. I like it so much that I'm going to start making this for Chris and I for dinner. I didn't write any measurements down as I just did it all by taste. I'll try and give you a general idea of how I made it below. This is easily a level 2 recipe and could even be a level 1, but I would recommend talking to your pediatrician first about when you can start introducing certain foods.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Puree

Ingredients:

• Equal amounts fresh broccoli and cauliflower florets

• 1/4 - 1/3 cup cream cheese, or more to taste (it also depends on how much broccoli and cauliflower you use. You don't want the cream cheese to be too overpowering, so start with the minimum and work up from there.)

Directions:

1. Steam broccoli and cauliflower florets until tender, about 6 to 7 minutes.

2. Puree in blender or food processor, along with the cream cheese. Add water if needed to get the puree to a smooth consistency. If using a blender, you may have to run it through a cycle more than once.

3. 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.


Charlotte loves this dish!

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!!!!!!!

8 Months

Charlotte is 8 months old today! I had the hardest time getting Charlotte to cooperate for her pictures. She's so mobile now that she refuses to sit still for 2 seconds. I probably called her name 50 times trying to get her to look at the camera, but she was too preoccupied with crawling towards whatever captured her attention. The few decent pictures I got are below:

To buy these adorable blocks, go here.

On a separate note, I want to let you all know what will be appearing on the blog in the weeks to come. Chris told me yesterday that I should make a few blog entries about baby food I've made. He then said I should write a cookbook. :-) I don't know about a cookbook just yet, but I think I can handle a few blog entries!

Canned baby food just doesn't do it for us. It doesn't taste fresh and most of it is bland. While I don't advocate adding salt to baby food, herbs and spices are just fine. Studies show that if you keep your baby's food bland, they'll be more prone to eat bland food when they're older. You can easily add flavor to homemade baby food and it is way fresher tasting than the canned stuff. It is much cheaper than buying canned baby food, too, and many times, I can conveniently make Charlotte's baby food at the same time I make dinner for Chris and I. Here's a few of the baby foods I've made that I'll eventually blog about, with recipes:

• Split Pea Soup
  
• Loaded Baked Potato
• Whipped Sweet Potatoes and Apricots
• Broccoli and Cauliflower Puree
• Refried Beans
• Homemade Apple Sauce
• Homemade Pear Sauce
• Herbed Green Beans
• Chicken Tikka
• Turkey Meatloaf
  

Have a great Sunday! :-)

Play Pen

Since Charlotte started crawling a few weeks ago, she has been on the move! It's like she knows exactly what she's NOT supposed to get into. Needless to say, it's been keeping us a bit more busy! At a play group I attend, my sweet friend, Laura, offered to let us have the play pen she used with her 3 kids. How could we refuse? We had already talked about getting one but they can be quite expensive. What a blessing that Laura was willing to give us hers. I have a feeling it's going to be really nice to have in the days ahead!

Spring Bazaar

This weekend, we did something new as a family: we were vendors at a Bazaar! For the past couple of months, I've been a distributor for a Christian jewelry company. I've mostly done home shows, but I thought I'd try to sell some of my display items at a Bazaar. We weren't sure how it would go, and we were a little discouraged to see several other jewelry vendors setting up shop. It started off slow, but we ended up selling 22 items. It was worth doing and we plan to do it again this Fall at two other events we know about. In addition to the jewelry, I hope to sell some homemade goodies. I've been working on Christmas stockings and magnets, but I also have a few other surprises up my sleeve. Since the Bazaar, my mind has been going crazy with ideas!

Charlotte did great at the Bazaar. She got pretty cranky at one point, so Chris walked with her until she fell asleep. The vendor next to us also came with her husband and daughter. Her daughter, Jenna, is only a week younger than Charlotte! We let them play with each other for a little bit. They were so sweet together. Unfortunately, Charlotte started pulling her hair. Oh boy. Sweet Jenna never made a peep when Charlotte did it and we couldn't believe it!

Here's some pictures from the day:

Our table all set up and ready to go!

Another view of our table. We were in between a local artist and a lady who made soap (she was the one with a daughter Charlotte's age).

Charlotte had her own little "play area" behind our table. We brought a box full of toys with us to keep her entertained.

Here is Charlotte and Jenna playing together. Jenna was good at sharing, and Charlotte was good at taking. :-/

Charlotte was a good sport all day and she eventually clunked out right in Daddy's arms. :-)

Shots, Shots, and More Shots

Charlotte got 3 shots today. Once again, Daddy held Charlotte while I went to the hallway. It's just too much! The only "good" part about Charlotte getting shots (besides her being immunized against different diseases!) is that we get to find out her weight and length. Here's her 7.5 month stats:

weight: 20 lbs, 12 oz
length: 29"

The sticker on her dress says, "I got a shot today." :-)