Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Cooking baby food sounds laborious and tedious, but most of the time is super simple.  You can make it complicated, but like most things, it only appears more complicated than it is.  I don’t spend much time making food just for Bella.  If I know that I need more squash or sweet potatoes for her, I’ll put it on the dinner menu for the family, but I’ll roast twice as much!  Don’t devote an afternoon cooking for the 20 lb munchkin, just cook when you are already cooking.  If you happen to be baking a cake, heating up a frozen pizza or whatever, let the oven do double work. You are home anyway.  Might as well let it work for you!

Hands on time: 10 minutes    Total time, including baking:  90 minutes

Basic Roasted Sweet Potatoes or Squash

Great early food for baby – Stage 1 or 2

1. Rinse and scrub a large sweet potato, butternut squash or acorn squash.
2. Prick skin with a fork.
3. Place on a foil lined baking pan, in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 1 hour + or until soft.

This may be served to baby once it has cooled, or stored in the refrigerator for a few days.

• The real time saver tip is to roast a few veggies at once and freeze portion servings to use later.
• Scoop and smooth the soft vegetable pulp from the skin into cleaned ice cube trays.
• For acorn or butternut squash, scoop the pulp, but discard the inner seeds and fibrous threads.
• Cover trays with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
• In the morning, pop them out of the trays and store in a freezer safe container labeled with the contents and the date.

To serve: Place a couple cubes into a microwave safe bowl and microwave at 30 second intervals until desired temperature.  Be sure to mash and stir, as microwaving will create hot spots in food.  Alternately, if you like to plan ahead, place a few of the frozen cubes in the refrigerator the night before.  Bella adores food straight from the fridge.  It must feel great on her little gums.  Depending on the baby’s comfort level, you may want to smoosh the food with a fork or not.  If it is too thick, add a few drops of breast milk, formula or whole milk to thin.

• Sweet potatoes are one of the most nutritious foods to give a baby.  They are rich in dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium.
• Acorn squash is a good source of potassium and fiber and has vitamins C & B, magnesium, beta-carotene and manganese.
• Butternut squash is an excellent source of vitamin A and a good source of potassium, fiber, manganese, vitamin C and magnesium.
• They are all sweet, creamy and delicious.  What’s not to like?

Related posts:

1. How to Get Started Cooking Homemade Baby Food
2. Butternut Squash – 1 Recipe for Your Baby and for You

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