Simple Purees – Round #1 – Vegetables

 I dropped into daycare today for Chackochi's usual afternoon feed and look at how I found him

Those of you who aren't parents yet will look at the photo and go" What's so special about this pic? He's just sitting there smiling away..." Well, that's just it!!! He is SITTING!! Unsupported!! By baby is sitting up on his own! :)
I could not stop grinning and I'm sure the teachers at Daycare thought I looked silly! But this is one of my baby's milestones and I'm so glad I was there to see it. So he's bypassed the crawling and gone straight to sitting... Hmmmm wonder what he's going to do next..Whatever it is, I'm sure i'll get just as excited, so excited that you might as well think it was my first baby! But let me tell you, no matter how many babies you may have, every baby's first's will leave you all giddy and happy just as it was for your firstborn. :)

Okie, so enough of drooling over  my baby lets get on with today's topic.
Here are some basic purees that you can start feeding your baby. Its always best to try these first on their own and once you make sure your baby does not have any reactions to these you can start becoming more adventurous and mix it up.
I'll put up the combos that I do for Chackochi soon in another post once I've outlined all the basic purees first. :)

Carrots

Image Source: freshvegetablesexporter.com 

Choose large, older carrots - these are actually richer in nutrients than baby carrots. Just trim the ends and slice. Then steam, boil or microwave and puree to perfection!
Do not reserve any left over water to use for thinning out the carrots if baby is under 8 months old as Nitrates may seep into the cooking water
Add water as necessary to achieve a smooth, thin consistency or you could also use some formula/ breast milk if you wish.


Sweet Potato

Image Source: www.womenshealthmag.com

1. Preheat the oven to 375 deg F or 190 deg C.
2. Simply take one large sweet potato. Scrub it clean and prick it with a fork.
3. Bake for about 45 mins or so (depending on the size), until it feels soft.
4. Once cooked, all you need to do is split the potato and scrape out the flesh with a spoon. Just mash it lightly with a fork and you're ready to go.
One large potato will give you about 3 or 4 portions at this early stage. Bake a few at a time and you've got a fortnight's supply!
Alternatively... you could peel the potato, then boil or steam it in cubes.





Pumpkin
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Slice the stem off before slicing in half so you don’t have to slice through the stem.
3. Slice in half.
 4. With a sharp-edged spoon (I use a metal tablespoon with a sharp edge or you can use a metal ice cream scoop), scoop out the seeds & guts.

 5. Brush inside with olive oil (optional, but I like to) and place face down on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

6. Roast at 350F for about 45-50 minutes. The exact time will vary depending on the size of the pumpkin(s) and you may need more time. You’ll know when the pumpkin is ready to come out of the oven when  the skin is a deep orange, slightly wrinkled, and your fork can easily slide through. (Mine has gone past that point as I accidentally forgot all about it!! Oops!)

7. Let the pumpkin cool for 10 minutes before handling. Grab a large spoon and peel away the very thin skin. It comes off almost effortlessly.

8. Place the pumpkin flesh into the blender and blend away until super smooth. Let it go for a good minute or two – you don’t want any clumps left.

* These are just suggestions, you don't have to restrict your baby's palette to these veges alone. These are the one's I've given Lucas so far.

Notes:
Carrots - Freezes well [cooked]
Pumpkin- Freezes well [cooked]
Sweet Potatoes - Freezes well [cooked]