Baby Food Tips

It's been a long time since I have posted anything on here, but I haven't been doing much freezer cooking lately. We are actually in the process of cleaning out the freezer so I can start over again. When I do freezer cooking, it's nice to start with a relatively empty freezer so I know most of my food is new. My sister is also in the clean-out-the-freezer phase so we'll probably both start cooking again soon. Hopefully, between the two of us, I'll have some great new recipes to share.

In the meantime I thought I would post about the only freezer cooking I have done recently--baby food. This is a great alternative to store-bought baby food. It takes a bit more time, but it's also nice to know exactly what your baby is eating.

Spinach
Wilt spinach by boiling in a little water for a few minutes. Cool slightly. Puree in the food processor, adding extra water if necessary. Freeze in ice cube trays.

Carrots
Steam baby carrots until soft. Puree in the food processor, adding extra water if necessary. Make sure they have blended smoothly. My food processor tends to leave chunks so I have to stir it down and pulse several times. Freeze in ice cube trays or silicon muffin pans.

Sweet Potatoes
Peel and cut up into 1 inch chunks. Steam until soft. Puree in the food processor, adding extra water if necessary. Freeze in ice cube trays or silicon muffin pans.

Chicken
Place several boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a 9x13 pan. Drizzle with 1-2 TB olive oil. Sprinkle with a low-sodium seasoning (I like Montreal Seasoning). Bake at 350 until cooked through. Cool. Puree in the food processor adding some chicken broth from the pan. Chicken will have a slightly sticky consistency. Roll about 2 TB into a ball and place on a cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken. Freeze solid and place in a Ziploc. (Ryan was disappointed when he realized these chicken balls were not cookie dough balls. At first glance they look really similar.)

Meal prep:

I thaw my baby food in the microwave immediately before feeding it to the babies. I generally mix it with about 1/4 cup water and whole wheat or oatmeal cereal until I like the consistency. For 1 serving at breakfast I will usually do 4 cubes fruit (peaches or applesauce) mixed with cereal. In the afternoon one serving is 1 ball of chicken, and about 3-4 cubes veggies (any mixture) mixed with water and cereal. This will vary a bit depending on the size of your ice cube trays.