Baby Food Month 5: Part 1

Welcome to baby food month 5!! For those following along we are now working on puree's for our 5 month olds :-) Time flies! Dr. Udekwu, the coolest pediatrician in Pittsburgh who encouraged me to share these baby food endeavors, suggested we start to increase Jackson's food to two meals a day. So this month my goal was to make much larger batches and introduce a variety of new foods! We will still only introduce one new food at a time but now every three to four days. 

I did three batches to start out the month so the focus of this post is on green bean, butternut squash and pear, and pea's. The butternut squash and pear was a repeat from last week,  check that post for recipe details. We are a fan of squash so this is a staple we will probably always keep available in the freezer.

New to the mix were green beans and pea's. Green beans need to be washed, ends broken off, and rinse again. Once they are cleaned place them in a steamer for 3 to 5 minutes and then drain them in cool water to stop the cooking process and preserve the color. Next, puree them adding some of the water from the pot they were steamed in until smooth and set them aside to let cool completely. Lastly, once cool, you can package them using your fresh squeezed station or similar.

I purchased the pea's fresh form Trader Joe's but I've used frozen before too. I love the color of this one! If your making a large batch like I did here bring a large pot of water to a boil, add about 4-5 cups of peas to the pot and reduce the heat and simmer for about 7-8 minutes. Blend them in a food processor or blender adding reserved water from the pot as necessary.

Below is a picture of each batch.

Enjoy

From L to R, green beans,
butternut squash and pear, and peas

Note: At this stage each individual fresh squeezed package holds 4 ounces of food and equals one meal.

Baby Food Month 4, Week 4: Butternut Squash, Pear and Oats

This is the final week of baby's first month of puree's! We haven't run into any allergies so far and I've learned that I don't have a picky child (thank goodness)!  Now this was my first time making butternut squash ever lol. I had no idea how to even cook it so I took to Pinterest and found that you can cut it in half lengthwise and bake it in the oven. You can check this out on the website I used, The Healthy Foodie. I later found that I prefer to just peal the outer skin, cube it and steam it but both ways work good.

The pears were just pealed cut and steamed and then both were mixed together in the food processor with a couple tablespoons of oats.

The final result was more of the same and another successful batch my kiddo eagerly consumed.

My goal for Jackson is to introduce him to 50 different fruits and vegetables, chicken and cod, eggs, and some cheeses and herbs before his first birthday! If your following along our food list so far includes.

Bananas

Apples

Peaches

Pears

Avacado's 

Broccoli

Spinach

Butternut Squash

Oats

Next month begins more complex puree's where I did 3 to 4 ingredients per batch. We also started 2 meals per day in month 2!