Friday, June 20, 2008

Mommy's Rockin Sweet Potatoes!

I always said I would make Eliza's baby food when it came time for her to eat solids. Well that time came VERY quickly and I just didn't seem to have time. Maybe it wasn't so much the time as it was the fact that I was living at my mom's and didn't want to make a mess of her kitchen. I felt guilty about not making her food but did my best to give her organic baby food. However, I kept thinking that making baby food myself was be the most cost effective and healthiest way to feed my lil' angel. So I finally invested in some BPA free containers to store my food. They are called baby cubes and I read about them on The Soft Landing. What attracted me to the cubes was that they are separate unlike traditional ice cube style containers. Don't get me wrong- I would love some of those too- but I went with the individual cubes to start. That way I could freeze some and refrigerate some.
I figured I would start by making sweet potatoes for little E. So here are my three little organic sweet potatoes sitting on their cookie sheet after being scrubbed. I wrapped them in foil and cooked them for a little over an hour. I think I actually forgot they were in the oven.
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I pulled them out and let them cool on the counter. I have ZERO patience so when they were pretty cool I slit them down the middle and took off the skins.
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Then I put the potatoes into a bowl and mashed them with a fork.
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Next I popped them into the food processor and gave them a whirl. I added some water to smooth them out a bit. The I filled my little baby cubes with the creamy mixture. I am thinking I could have mixed them with something besides water (juice?) but I wasn't too sure so I stuck with water.
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Here are my cubes filled with Yumm-O sweet potatoes. I did a taste test and they were quite delicious. I put some in the freezer and some in the fridge.
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The next day Eliza had her sweet potatoes. She ate them for me like a champ. Unfortunately, the next day she gagged when daddy fed them to her. I was so upset I wanted to cry. I told Pete to mix them with her apples and she gobbled them right down. Problem solved! Although my ego is a little crushed as I thought they were scrumptious! Overall, it was super easy and I had fun. I have also started mashing up banana for her and putting it in her oatmeal. I can't wait to venture into more interesting combinations. I am using Wholesomebabyfood.com to help me get ideas.
I do have to admit that not all has been peachy keen on the home made food front. Today at Dana's mom's house I mashed up a little avocado and gave it to lil E. She gagged. Of course I gave her more. She gagged again and then threw up the few ounces of water she had just drank from her sippy cup. EW! NO FEAR! I will not be deterred. I have plans for making her some Banana ‘Cado Puree! Wish me luck. Next time I will wear a poncho.

12 comments:

PletcherFamily said...

Hi! I loved Making Finley's baby food. And it saves money in the long run! She loved it and it wasn't hard. I would freeze tons of it. Since she was home with the nanny I would just get some out during the night before for the nanny and thaw it. I loved doing it! Good for you! They make cookbooks for that kind of stuff and some of the stuff is quite tasty - Finley loved trying new things.

Amanda-The Family News! said...

I am rather excited to make some baby food - I am going to do things MUCH different than I did with Avery. He had THE WORSE gag issues and did not eat table food until he was about 14 months old... he had some serious texture issues! I sort of always thougth it was because I waited to long to start him on solids... Getting ready to start with Lauren!! Thanks for the post!

Stephanie Wilson she/her @babysteph said...

Oh yum. I just love sweet potatoes!

: )

Steph

Pam said...

next time I will wear a poncho- ha! I love that line. Good for you. I always thought about making baby food, but always seemed to find reasons not to do it. And then, my kids are huge eaters, so they never ate baby food long and quickly wanted whatever was on my plate. That baby food time doesn't last long- so grab that poncho and enjoy!

Mommy Mechanics said...

Good for you! I try to find the time too, but it just doesn't seem to happen very often. Those little containers look like they'll work great. I tried giving Trey avacado too and he also gagged lol.

Christy said...

I have no desire to make baby food. NONE. I am thinking of skipping baby food all together with Izzy, and just moving on to table food.

Andrea said...

A poncho, huh? haha...you are too funny. :) Tate like avacado for a few weeks and then he did the same thing Eliza did with it!!! Gagged and gagged on it...sigh. Oh well...good luck with your banana 'cado specialty!

Anonymous said...

Way to go Danielle! You're an inspiration to us :)

Thanks so much for the link love too,

Alicia

Tipp said...

You are my Mommy Role Model, You go!

Sheri said...

Don't worry, some days grace will eat a whole avacado(her dip dip) and other days she is disgusted by it. She did the same with the sweet potatos. This is just the beginning of you being a short order cook. lol

Dana said...

I felt bad for the peanut when she threw-up the avacado.. She was like ol' faithful!

Mozi Esme said...

Way to go with the food making! You're inspirational!

I think one of the reasons I wasn't so faithful in doing it is I hated going through all the work and then having my baby not eat it. She is SOO picky. And she'd go through phases where what was good for her one day was terrible the next. Even now she doesn't eat much quantity-wise - prefers nursing if it's an option . . . Weaning is going to be TOUGH!