After about a month of mixing breastmilk and rice cereal, which wasn’t hugely popular with my little guy, I moved on to bigger and better basic purees (thank god).
The first question you might be asking is ‘how do I know when my little one is ready to move on?’ I don’t have the greatest answer for that question. Everyone’s circumstances are different. For us, first my baby was not shy about eating and was clearly very curious in the process. Next, we had been working with rice cereal for a month. Finally, we sensed, actually we knew that he was ready for more. Of course if you have any concerns, talk to your child’s pediatrician.
The next question you might be asking is ‘what should I try first?’ You have probably read all sorts of stuff about how you shouldn’t start with fruit because fruit is sweet and your baby will never want anything beyond that sweetness. There is some truth in that point, I suppose, but who knows? So I decided to go down the line and compromise with a sweet vegetable, carrots. There are many wonderful vegetables to purée. I personally enjoyed making vegetable purees better than fruit purees because the consistency always came out in a way that worked for us (sweet potatoes was a favorite early on for that reason).
I loves basic beginning purees because they are just that – basic – and subsequently, easy. The tough part about getting started is learning the techniques of preparing, yes, but more the techniques of storing and freezing, which I will blog about in a post soon enough.
Servings: About 8
The gear:
- Cutting knife
- Peeler
- Steamer and Pureer or Beaba Babycook
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The goods:
- 2-3 medium sized carrots, peeled (duh) and cut up
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The approach:
- Take out Beaba
- Peel and cut carrots
- Steam for 10-15 minutes until carrots are soft
- Puree with reserve water from the bottom of the steamer
- Serve warm
- Store any remaining in the fridge for no more than 3 days and then freeze using a Tovolo ice cube tray or Babycubes
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Goodness Factor: Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Potassium and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin K and Manganese
Worried about Nitrates? Read a comment on nitrates from a previous post. As always, let me know if you have any questions.
Happy Eating!
Marnie
Tags: baby food recipes, baby nutrition, basic babyfood puree, Carrots, Fiber, first purees, Folate, Getting Started, homemade babyfood, Iron, manganese, Nutrition, Potassium, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin K
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