The Turkstra Family Three: Baby Food!

Preston had his first taste of real food this weekend!! He loved it! I'm pretty passionate about making my own purees for two reasons. First, it replaces the guilt I have for not being able to continue breastfeed and gives me the same "high" or sense of accomplishment that breastfeeding did. Second, I'm really not so sure how I feel about feeding this perfect little person something that can stay good on the shelf for 3 years. Ewe, I might be better off feeding him Twinkies!

When I started the baby food process with Hunter, one of my March Moms recommend the Wholesome Baby Food site. It quickly became my baby food bible. In the age of microwave food and take out I realized that a lot of people don't know how to steam broccoli, and to be honest before Hunter I didn't either! So I thought I would share with you as I create some yummy dishes for Preston. If you know a better way or have some yummy recipes please share. I would love to learn more!

AVOCADO'S

The simplest first food you can make! Take your Avocado and roll it on the counter top to separate it from the pit. Cut in half and scoop out the goodness. Depending on the skill level of your little eater you could just mush it up with a spoon, making it a great on the go food. Preston needs mixed a little better yet so I just grabbed my hand blender and went to town. A food processor, blender or your margarita maker would do the trick!

To know when your Avocado is ripe just gently push on it. It should indent but bounce back.

Pureed and ready to eat!

Two avocado's made nine servings. They will stay good in the fridge for 48 hours. If your batch cooking you will want to freeze them. I have found freezing them in ice cube trays and then popping them out into a Ziploc to store. I learned the hard way with Hunter and bought cheap 99 cent ice cube trays. Not cool, i had to pry his food out with a steak knife and ended up shattering the tray. I found silicon ones work way better. Just like apples, avocado's will turn a browner color after a bit. To prevent this you can add a couple drops of lemon juice.

Silicone Ice Cube tray from Bed Bath and Beyond. $10.58 for 4 trays.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Another yummy easy first food. Take your butternut squash and cut it in half. This is the hardest part! Scoop the seeds out just as you would a pumpkin. Place in a 13x9 dish with about an inch of water on the bottom. Back at 350 until the skin get bubble and browned. I believe its just a little over an hour but to be honest I just put it and started cleaning the kitchen and checked on it when it smelled yummy! You also can microwave squash, my squash even had direction to do so on it but backing it retains more of the nutrients. Now just scoop the insides into a bowl, discard the skins but save the water.Your squash should be soft enough that you can just mash with a spoon. Add some of the saved water to thin it out if necessary. One squash made 30 servings.