Use fresh produce and a blender to create baby-food purees.
Making your own baby food by pureeing fresh fruits and vegetables saves money and ensures you know exactly what ingredients are going into your baby's food. Baby food purees also require very little kitchen equipment, just a stove, sauce pan and a blender or food mill is usually all that is needed. You can make a variety of nutritious purees from carrots, steamed peaches, apple sauce, pears and turnips to create smooth purees that babies will enjoy.
Instructions
1. Peel the desired amount of carrots and cut them lengthwise to create thick slivers to prepare them for a carrot puree. Oil a casserole dish with olive oil and any additional herbs or spices, such as rosemary or basil, if the baby is over eight months old. Add the carrots to the casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes. Carrots should be dark orange and tender when they done. Puree in a blender or food mill and add water to create the texture you desire.
2. Clean and peel fresh peaches for a peach puree. Add about 1 inch of water to a sauce pan and place the peaches in the pan. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat, simmering the peaches until they are soft and tender. Remove the peaches from the pan and reserve water. Remove the pits from the peaches and puree them in a food process or blender. Create a smooth, thin puree by stirring in desire amount of reserved water.
3. Prepare apples for apple puree by washing and coring 4 lbs. of apples and leaving the skins on them. Cut the apples into 1-inch pieces. Put apples in a saucepan with about 1 inch of water and simmer the apples until they are light brown. In small batches, add apples to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth, adding in some of the water used to simmer the apples if a thinner texture is desired.
4. Wash, peel and core fresh, ripe pears to prepare them for a pear puree. Dice the pears into 1-inch pieces. Add the pears to a saucepan with about 1 inch of water and simmer, covered for about 10 minutes or until they are tender. Drain the pears and reserve the liquid. For a chunky texture, mash the pears with a fork. To create a smooth texture, add the pears and puree them in blender, or put them through a food mill and add reserved liquid if desired.
5. Peel skin off of one turnip then it into 1-inch pieces to prepare it for a turnip carrot puree. Peel carrots and slice them into 1/2 inch thick rounds. Put turnips and carrots into a saucepan with a small amount of water and Simmer them until tender. Drain and then add them to a blender. Puree until smooth.
Tags: 1-inch pieces, about inch, about inch water, blender food, food mill