Summer Fun!

Yay! Summer has started, which means I get a few weeks of freedom to be home and be mommy. There are many things I love about my work, but this has got to be one of the biggest!

So, summer's start has also coincided with James' 6-month birthday, which means the start of solid foods. I decided that living in an area with so much accessible fresh produce that we should try making our own baby food for James. We've barely begun to skim the surface of possible baby puree "recipes," but I'm impressed so far by how simple it is. I love knowing exactly what's going into his food, and I'm surprised by how much fun I'm actually having with the whole process (I think it feeds my creative cooking side - I actually even went so far as to by a baby puree recipe book).

Basically, here's what we do:
1. Cut up the fruit/veggies.
2. Steam them.
3. Puree them (we use our food processor).
4. Put the pureed mush into an ice cube tray prepped with a slight bit of non-stick cooking spray.
5. Freeze.
6. Pop out into freezer bag (labeled with food and date) to save until ready to eat.

Then, when we're ready to eat, I just take out an ice brick of the day's treat, let it thaw or microwave it for about 30 seconds, and voila - a lovely mash for James to enjoy. We've started with the basics, his favorites so far are sweet potatoes and carrots (with a tiny pinch of cinnamon) and peas. He is not a fan of apples ... go figure. But I can't wait until we graduate to more "gourmet" recipes like "chicken with sweet potato and apple" or "tomato, cauliflower, and carrot with basil" or "apricot, apple, pear, and vanilla" ... I think I'll want to start having what he's having!