*Disclaimer* I am not an expert at making baby food. I don't actually know what I'm doing. I'm just figuring it out as I go, which seems to be working out pretty well so far.
You start with a GINORMOUS 10 pound bag of carrots from Costco.
I heart Costco.
Get out a bowl and use it to peel the carrots into and put the end pieces. It's much easier than trying to peel over the garbage can. Trust me.
Get your carrots all peeled and hack off the ends.
Then, chop 'em up. Be sure to use a sharp knife because carrots need to be shown the business. I have my Santoku knife that I am in love with.
Then, put the carrots in the steamer and steam. Guess how many carrots are in the steamer? Trust me, it takes more carrots than I thought to fill that little steamer.
Shout out to my Mom! She gave me my Babycook for Christmas. Thanks, Mama!
Carrots are all hot and steamy!
There's 10. Ten carrots in the steamer. Sorry ~ I just had myself a Rain Man moment, there.
Now, with carrots, you don't want to use the leftover water in the steamer because of the nitrates, or whatnot. So, dump it out.
Instead of adding water to puree the carrots, I use formula. I would use breastmilk if I had a freezer full of it. But I don't. Because Baby Girl drinks all my milk. Oink, oink. So, I have found that 2 ounces of formula added to about 2 cups of steamed carrots is just about right. I still have some of these formula samples from the hospital, so I'm using those first.
The Babycook is awesome because you puree in the same container you steamed in, which means fewer things to wash! Wa-hoo! What? I'm easily pleased. Okay, so we're pureeing....
And you just puree the heck out of it until it looks like this. I usually have to stir it up with a little spatula a couple of times to get the big chunks down in there.
Then, use a small spatula (LOVE this thing) to spoon into ice cube trays.
Listen really carefully...yep, Baby Girl is up from her nap.
Well, hello there! Yes, she's always this happy when she wakes up.
Stick the baby in the bouncy seat for a few minutes while you finish the carrots. Let the dog babysit.
Ta-da! So, 10 carrots makes 11 cubes. Lame. Seriously, it bothers me a little bit that I have an empty slot.
Oh well. I'm over it.
Shove the tray in the coldest part of the freezer overnight and then dump the cubes into a labeled freezer bag. Make sure you write what it is and when you made it on the bag with a trusty Sharpie marker. Don't think that you'll remember it's carrots because they're orange. There are other orange veggies that you'll be making later, like pumpkin or squash. Or are those fruits? Doesn't matter. Just label the stinkin' bag.
Finally, notice that you have about a tablespoon of carrots left after you scrape the blender really well. Think to yourself, "I wonder if Avery might eat this." Stick it on your finger and watch her instantly open her mouth like a little birdie.
Yep. She ate it!
And she said to me, "Where has this been all my life, Mama?"
It's true. She did.
Pat yourself on the back. Now, your Baby will be eating healthy carrots, as opposed to the jarred carrots with the high fructose corn syrup. No one needs that in their diet. Especially my baby.
I also made some apples and bananas! Trust me when I say that everything is delicious. I would eat it if I didn't have teeth!
Also: You just witnessed Avery's very first taste of solids. She hasn't even had rice cereal yet. Shhhhhh ~ don't tell her pediatrician. Just kidding! We'll see if there's an orange hue to her poo tomorrow. Ha!
