Adventures in Baby-food Making: Carrots

I am equal parts a frugal person as I am healthy eater, so it only felt fitting to explore how to make my own baby food. It didn’t take much research for me to learn it was pretty simple. My mom and I went to the Farmer’s Market Saturday and picked up some fresh carrots and green beans for our first couple batches. Sawyer’s Pediatrican told me to go through the orange/yellow veggies first, then the greens, then beats and then introduce fruits. I decided to start with the carrots I bought and I plan to make the green beans and freeze them for when he gets to those colors. Sawyer loves the carrots, so I'm curious to see how he does with the rest of the veggies. Here’s what I did:

BABY FOOD CARROTS

TOOLS/INGREDIENTS

Food Processor/Blender

Steamer (I used my Pampered Chef MicroCooker)

Peeler

Containers (I got the Munchkin Freeze & Serve)

Carrots

Breast Milk/Water

STEPS

1. Clean your carrots really well with water, peel all the skin off and cut into small chunks
2. Steam until they are soft – discard the water you use to steam and do not pour into the processed carrots because it might contain the extracted nitrates.
3. Put in a food processor/blender and mix into a puree. I added a small amount of breast milk to get it softer but you could also use a small amount of water.
4. Pour into individual serving cups and store in a refrigerator or freezer

Munchkin Freeze & Serve Containers

I did not add any salt, butter or seasoning because I want to keep it as close to the real thing as possible but there are sites that say you can. I also found it is best to serve the carrots in a separate bowl than the freezer/refrigertor container. That way if they don’t finish the whole container  you don’t have to throw away the extra due the germs from the spoon. The puree in the containers will last 48-72 hours in the refrigerator and 1-3 months in the freezer. 

I'm serious about eating,....well, sort of