Making Baby Food

I thought I would show you how to make some basic baby food purees.  Today I we'll be making chicken with grapes and sweet potatoes.

For the chicken & grapes:

Place a chicken breast, trimmed of excess fat, into a pan of water.  Add 1-2 tsp of a dried herb blend (or you could boil it with carrot, celery and onion and make a chicken stock while you're at it). Bring to a boil and simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the water, let cool slightly then cut into cubes. Wash about 2 handfuls of grapes (peel the skin if desired) and place in a food processor or blender (blender will provide a smoother puree) add the chicken and about 1/2 cup cooking water. Puree until you reach the desired consistency, add water if needed to thin the mix. 

For the potatoes:

Wash and peel two medium sweet potatoes. Cut into 1" cubes and place in a pan of water. Boil until soft and tender. Move into a food processor or blender, and add cooking water to a height of about 1-2" from the top of the potatoes and process until it's at the desired consistency, adding water to thin as needed.

After the purees have been made, I freeze them in a standard ice cube tray.  The cubes are about 1.5-2 Tbsp worth.  After the food is frozen, I move them to labeled storage bags.  Easy way to make sure I have food the little one can eat minutes away!

Most foods can be prepared using this method; some fruits don't even need to be boiled first if they are ripe enough.  The sky is the limit, so experiment with tastes and textures for your baby - just make sure it's appropriate for your babies chewing ability!