Baby Food - Sweet Potatoes

I thought I'd shake things up and share how I make homemade baby food :)

Before Baby started eating solid foods, I wanted to make the food myself just in case funds got tight and we couldn't afford the fancy jarred stuff. And it's so easy! I generally use the produce we already have (with a few exceptions), so I don't have to spend any extra money. With most foods, all you have to do is cook it (I like to use a steamer) and purée it.

1. Wash and poke

Preheat oven to 400. Wash your sweet potatoes thoroughly and poke several holes in them with a fork (or, in my case, a fancy cheese utensil you never get to use). This keeps the potatoes from exploding in the oven.

2. Cook

Cook in the oven for 45 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes afterwards.

See? No explosions (although lots of gushing).

3. Peel and chop

Peel the skin off the sweet potatoes and chop them into chunks.

4. Purée

Place sweet potato chunks into blender. Add water as needed. I don't have a measured amount of water to use - just keep adding it little by little until your blender can blend it properly.

5. Spoon into ice cube trays

Some people like to get fancy and buy baby jars (or if you have some empty jars on hand, go for it!). But buying extra materials would be counterproductive toward my goal of saving money by going homemade, so I just used ice cube trays. They're the perfect portion size, especially for a first-time solid-food eater.

If you're short on freezer space, I recommend the OXO ice cube tray. It has a cover to keep the liquid in the tray, so if it's leaning or tilting anywhere in the freezer, the contents won't spill out.

Once the food is frozen, pop out the cubes and put them in a labeled freezer bag. I have about five freezer bags of baby food in my freezer. When Baby gets hungry, I pop one in the microwave and serve it to him!

*Note: Don't re-freeze baby food after it's thawed. This is why the ice cubes are such a handy size. You only need to thaw one at a time. Although, Baby is 9 months old now, and he can probably eat 2 or 3 melted cubes in one sitting.

[Original recipe found here]

Want more baby food?

I also have a recipe for broccoli!