Babaco Baby Food

The exotic mountain fruit we are trying this week for our 8mos old is: Babaco (known as a tropical Mountain Papaya).  It taste nothing like a papaya it actually has more of an apple flavor and texture once cooked.

We just sliced it up it kind of has a flower/star shape when you slice it and then we steamed it, pureed it in the good ol Magic Bullet and added some Panela and cinnamon.

It tasted and had the texture of apples when steamed. Mateo once again liked it!

Guava and Banana Smoothie

Isn't Guava beautiful and it has a strong sweet scent that flirts with you before you even taste it.

One of the advantages of living in S. America is that we get to choose from a lot of different exotic tropical fruits at the market.  One of the not so rare ones is Guava.  It's not as common like pineapple but not rare like the Taxo fruit, which we still need to try.

We decided to make some Guava and Banana baby food for our little one.

Peel Guava and remove the seeds from the middle.  Stick it in a blender with a banana and 1/4 cp of plain yogurt. 

He LOVED it! I am definitely making some for me. It was really good!

3 Easy Steps for Making Baby Food

Long ago when I lived in the Land of Plenty (bka the U.S. of A) where life moves at a faster pace a friend shared with me about freezing baby food in ice cubes.  At that time in my life I had ABSOLUTELY no desire to make my own food when I could easily go down the grocery store aisle and extend my hand out and voila I had breakfast, lunch and dinner in a matter of seconds.

Now that I live in the Land of All Things are RIDICULOUSLY Priced (bka Ecuador) I have chosen to make my own baby food. It really isn't hard and it saves us a WHOLE bunch of money and not to mention so much more healtheir for my sunshine. I wish I would of at least tried it back then when I lived in the land of plenty that way I would of realized how easy and healthy it was for our little ones.

3 Easy steps for making your OWN baby food:
1. Buy lots of fruits and veggies at the grocery store.
2. In 15min (depending on the fruit/veggie it can be less or more) I can steam and blend 2 to 3 meals. Sometimes I make tons and in one hour or less I can steam/bake/cook all of it and blend it or use a food processor and use it all of it for weeks on end.
     For steaming:  Use a steamer basket and place it in pot with enough water in it that it doesn't go pass the steamer basket.  Cover with lid and steam until tender.
     For blending:  I don't have a food processor but you can use one instead of a blender.  Stick cooked veggies, fruits in blender.  You will need to add a couple of tablespoon of water or sometimes I use apple juice and blend.  Since I make tons of it at once I prefer to keep my veggies/fruits separate so that I can mix them up later before freezing.
3. Serve it up!

Storing option that I use:
Freeze it in ice cube tray or whatever other method butters your biscuit.
Read post below for more info on freezing & refridgerating.

Freezing Baby Food in Ice Trays

  

Freezing baby food in ice trays is so great because it allows you to make tons at one time and most icecube trays are about 1oz or more. 

In my lifetime as a mom I have discovered that every household has different guidelines and rules for storing food so read my info as just another mom sharing what I have discovered to work.  If you have stricter guidelines than what I posted from Momtastic than do what works for you. 

This is some of the research that I have done on freezing baby food but feel free to google it yourself for more info.
This is from Momtastic she has more info on her website:
For optimal quality and nutrient retention, keep frozen baby food cubes in the freezer for a maximum of 3 months.Baby food cubes are safe to remain in the freezer from 3 to 6 months. Using baby food cubes within 1 month to 3 months is really more prudent. Due to the amount of water crystals that tend to build up with baby food purees, and due to the fact that nutrients may leach/evaporate upon thawing because of the water crystals, it is more prudent to use your frozen baby foods cubes as soon as possible - 3 months of storage tops. We always recommend using within 1 month if at all possible.

In the refrigerator, it is recommended that fresh pureed homemade baby food be stored no longer than 48 hours (many food safety authorities say that 72 hour is fine.). This limit ensures that bacteria growth in the puree is kept to a minimum and that the food does not take on the "taste of the fridge". This "rule" applies for veggies, fruits, meats etc.
If you do not plan to freeze your homemade baby food, I suggest that you make the puree on a day to day, or every other day, basis. For example, one sweet potato may be baked and then you may freeze one half without pureeing it and then puree the other half. This method will help cut down "waste" and also allow for food safety.
Meat:
You should not freeze meat purees from meats that have been frozen when raw, thawed, cooked and then frozen and then, thawed again.
If you ever forget what the "rule" is, remember that you can take out a raw frozen roast, thaw it, cook it and then freeze the leftovers for another meal.
Once you have thawed the leftovers, you must use them within 48 hours; you should never re-freeze the leftover-leftovers.

For thawing options whether its: submersion method, microwave or stovetop see momtastic.  In my opinion she has very thorough instructions and options. 

BABY food! Pumpkin Smoothie

This recipe is good for baby 8 + months.

1/2 cp fresh pumpkin Puree (from scratch see below) or canned PURE pumpkin not Pumpkin Pie mix
1 banana
1/4 cp Plain Yogurt
dash of cinnamon


1. Mix all of the ingredients above in a blender.
Make sure there are no chunks to prevent choking.


How to Puree fresh Pumpkin
1. Cut pumpkin into cubes w/o the skin.
2. In a pot use a steamer basket put enough water in the bottom of pot so that it doesn't go through the steamer basket. Steam pumpkin until tender.
If you overcook veg. or fruits it loses its nutritional value.
Freeze left over pumpkin if your not using immediately it does freeze well. The cooked pumpkin will turn a brownish orange so don't be alarmed when you peak into the bowl and find that color.