Nourishing Baby Food

I've had some requests for recipes of some of the baby food I've made Rae. I can't believe it's taken me this long to share a couple on the blog, but I wanted to do it for any who might need some new ideas! 

We introduced Reaghan to solids at 6 months. Research has found that 6 months is a good age as it allows more time for their gut to seal. Gut sealing is important because it keeps food from getting into the blood stream, causing an allergic reaction. We also decided to start slow and with foods that were high in nutrition. Some of her first foods were: homemade bone broth, soft boiled egg yolk (the white is what causes allergies in babies, the yolk is full of nutrients!), coconut oil mixed with probiotics (CO has a lot of similar nutrients to breast milk). 

After that we followed the guidelines from the Weston A Price Foundation and got some help from the Wholesome Baby Food site as well. Both were super helpful in just listing out recipes as well as ages for each food to be introduced, when to buy organic, etc. 

Reaghan really needed something closer to the texture of milk at first, so we started with purées. At about 10 months she started wanting to pick up her own small chunks of food, so we're doing that now. Here are a couple of "recipes" I came up with that she really enjoyed! 


Blueberry Sage Purée

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen organic blueberries 
1 teaspoon rubbed or fresh sage

Cook about a cup of frozen blueberries in just a few tablespoons of water over medium heat. Allow to bubble and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. If sage is dried, just measure out with a teaspoon and add to the blueberries. If fresh, chop finely and add. Mix together then pour into a blender and blend until smooth. 

We stored all of our purées in ice cube trays then popped them out into plastic baggies when they were frozen. For traveling, we used these handy Infantino pouches. 

I think she liked it.....

Fall Medley Purée 

Ingredients: 

3 sweet potatoes
1 butternut squash
3 apples, any variety
2 tablespoons coconut oil 
pumpkin pie spice
cinnamon
ground ginger
pinch of sea salt*

*refined table salt is terrible for babies, but they can have a small amount of real sea salt. I am not a pediatrician or doctor, just made this judgement call based on my own personal research. I always encourage mama's to do your own research. 

Preheat oven to 425 f

Peel and chop sweet potatoes and butternut squash into small bite-size pieces. Core and slice apples and toss everything into a large bowl with a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil. Sprinkle evenly with spices and a pinch of sea salt and toss around with a wooden spoon to coat everything evenly. Spread out on a large baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. 

I think for this one I ended up serving some of the veggies with our dinner that night since it made quite a lot! Of course, you could blend it all up and make a big batch of food for your baby. 

Allow to cool for a few minutes then blend in a blender along with a little filtered water. 

What have you fed your little ones? Did they like purées or jump straight to finger foods? What foods do your babies like best? I love learning and trying new things with Reaghan and would love to hear from YOU!