The Secret Making Your Own Purées for Baby
Edition 4: Real food tastes good
I got some blank stares when I told people I was going to make my own purées for Hayden. “That’ll last about a week,” I could hear them thinking.
I admit that it’d be exhausting and time consuming to prepare a separate meal for Hayden and cook one for the rest of the family each night. But that’s not what’s happening.
The secret is to use a slow cooker.
Slow cooker meals are a great way to introduce baby to meals that the family eats early on. Hayden devours halibut, salmon, black bean chili, and beef stroganoff, among many others, thanks to the slow cooker.
It also makes plenty. I make the mess once, and I have a large portion to purée and freeze for Hayden to use for future meals. There’s still plenty for the rest of the family to eat.
A slow cooker makes everything tender including meat, chicken, and fish. Then, just put a portion into a food processor to get the desired texture. Plus, meals are packed with flavor because they’ve been cooking all day.
I highly recommend America's Test Kitchen’s book, The Complete Slow Cooker. It contains 450 recipes, from basic to complex. I’m a novice in the kitchen. So I’m a fan of the basic recipes that involve easy prep but still packed with nutrients and flavor, like minestrone soup, lentil soup, and beef stew. At the same time, the range of recipes offers a variety of foods and spices that I can introduce to Hayden.
I supplement slow cooker recipes with basic fruit and veggie purées, which are simple to make, to accompany a meal. Heat up a bag of frozen berries and purée them. Roast some cauliflower or carrots and purée them. Mash a few bananas or avocados with a fork. These purées take very little time to prepare, but taste great.
The key is to plan in advance. On Saturdays, I select a few slow cooker recipes to make for the upcoming week that my family will like—including baby Hayden—and identify the days I’ll make them.
Slow cooker meals take the stress out of meal time. A slow cooker makes eating well—for the entire family—enjoyable and realistic.
“You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces—just good food from fresh ingredients."
-Julia Child
Thank you for reading! Feel free to reply to this email and let me know what you think.
-Amy