Green Beans for Olivia!

Well, as usual, she loved them. There is nothing she doesn't like, she just doesn't want to eat a lot. Maybe she will be petite....

All I did was get a bag of frozen organic greens beans, and steam them in the Beaba. Then I pureed them with water, and they got pretty smooth. Not Gerber smooth, but pretty smooth. I froze the rest and they are good for 3 months. 

More refined taste

On the gourmet menu this week: Green beans with mint & olive oil, white asparagus puree and sweet potatoes with a touch of cinnamon (Recipes from the cooking for baby book).

Drew loves sweet potatoes. We can pretty much mix anything he doesn't like with them so he will eat it. We decided to take it a step further and add a touch of cinnamon for some added flavor. Drew loves this.

Asparagus: When my husband was at the store this past week he was looking for regular green asparagus, but they only had white. So, we went ahead and made that. He doesn't seem to love them, but doesn't dislike them either. They have a pretty mild taste. We took a bunch of white asparagus and removed the woody ends. We than steamed them until tender (about 7-9 minutes) and rinsed them in cold water to stop the cooking. Finally, we pureed them in a food processor until smooth. The cookbook notes that if baby is reluctant to eat this, stir in apple or pear puree. Store in airtight container in fridge for up to three days or freeze for up to three months.

Green Beans with Mint & Olive Oil: Boil a half pound of fresh green beans until tender and bright green (about 7-9 minutes). Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Puree beans with 2 tbsp of water and 1 tbsp of fresh mint. After it is pureed, stir in 2 tbsp of olive oil (optional). Store in airtight container for up to three days (Note: I went ahead and froze some). I am not sure if it is because we used fresh green beans, and/or because they were boiled instead of steamed, but these pureed much better than the last batch. Drew also enjoys this much better than plain green beans.

Barnes, Lisa. Cooking for Baby. Gold Street Press, page 33.

Green Beans & Apricots

So this past week Drew has tried Green Beans & Apricots. First, the green beans. I was a little worried about the green beans because for the life of me I could not get them to "puree". The texture is hard to explain, not really chunky, but definitely not blended. Drew is not a fan of them either. Not sure if this is because of the taste or the texture. If I blend them with sweet potatoes he likes them a little better. I opted for the easy way out to make green beans. I bought a frozen steam bag (no salt added) and just popped in the microwave for a few minutes. Than, I blended them up in my food processor and added a little breast milk to help "puree" them a little better. I don't think it helped so I might skip this next time. I froze the left overs, they should be good for up to 3 months.

Now for the apricots. I bought a package of dried Turkish apricots from the produce section of my grocery store. I put them in a pot with a about a cup of water and brought them to a boil. I than boiled them for 10 minutes until they were tender. I blended them in my food processor, adding the left over water that they were blended in to help puree them. The apricots also have a strange texture. They never quit "pureed" but they did better than the green beans. They are very thick and sticky. I did freeze them, but they never got rock hard. They should be good in the freezer for up to three months. Again, Drew was not a huge fan of these, probably because of the texture. He likes them better when I mix it with his oatmeal.