Cheesy Sweet Potato Quesadillas

This is a great, easy finger food to prepare. I used whole wheat tortillas; put some thawed sweet potato puree on half of it. Next I spread shredded chicken and cheddar on top the sweet potato. Fold it in half and microwave for 10-15 seconds; just enough to have the cheese melt. Cool and cut in to bite size squares. Drew can't get enough of these.

Sweet potato & pineapple

Drew is not fond of pineapple by itself so far, so I decided to chop some up and mix it with sweet potato and cinnamon. I am convinced he will eat anything if it is mixed with sweet potato.

Potato & Butternut Squash Stew

This week's new foods for Drew consisted of white potatoes and butternut squash. Potato & Butternut Squash Stew is yet another recipe from the Cooking for Baby cook book. If you couldn't already figure it out, I am a big fan of the cook book. The recipe is as follows...

Cut squash (1/2 small, peeled and seeded butternut squash), potato (6 small yellow, peeled), and apple (1 medium Fuji, peeled, cored and seeded) into 1 inch chunks. You should have about one cup of each. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add potato, squash and apple and cook, stirring occasionally (about 8-10 minutes). Apples will begin to turn golden. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until vegetables are soft, 30-35 minutes. Mash or blend to desired consistency.

I made a few minor changes based on what I had in the kitchen and Drew's taste. I only had frozen butternut squash and just used a half of a bag and one large white potato. Drew hates apples, but I wanted to try this to find other ways to sneak them into his diet. I only used one quarter of an apple. I also made this very thick and chunky because I am trying to get Drew used to more finger foods now.

Before I gave this to Drew I tried out just the butternut squash. I simply microwaved a half a bag of frozen butternut squash and blended it, no need for extra liquid. Butternut squash is possibly Drew's new favorite food. As for the stew, the first time Drew ate this he wasn't thrilled about it, but he gobbled it up the second go around. I've also Drew plain potatoes diced in small cubes as finger food and he loves it as well.

Barnes, Lisa. Cooking for Baby. Gold Street Press, page 46.

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.

A day in the life of Drew: Lunch

For lunch, we went out to eat. I took one 2 oz thawed cube of sweet potatoes and one 1 oz cube of thawed peas. We served the to Drew at the restaurant while they were still cooled (we took them there with a freezer pack to keep them cool). I basically mixed the two before serving it to him, which he seemed to enjoy. He ate probably 2 ounces total. He also had a 5 oz bottle(compared to the normal 6 oz). Between Breakfast and lunch he was nursed one time

Not so sweet potatoes

So we've been trying sweet potatoes over the past few days. At first, Drew did not like them, at all. After a few days he is indifferent to them. I doesn't have the bad reaction he does with apples, but doesn't have the same good reaction he has with bananas. He truly enjoys eating, so I think he just puts up with them. Like Olivia's try with sweet potatoes, we baked ours instead of steaming or boiling.

Two sweet potatoes, unpeeled
Prick with a fork several times
Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes
Puree to desired thickness, adding water, breast milk or formula to thin them down


I actually used a mashed potato masher and mashed them by hand. This left them a little on the thick/chunky side. I thinned down the first few cubes that Drew ate and than started giving him the more chunky ones as the days went by making them more of a stage 2 food.

Sweet Potatoes!

Hi guys! I'm happy to join Sabrina on this blog, and hope everyone enjoys our adventures. I have been excited about making baby food since I was pregnant. I have a weird obsession if you will, about knowing exactly what goes into my children's bodies, and I thought, what better way to start out then by making healthy, organic baby food!

We did start with rice cereal, a few days before Olivia's 5 month "birthday". I wanted to EBF for 6 months, but she got a late diagnosis of reflux, and the doctor thought the cereal may help. She was pretty gung ho about it the first day, and really hasn't been too enthused ever since. We use Earth's Best Organic.

This summer, I planted a garden, as I have for the past 4 years that we have owned enough land to do so. Honestly, this year was awful. Um, what did I think, that at 9 months pregnant, I would be out there in the TN heat, weeding a garden? Not only that, but I really didn't think about the timing. My cutely pregnant, second trimester self got out there in the spring, planting away all these veggies I could make into baby food. Didn't think about the fact that you can only freeze it for so long, and baby Olivia wouldn't be eating baby food until at least 2009, so what was I to do with all these baby friendly veggies?

Let them die....or become overrun with weeds! What do you expect, I was huge, and it was over 100 degrees in July! The only one salvaged was the sweet potatoes, and since you can keep them in a cool dry place for a long time, they were ready for me when I decided to embark upon my first adventure in baby food making. There was something oddly satisfying about knowing that the first veggie my daughter ate came right from our own land! I knew it was organic, and I knew it would be great for her.

I didn't know how easy it would be to make though! And I didn't know that she would hate it....

So I tried...for three days in a row. Still no go. Oh well. I have plenty in the freezer to try again later! She will like them....!

Sweet Potatoes

2 large sweet potatoes
liquid of your choosing- breastmilk, formula, or water

Pierce the skin of the potatoes, and bake on 350 for about 45 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the potato goes in easily.

Remove and let cool.

Cut potatoes in half and scoop out the "meat" with a spoon. Puree using food processor or blender with desired amount of liquid until you reach desired consistency.

Fill ice cube trays with food and freeze. Remove from tray and store in freezer bag, removing cubes as you need them.

Recommended freezer life is 3 months.