At first I was going to post this as a recipe, but that seemed wrong because recipes usually have more than one ingredient. Anyway, making your own baby food is really simple! It’s also more nutritious and cheaper then buying jarred baby food. You can make ahead a large amount and then freeze it into baby sized portions that keep for up to 6 weeks in the freezer. Today I’m making sweet potato puree, which is an excellent choice for one of babies first foods because it’s sweet tasting and easy to digest.

Directions:

1. Wash, peel and chop 2 medium sweet potatoes (okay, so one of mine was more like a large. That’s alright, I got to eat the extra)

2. Steam until tender, about 12 minutes (steaming preserves the most vitamins and taste)

3. Puree in food processor, with a hand mixer or a food mill. You can add some breast milk to thin it out, or some of the water left from steaming.

4. Portion for freezing. I use pesto cubes, but ice cube trays would work the same, although they may be a but smaller. I made 10 portions of about 2 tablespoons each.

5. Once it is frozen pop out the cubes and put them in a freezer bag. Don’t forget to label the bag with the contents and most importantly, the date.

The cubes can be thawed out as you need them. I find it particularly nice to have a few options ready to go at a time, this way you can defrost 2 different cubes and combine them. Sweet potato goes nicely with broccoli or peas. Once you have defrosted a portion, don’t freeze it again, if baby dosn’t eat it all discard the leftovers.