I’ve been posting some of Amalia’s meals on my Instagram stories lately and have been inundated with requests for the recipes so today I’m sharing her favorite blends!
This post is dedicated purely to puréed foods but she also loves to eat things like eggs, small pieces of ground beef or chicken in red sauce, apple slices, and other tiny finger foods. You can see more of her current favorites in her 8 month update.
I try to give her a good mix of fruits, veggies, proteins, and fats. I have yet to purée meat just because the thought of it freaks me out but I know I need to try soon. For now, I buy the jars of Earth’s Best Organics meat dishes or give her small pieces of whatever I’m making. Bolognese is her absolute favorite. She also loved pulled sesame chicken that I made last week.
How I make her purées: People often ask me how I come up with these “recipes” and usually it’s what I think sounds good, an idea that I get from a pouch, or just experimentation. For her purées, I usually steam the food first and then blend it.
I use the Beaba Babycook to make all of her food, but you could do it on the stove and with a blender or food processor too. I like having one product because it’s easier to clean but that’s just me.
Cooking for taste: I always try the food before I give it to her and if it doesn’t taste great, I tweak it does. I’m a big believer in introducing lots of flavors and spices early so that she doesn’t become accustom to bland, boring food.
How I store it: I usually put 1-2 servings in the fridge in these glass containers (simply because they came with our tupperware set but anything small and glass would be fine) for that day and the next day and then freeze single serve portions in this multiportion storage container in the freezer for later.
I kind of made up the ingredient amounts below because I usually just throw things in to make them but I think they’re pretty spot on!
Sweet and Creamy Avocado Blend
1 jar of plain, organic, whole milk yogurt (We like Stonyfield Organic Yo-Baby Unflavored)
1 avocado
1/2 banana
Berries/Spinach/Cinnamon/Any other add ons (Optional)
This blend is by far her favorite. I have to limit it to twice a week or she would have it for every meal and never get sick of it, I swear! I love that the yogurt has naturally occurring probiotics and the avocados are full of healthy fats.
Sweet Potato and Apple Puree
1 apple (gala is her favorite)
1 sweet potato
A dash of cinnamon (optional)
This is her second favorite puréed meal. Clearly my child favors sweet food just like her daddy.
White Bean and Spinach “Hummus”
1 can of white beans
Handful of spinach
Garlic
Lemon
Water
Dash of salt
This is a new one for us, so she’s still warming up to it, but it’s had a good start and I have hopes for our future. She’s majorly obsessed with regular hummus (Sabra in particular) so I thought this would be a good next step.
Sweet and Savory Butternut Squash
Butternut squash
1/4 cup of chicken stock
Teaspoon of butter
Cinnamon
Dash of salt
Whenever I make this blend I end up eating half of it myself because it’s so good. Sometimes I use extra butter or ghee and it is decadent and delish.
Green Puree
1/2 cup of peas
1/2 of a pear
Handful of chopped broccoli
Water
I got the idea for this one from an Ella’s Organic pouch. I fed it to her once and she went abnormally crazy for it, so I thought I’d try it myself. My version isn’t as good as the pouch, but because of the different textures, more water definitely helps.
Black Bean Blend
Black beans
Sweet potato
Dash of salt
Water
I found this recipe on Eva’s blog post about baby food blends and decided to give it a go. It’s not as big of a hit as it is in her house but Amalia likes it a lot!
What are your favorite baby food blends? I’m always looking for new ideas!
Such a pretty photo of you! I am glad that both you and Amalia are doing well!
Zucchini and bananas are a huge hit for us right now!!
Mixed or separate?
We skipped the pureed meats altogether (grossed me out!) and went straight to bits of ground or shredded. Beef, turkey, chicken, cod, salmon, shrimp… she loves them all. Currently her fave food might be blueberries, I cut the big ones in half but the rest she can manage herself (10 mo old). Really into anything she can pick up and eat with her fingers.
So sweet, I love that! Amalia likes blueberries but LOVES raspberries.
Several wonderful books to suggest!
https://tinyurl.com/y72w6m4e The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet: Know What Goes Into Every Bite with More Than 200 of the Most Deliciously Nutritious Homemade Baby Food … Your Baby Will Love by Karin Knight
and
https://tinyurl.com/ydxun7sz Baby Food Universe by Kawn Al-jabbouri and Gemma Bischoff
my son currently loves mashed avocado with a little olive oil and a dash of salt – I completely agree that some flavor is a game changer! his other favorite is sweet potato – carrot – Apple puree. I roast all 3 in coconut oil to get more flavor and add a little healthy fat and puree with cinnamon. we use silicone pulp feeders during meals too so he can try a little of what we’re eating and sometimes are surprised – he loved tofu scramble with curry powder and onion. if you don’t eat soy, I think it would be similar with adding a little spice to eggs.
Thanks for posting these recipes!
I need to try coconut oil, good call!
We are about to start my son on solids and I’m wondering if we should invest in the Beaba or not, how did you decide on it and what have you found the pros/cons to be?
I personally love it. The price is probably the only drawback. I love how sleek it looks, how easy it is to clean, and how it’s only one product instead of a few to make her meals.
That millenial pink / rose gold Beaba! Swoon! We went with the navy one but I’m seriously rethinking my decision now… I’m wondering if you’re following any “rules” about when to introduce what foods? I’ve read that spinach can be tricky because of nitrates but am inclined to serve it anyway as long as it’s organic and super-fresh. What do you think?
I know haha. At first I thought it was ridiculous but now I love it. So chic on my countertop!
I haven’t really followed any rules because our doc said anything goes (except for honey). The only thing we are careful about is introducing nuts. We’ve done all of them except for peanuts which we’ll do soon.
I gave her organic spinach at 7 months!
We aren’t quite ready for solids yet but I’m starting to do my research and can’t wait to try these recipes! My little one is almost 3 months and was curious if you’d be willing to do a large post on how you started “real” food with Amalia. Or if you had a favorite book/method you turned to.
At what pint did you introduce spices? Or have you always as long as she’s been eating solids? My daughter is a little over 6 months and, as you said, I’d hate to have her yet used to bland food. I want to introduce spices so bad but I wasn’t sure when was appropriate.
She did have guacamole (my husband had her at a party) and she loves that but hates plain avocado.
She’s definitely ready to be a bit more experimental. And we do make our own foods.
Right away! I put cinnamon in her very first bite of food. I asked our pediatrician first and she said it was fine so we just went for it. Amalia was the same with guacamole, she hated avocado until we gave her guac and she loved it. Now she’ll eat avocado with sea salt though!
Absolutely going to ask our pediatrician. We are adventurous eaters so i hope she is the same at some point. As we can see, it probably needs to start now! Thanks for your response!
I just got my baby cook and will be starting my 6 month old with sweet potatoe as well! Did you feed Amalia the purée straight from the fridge or did you warm first?