No, we are not making an announcement. And in fact, our oven is off, there is nothing baking in our kitchen. We just got a new toy and while the chef is thinking about purées, soups, sauces and better workflow in his restaurant kitchen, the steward is seeing how absolutely revolutionary the Bamix is in terms of quickly making healthy and fun foods for your baby.
There are so many of our friends are either pregnant or have recently had babies, that babies are part of our everyday consciousness. Furthermore, we live in a family centred town where babies are everywhere. You are likely to see the most beautiful toothless grin in between grown up sandals and strollers sell far more than umbrellas in our desert home.
So here you have it… precious first foods for your baby. And of course, since we are epicures ourselves, we are spicing things up a bit and making it much more interesting. Who said gourmets had to have teeth?
We start with the basics…
Wash properly and peel one medium potato. Chop into equal pieces for quick and even cooking. Add to saucepan with boiling water.
A small beet gets the same treatment.
Here is another gem. We call it “Cho-cho” in Jamaica, but it is called Christophine in the wider Caribbean or Chayotte in Mexico and in Europe and the Middle East. It has no taste really of its own so it takes on the flavours of whatever you add to it. We use it a lot in baby food because it is so full of water and so mild. Traditionally we grew it on vines in the yard. Now, you can buy it in the markets and supermarkets all over the world, especially those with an ethnic flair. It looks like this when whole…
It looks almost like a pear. Some of them are more whitish in their appearance, but most are this shade.
I am looking at this pic and wondering how on earth I got my husband to make baby food. He says he has done it before in the restaurant for little baby customers. Imagine that. Five diamond baby dining. Priceless.
So you wash, peel and chop three carrots and dunk them in a saucepan with boiling water.
Cook and strain two tablespoons of red lentils. These cook quickly and are a great source of protein.
After cooking the items, you will attach your multipurpose blade to your Bamix and place whatever veggies you want to purée in your beaker and have baby food in about 1 minute! Here wer are with the fun combinations:
Cho-Co & Carrot with a hint of Sage
Ingredients: 1 carrot, 1/2 cho-cho(chayotte/christophine), cooked with a pinch of Sage. (You may cook with a small sage leaf instead of powder).
Beet & Carrot with a hint of Ginger
Ingredients: 1 Carrot, 1/2 a small beet or 1 whole very small one cooked with a pinch of ginger powder. Because ginger is such an intense spice, it is better to use the milder powdered form than the fresh spice.
Potato & Carrot with a hint of Cumin
Ingredients: 1 carrot, 1/2 medium potato, cooked with a pinch of cumin.
Red Lentils, Cho-Cho, Potato & Carrot with a hint of Garam Masala.
Ingredients: 2 tbsp Red Lentils, 1 cho-cho (chayotte, christophine), 1/2 medium potato, 1 carrot, whole garam masala (a pinch of it cooked with the items in a tea strainer) or a tiny pinch of the powder
And here is how you make fresh, raw applesauce in about 90 seconds:
It goes from this…
You wash it, peel it, and chop it and Bamix it and in 90 seconds it turns to this:
Fresh Applesauce with Cinnamon and Nutmeg
Ingredients: 1 apple, a tiny pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg. No cooking necessary.
The nutmeg here was inspired by our friend Sanura at My Life Runs on Food who suggested it on our facebook fan page. You should join all the fun happenings over there and participate by clicking “Like” at the top of the facebook page so that you can make comments and post your own food pics!
Question: Do you add salt to your baby food?
Jenné @ Sweet Potato Soul says
Your baby food looks quite delicious. I want to make some baby food… I mean puree for myself!
Sidiqa says
Wow! So easy and amazing!
Chef and Steward says
Sidiqa, it baffled me at how genius this tool is for busy and tired moms with babies 🙂 Feeding whole fresh foods to your baby cannot be easier than this.
Sanura @ MyLifeRunsOnFood.com says
Also, the same food processor used for making purée soups can be used for making baby food. In addition, I have a theory: Commercial, bland baby food is why kids don’t like vegetables. I wonder if starting babies with flavorful food would further develop their taste buds?
Tiffany says
While I am not interested in baby food myself, my brother and his wife are expecting their first child soon, this is a post I will forward to her, she will love it! I am enjoying your blog, fantastic photos and great content!
Cook in a Bar says
Thanks for the recipes! I can’t wait to try them for my friend’s baby!
Laurel says
This baby food really does look wonderful! I’d love for you to submit this to the M&T Spotlight at http://www.makeandtakes.com/spotlight
Elle (Bromography) says
Nice flavor combos for baby food. Creative use of christophine.
Kate @ Diethood.com says
That food looks good enough for me to eat! 🙂
This was me last year – washing, peeling, pureeing everything and anything. She’s old enough now to eat the foods we eat… thank goodness!
Amy's Cooking Adventures says
Your baby foods look so wonderful! I am still introducing single (homemade) baby foods to my son and am so excited to start making combo foods and adding spices!
To answer you question: so salt or sugar for us! They have plenty of time to develop a taste for salt later on 🙂
Firefly says
Beautiful baby food. Looks so good and perfect!
Joy says
I have only did that one. I might do that with my second child.
The Farmers Wife says
Those are such wonderful ideas! I will be passing this on to all my friends!
Kelly Chen says
LOVE it!! What a great first food for babies!
Jescel says
great idea! Looks good. If only I had a baby myself… but in the meantime, i can eat them myself… :o)
sassy little cabbages says
what great tips and ingredients! i definitely see some i will try!
Chef and Steward says
Great! Thanks for coming by!
Karen Blair says
These are quite interesting and look yummy (for baby!) I’ve always hated cho cho because its bland and have refrained from feeding it to Boobie (baby’s nickname), but I will try mixing it with maybe carrot and spices and see if he’ll eat it. Boobie loves spices, so cooking some meals like porridge without a pinch of salt, nutmeg and cinnamon will only turn that meal into play food. Thanks again for the wonderful ideas!
Chef and Steward says
Yes… the baby foods were quite fun and even tasty for us. Of course, the more baby can chew, the less you have to puree so these foods can grow with baby too. You could also puree callaloo or spinach and mix with some of these dishes to get baby to get a liking for the green stuff early. You can find some interesting health benefits of it here http://healthmad.com/nutrition/10-surprising-health-benefits-of-chayote/ and the beauty is that the bland flavour means it takes on any flavour you add to it.
shannon says
your timing is impeccable. grant just started “real” food; i.e. no more rice mush & I was thinking of making my own. I wasn’t sure if I had to buy one of the baby food puree machines, but it seemed like a waste. I’ll check out your Bamix! Thanks! Much appreciated!!!!
xo, Shannon
Out and About in Dubai says
What a cute post! I never made purees for my son as I did baby-led weaning but if I had one those Bamix things – I might have pureed all the way! I just love gadgets.
Until children are 1 years old, it is not recommended to put any extra salt in their food as their kidneys aren’t mature enough to process it yet.
Ababa says
this is so smart and flavourful… will share with my friends with babies. bless you
SassyStace says
This blog entry will come in quite handy for Jacob now :)….how about a Magic Bullet?