Although my daughter is now seventeen months old, I still feed her homemade mashed baby food twice a day on most days. By serving a variety of different fruits and vegetables in baby food form at each meal, I can ensure that she is getting all the nutrients that she needs to keep growing healthily. Homemade baby food is also super easy to make and tastes much more flavorful than store bought varieties. In fact, my daughter is not a fan of commercial baby food. Because she prefers homemade over store bought, I recently restocked our freezer with frozen baby food cubes. One of my most recent endeavors was mango baby food.
Mango is very low in sodium, cholesterol, and saturated fat. Although the fruit is high in natural sugars, mangoes are a good source of dietary fiber and vitamin B6 and a very good source of vitamin A and vitamin C. Mango also pairs well with other fruits such as bananas and papayas. I even mix mango with squash for my daughter, and she seems to love the combination.
To make my homemade mango baby food for my daughter, I started with fresh organic mangoes from my local Fresh Market. Mangoes were on sale for ten for $10, so I ended up buying ten, which, let me tell you, is a lot of mango. Once I got my mangoes home, I washed and peeled the fruit. Although a lot of fruit skin is edible, eating mango skin is not recommended because of the turpentine aftertaste.
After peeling the mangoes, I sliced the fruit and placed the slices in a microwave-safe glass bowl with some extra water for cooking. I then cooked the mango for about 20 minutes, checking on the fruit after 10 minutes. Once the mango was soft, I allowed the cooked fruit to cool for a few minutes. I then transferred the mango slices into my baby food processor, added some extra water, and pureed the fruit. I finally poured the mango puree into ice cube trays for easier freezing. Once the baby food was frozen, I transferred the cubes into freezer bags for easier storage. As my daughter needs food, I just take out a few mango cubes and allow the fruit to thaw. Easy peasy!
Does your child like mango? Do you make your own baby food or buy store bought?
Image Credits
Fresh Organic Mangoes © 2013 Heather Johnson
Mango Slices © 2013 Heather Johnson
Cooked Mango Slices © 2013 Heather Johnson
Pureeing the Cooked Mango © 2013 Heather Johnson
Mango Baby Food Cubes © 2013 Heather Johnson
Frozen Mango Baby Food Cubes © 2013 Heather Johnson
