My daughter is a little foodie! Although she now mainly eats the same foods that her father and I eat, she used to eat primarily homemade baby food that I lovingly prepared for her. Making large batches of baby food that I froze in ice cube trays saved a lot of money and provided my daughter with a variety of nutritious and delicious first foods. One of the baby foods that I made her last summer was apples and yellow squash.
Although high in natural sugars, apples are very low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium and are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, vitamin A, and folate. Apple skin is also very healthy because the skin of apples helps protect against cancer more and provides more nutrients than the rest of the apple. Yellow summer squash is low in saturated fat and sodium and very low in cholesterol. Although also high in natural sugars, yellow summer squash is a good source of protein, vitamin A, thiamin, niacin, phosphorus and copper and a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, riboflavin, vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, potassium, and manganese.
To make the apple and yellow squash baby food, start by washing both foods. Then chop both into small pieces. I leave the skin on both and the seeds inside the squash for maximum nutritional content. Add a small amount of water to the bowl of chopped food, and microwave the mixture for five to ten minutes or until the apples are soft.
After allowing the cooked apples and squash to cool slightly, I spooned some of the apples and yellow squash into my baby food processor. For younger babies, add a little bit more water for a thinner puree. For older toddlers, mash the food into a thicker mixtures with some small chunks. Next spoon the mixture into ice cube trays for easier freezer. Once the cubes froze, I transferred the baby food cubes into freezer bags for easier storage. When my daughter needed food, I simply removed a few cubes from the freezer and thawed the baby food in the refrigerator or microwave.
Have you ever made homemade baby food?
Image Credits
Apples and Yellow Squash © 2013 Heather Johnson
Washing the Apples and Yellow Squash © 2013 Heather Johnson
Chopped Yellow Squash © 2013 Heather Johnson
Raw Slices of Apples and Yellow Squash © 2013 Heather Johnson
Cooked Apples and Yellow Squash © 2013 Heather Johnson
Apples and Yellow Squash Baby Food © 2013 Heather Johnson
Thanks for the tips!