On the menu tonight

Did I mention this is the menu for and 8 month-old for the evening!!! I don't want to nurture a fussy eater, but a budding foodie is okay!!! And what, you mean to tell me that you eat pears that aren't French?? Shocking!

So I guess I don't often put on recipes on how to puree food, but my world has changed somewhat,  and if I had to learn it, others must have to as well, so I figured why not!!

I did my online grocery order this week and put a few fruits and vegies in for me to make Madeleine's meals, and justified to myself that not buying them from the fruit shop down the street was made okay if I bought organic produce online. And the only organic pears available, were French. And this is how they arrived....

Both Madeleine and I were amused by their little red wax tips too!

For young babies, you are meant to cook the fruit and veggies until they are soft and mushable.

I think pears and cinnamon is a winning combination and so far seems to be Maddie's favourite fruit as well. Simply peel (roughly as some skin provides great nutrients) the pears and put slices in a pot boiling with water and cinnamon sticks. I'm sure you can use ground cinnamon too, but I like using the sticks so that it flavours the water, but then can be removed.

It is only necessary to boil for about ten minutes, but you can leave it for about half an hour if you want (or forget....).

I then drain the water but keep it aside to add back in once it has been pureed. I have so far been using a stick blender to puree food, but have a new member of the kitchen family to introduce now, so I suspect the stick blender will fall into obsolescence! 

I will often add the pears to porridge  (oatmeal)  or serve it as, either way, she loves it! 

To prepare the baked sweet potato with rice, I use the same method of oven baking the sweet potato for an hour, as per my Sweet Potato Gnocchi. 

For 3 medium sweet potatoes I added a little over a cup of cooked white rice. Next time I will be using brown rice, but white was all I had on hand at the time. I am finding the rice really helps fill Madeleine, without causing her any tummy troubles, which we experienced with pasta or other wheat-based foods. 

Blend until sufficiently pureed. A 7 month old doesn't need for the food to be completely smooth as they need to start learning to chew soon, so a little chunky is ideal. 

I got a few of these Annabel Karmel food trays and they are awesome! I freeze whatever I have made and then pop them into freezer bags to use the trays again and which makes grabbing a few frozen portions simple as can be when it comes to dinner time. 

Sweet potato, so delicious.