March 24, 2008

I Yam Very Proud


I am no Donna Reed. I'm domestically challenged in several ways. I don't wear aprons, I only recently caught on to ironing, I'm a bad cook, (I do try!) I can't remember the last time I wore pearls, and I've never worn red lipstick.

But let me just tell you, I made Olivia's baby food from scratch yesterday, and I couldn't feel more proud if I was suddenly in black and white offering a plate of freshly baked cookies to a bunch of kids just home from school.

If I could do this, anyone can. I mean, I burn water for goodness sake.

I started with Olivia's favorite food to date: sweet potatoes, also known as yams. I bought one large organic yam (remember: ONLY buy organic fruits and vegetables, locally grown if possible!) at Whole Foods, washed it, poked holes in it, and baked it at 400 degrees for one hour. After cooled, the skin peeled right off. I then chopped up the yam, tossed it in the blender and pureed it, adding spring water until it reached the desired consistency.

I imagine this will get easier with more practice, but I won't lie... popping open a jar of Earth's Best organic baby food is much more simple. However, ahem, drumroll please... one organic yam cost me $1.81 and yielded me NINE servings. A single serving jar of Earth's Best costs me .79 cents!

And no more need to recycle glass jars. I used Baby Cubes from The Soft Landing. They are non-toxic and quite ingenious. Their lids are attached, and once you fill them, you snap the lid on tight, place them in their stackable tray and put them in the freezer. You may also use a dry erase marker to jot down the contents and date on them if you wish. The only problem is, I want more than 8 cubes! I need more! I think I may go on a pureeing spree. Now, where are those pearls...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so impressed! Good job mama!

Matt & Kari said...

Ice cube trays work great too! Once the cubes freeze, just pop them into a ziploc or alternative storage. Happy puree-ing!

Anonymous said...

Are the cubes microwaveable?

Anonymous said...

I have been eyeing this product, thanks for testing it out for me!

oh, and you can do yams (the kids call them "orange potatoes") in the microwave, too - 5 minutes on high, don't poke holes in it and will steam the fruit inside the skin!

My 3 & 4 y.o.s still prefer this to regular potatoes! In fact, they won't even eat white potatoes- not even with butter and gravy!

Petite Planet said...

Regarding the cubes being microwaveable, according to the description here, they are:
http://www.thesoftlanding.com/bacubrandfos.html

However, I prefer to defrost one portion in the fridge overnight and avoid the need to microwave at all!