Make Your Own Baby And Toddler Food

When he was eating "baby" food, I would blend up frozen peas and beans, canned peaches and pears, etc., until smooth, and then freeze them into cubes. I stored the frozen cubes in ziplocks, and would pop one or two out for each meal. I would also do this for mashed ripe bananas, and avocado, or buy a can of pumpkin (not flavored - but plain pumpkin) and cube those as well. When pears and apples were in season, we harvested from a friend's tree and cooked up our own, pureed it well, and made more cubes. Another favorite was lentil soup, pureed right out of the can and then frozen. I would make brown rice or white rice cubes out of leftovers from our dinners, and then mix the frozen rice with the frozen lentil soup for a great meal for him. He loved it!

Now that he is a toddler, I am always looking for quick meals for his lunch at daycare without purchasing the processed stuff. His current favorite is Pasta Pucks:

Pasta Pucks

Ingredients

• one pound of pasta (I use Barilla Plus enriched elbows)
• one jar of sauce (I alternate between store brand tomato or cheese)
• one can great northern beans - drained
• grated cheese and seasoning to taste

Directions

Cook the pasta according to directions. While it is cooking, put the jar of sauce and can of beans into the blender and blend until smooth. Add the sauce/bean mix to the cooked pasta and add any additional seasonings you like (I add some grated cheese and oregano). Freeze in muffin cups (with papers) or in silicone muffin pans. You can also freeze in small reusable freezer containers. I use the silicone pans, then pop the "pucks" out and put them in a ziplock. One puck for lunch was good from age 1-2, and now he is eating 2 pucks. Saves lots of time for both me and the babysitter, and he gets a good lunch with lots of added fiber/nutrients from the beans. The cost for about 10-16 meals - about $3.00!

We also make a double batch of waffles on the weekend (the big ones that divide into squares) and freeze the extra squares in press-n-seal paper. When the little guy wants a waffle during the week, I can grab one easily, and don't have to buy the commercial ones. You don't need a big freezer to do this, we just have the one on top of our fridge, and it has worked just great!

By Regina from Rochester, NY

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