Gerber, eat your heart out!

It's no secret (or maybe it is?) that I love to cook.  I particularly like to bake, which is something I learned from my mother growing up.  I can cook just about anything with the right recipe, and I have fun doing it.  Can I wing it and experiment with whatever we have around, like Chad does?  Not exactly.  Do I make a gigantic mess?  Usually.  But I love it, and honestly, I think I'm pretty good at it!


So when Makenna's pediatrician said it was time for solid foods, I got excited.  I thought, "YES!  Mommy is making baby food!"  This was something I badly wanted to be able to do for her, to make sure she was getting things that were healthy and relatively fresh.  Because we had such a horrible time with breastfeeding and were not able to continue with that for long, I have felt guilty, like I was depriving her of what she needed.  I KNOW that isn't true, and that the important thing is that she is growing and healthy (which she most certainly is).  But this...THIS was something I knew I could do.  


We started her with Gerber first, because I didn't want to make a large batch of something only to find out that she wouldn't eat it.  Once we had determined what she liked, I set to work, armed with my Cutco knife, my Dutch oven, my blender and some ice cube trays.  I found an applesauce recipe at Wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com, and I knew that would be my first project.  And while I was at it, I thought I would blend up some peaches in basically the same way.  I started with nine beautiful Jazz apples and seven beautiful Texas peaches. 

I promise there were 7!  One had already been sliced!

Mmmmm....

After a lot of peeling, slicing and dicing (and one sore hand!), I had them ready for the pot.  They simmered away, smelling delicious the whole time.  I won't lie - I gave in to the temptation and sampled a piece of cooked apple...or three.

Simmering apples

Simmering peaches

Once the simmering was done, it was blender time.  I wasn't totally sure if the blender would cut it, but it was great!  In probably 15 minutes flat, I had perfectly smooth applesauce and perfectly smooth peaches!

Apples, apples everywhere

Peaches, anyone?

Into the freezer everything went, and once the freezing was done, I popped out the little portions and bagged them up.  We now have a freezer full of homemade baby food, and I am one happy mommy!  I will admit, I sampled the frozen peaches...they were just irresistible on a hot day!  The question now is...will Makenna appreciate all of her mommy's "hard work"?

I'd call THAT a big yes!!