6 months!

happy half-birthday to you! happy half-birthday to you!

i can't believe that my tiny little peanut is already six months old. it is insane! he is sleeping through the night, he's starting to sit up, he's rolling around in both directions, he found his chubby little toes. he is taking set naps now and he's attempting to grab food off of our plates. so, to ring in the fact that he is growing up so fast (*tear*) i spent this afternoon making baby food for the little guy. so far he's tried rice cereal and oatmeal. he did awesome on both so we've decided to slowly introduce fruits/veggies starting today. i told him what i was going to do and well...i don't want to brag but he was pretty excited:
so while the little dudes slept today we whipped up pureed carrots, pears and mangoes. some of you may be like ''what? she makes baby food? why wouldn't you just buy it?" well it's super easy and i like that it is healthier, fresher and i know exactly what my baby is eating. i can use organic produce and i can make sure that no nutrients are wasted. and let's face it, it is WAY cheaper. a jar of baby food is between .35 cents and $1 PER jar. i can buy an entire pound of pears for $1.29 and that yields 16 servings.

are you wondering how one goes about making baby food? well here is the run-down. it is quick and easy. today in less than one hour i made 16 servings of 3 different things. seriously people--easy peasy. you'll need a steamer basket, ice cube tray and a blender or food processor.

so first things first, you clean and dice up your fruit/veggie. then fill a saucepan with about an inch of water and place a steamer basket. fill basket with produce and steam until overly soft.

(pause to notice my new caphalon saucepan i got for my birthday)

once you've steamed it, drop it into your daiquiri/margarita maker blender and use your pulse button to mash it up. slowly add the water from the bottom of the saucepan* (you know, the water that is chalked full of yummy nutrients and vitamins from the food you just steamed?) and slowly add it into the blender until your puree is the consistency that you want it. once well blended, pour into an ice cube tray.

(forgot to snap a pic so i stole this one from google images. i make my trays neater, but you get the idea.)

pop the tray in the freezer and freeze until solid. once frozen throughout, pop the pureed cubes into a labeled ziploc baggie and stick it in your freezer.
when you want to feed your baby you simply thaw the cube (on 1/2 power in the micro or let it thaw on it's own. you can add warm water, breastmilk or formula too) and feed. viola!

see, wasn't that easy? he sure enjoyed it! here is the happy 6 month old later this evening...
tomorrow we'll make/prepare apples, pumpkin, green beans, and peas. yumm-o!

*i want to clarify, the only exception to this is for vegetables with high nitrate concentration, such as carrots, broccoli, and spinach...when cooking those, use new fresh water in the blender