Watermelon- Baby Food

Watermelon Baby Food

Of course we had watermelon on July 4th. Doesn’t everyone? Well, we had some guests bring us ours and we only managed to slice up one.  The second one I decided to make use of before it went bad.  First I made combo of watermelon and pears, I added peaches to the second batch and then the rest I just used for toddler popsicles and juice.  Recipe for this is soooo easy anyone can do it and I spent a total of 1 hour working on all this and that includes slicing and deseeding the watermelon.
Suggestion for future:  DO NOT get the Seedless.  It is MUCH easier to pick out the large black seeds than the tiny white ones that seem to be intergrated into every spoonful of a seedless.

Begin with a bowl full of watermelon.  Remove seeds.  There are no hints to this I have found yet.  Like I mentioned above, the large black seeds will be easier than tiny white seeds of a seedless.  That is what I had and it was a pain but well worth it to remove them and make use of this whole watermelon for baby food and toddler snacks.
Watermelon with Pears
2 to 3 cups of chunked watermelon; deseeded                                
1 can (15oz) pears, drained;  you could very easily use 2 cups of fresh pears also, I just happened to have the canned in the pantry

Puree in blender or food processor to desired consistancy
I used our NINJA for this and it worked great!

Next pour into your BabyCubes or ice trays and pop into the freezer overnight.  Once the cubes are frozen you can remove from the cubes or trays and place into a BPA free freezer storage container and place in freezer.  Make sure you label with contents and the date prepared.

Watermelon and Peaches
2 to 3 cups of chunked watermelon; deseeded                                      1 can (15oz) peaches, drained;  you could very easily use 2 cups of fresh peaches also, I just happened to have the canned in the pantry

Puree in blender or food processor to desired consistancy
I used our NINJA for this and it worked great!
Next pour into your BabyCubes or ice trays and pop into the freezer overnight.  Once the cubes are frozen you can remove from the cubes or trays and place into a BPA free freezer storage container and place in freezer.  Make sure you label with contents and the date prepared.
Toddler Watermelon Combo Popsicles
Prepare your watermelon as above with your fruit choice.  Personally Bailey and I liked the Watermelon with Peaches best but others might love the pear combo better.

Once you have pureed to soupy consistancy then pour into your popsicle containers and place tops on and pop into the freezer.  These are super yummy for the little ones and even the moms and dads can enjoy!
You can also make
Watermelon Juice with this same mixture or just with watermelon alone; just pour into a sealable container and place in the fridge.  Since there are no perservatives and this is not being frozen you should consume this within 3 to 5 days.

Homemade Granola

Well we eat lots of granola bars are our house.  Can you imagine how many of those a 2 year old can ask for in one day?  8 at least!  LOL.  Well since I continously buy different varieties and we go through them like there is no tomorrow I decided to try out some homemade.
The first reciepe I tried out I found here and kept it very simple.  I used on the first set of ingredients and substitued the extras with cranberries (cause I don’t love rasins) and walnut (cause we were out of peanuts) and I threw in a handful of white chocolate chips for something special.  It turned out good but was not clusters or bars.  It was cereal pretty much and Brent actually ate it like cereal several days and loved it.  I, however was wanting something more like a granola bar.  So I went back to the web and found many more reciepes.  Only one mentioned “Don’t Crumble”.  That was my bingo sound.  I wanted to make real granola bars!  So I tried this reciepe out from here and it is awesome.  I personally love it and prefer it to the other, cereal like version but Brent likes both.  I have found that Bailey prefers this one too, mainly I think because its a bar she can hold not crumbles in a bowl.  Either way, I went to the store and got all the ingredients for this one and did the extras I wanted and we already went thru the first pan.  I made another pan Tuesday night for our trip to the beach this weekend.  It won’t melt and is full of yummy protein so I think it will be great!

Why You Should Make Your Own Baby Food

Why? Why should you make your own baby food?

Its so much better for your precious baby.  Did you know these facts about jarred store bought baby food:

• It has to be cooked as such a high temp to make it safe to sit on a shelf for 2 years that most of the nutrients are cooked out.
• Studies have found lead in the jars that this food is package in.
• Its expensive and a lot of it gets wasted in the end.

Example: one mom buys jarred baby food and spends up to $3 per day, the other mom makes her own baby food and spends and average of $3 per week to feed her baby
Think about that one!
I don’t have the time…
YES you do.  You always have the time to do what is best for you little one.  You spent 9 months taking the best possible care of your body to give him a healthly environment to grow in.  You can find the time to make the best food for him so he continues to grow in a healthly environment.
Did you know you can make a weeks worth of homemade baby food in just an hour a week.  How many of you can’t find one hour to do this for you child, and yourself.
Think about it this way, after your little one hits the hay for the night, DVR that episode of CSI, Dancing with the Stars or Deadilest Catch and watch it later in the week when nothing else is on.  Or on a rainy Saturday afternoon get Dad to have some one on one time with the baby and you take an hour for making baby food.  When Bailey was eating baby food, I made all hers on Sunday evenings.  We would have either an early dinner, or I would make something that could be popped in the oven and cook while I cooked her food on the stove. Brent loved his special time with her and I am hoping he will do so with both girls when Jozie gets to baby food.
I don’t have the right supplies…
You really don’t need much but in case your actually are missing some supplies here is a short list of the items I use:

• Stock pot and saucepan
• Steamer pan or metal colander
• Blender/Food processor or hand powered food mill
• Vegetable masher
• Cubed trays (ice cubes trays work great but make sure you buy the BPA free ones)
• Good sharp knife
• Cutting board
• Creative mind for stage 2 mixing of veggies and fruits

There are lots of products on the market and I will being doing reviews on some of them but the most basic kitchen utensils work wonders.  I will say that a food processor is better than the blender only because most blenders are just not made for that much use.  We went thru two while Bailey was eating baby food.  A old cheap one we had before and then better quality one we got later.  Its still usuable but I will be trying out our Ninja for when Jozie arrives.