Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Blue Quinoa baby food

I found this recipe at Wholesome Baby Food but made some modifications to it. It turned out great, and it's super nutritious for babies. Well, for anyone really!

Ingredients:
-One pint organic blueberries, make sure to use organic as blueberries are a dirty dozen.
-One large sweet potato, potatoes are a dirty dozen, but sweet potatoes are not.
-One cup quinoa


1). First, I brought my quinoa to a boil in 2 cups of water then covered and simmered for about 10 minutes. Like rice, quinoa is done when all the water is absorbed. Set aside.



2). Then I washed, peeled and chopped my sweet potatoes. They cook faster as chunks, and it's best to discard the peel before cooking since you will be using the water you boiled them in for the puree. Boil potatoes in pot for 10 minutes or until you can pierce through with a fork. Do not drain. Keep water.

3). There are several ways to soften blueberries. First pick through to remove all stems, then either simmer them, or put in a glass bowl in microwave for 15 seconds. I used the microwave because it's fast, and with a 7 1/2 month old baby, you ain't got much time!

4). Put cooked sweet potatoes, blueberries and about 1/2 cup of the water you used to boil the sweet potatoes in, in a Baby Bullet or blender. If you don't have a Baby Bullet, get one, it rocks. Puree to desired thickness, adding more water as you need.




I then poured this deliciousness into my Baby Bullet storage containers (which have date dials on the lids for freshness), and the remainder into the freezer containers. Remember, baby food is good in the fridge for 3 days, and freezer for 3 months!




WE ARE NOT DONE YET!!!

Remember that yummy quinoa??!! Well, I put it in a freezer bag and stuck it in the fridge. Like this...



So, all I have to do when Fia is ready to eat, is pull out one of my Baby Bullet containers and top it with some quinoa! Also, keeping your quinoa separate allows you to add it to whatever you are feeding her/him, not just the blueberry, sweet potato puree. Genius, simply genius, if I do say so myself;)

UPDATE: So, this might be TMI, but Fia was pooping out quinoa, in it's full form. Like, it looked like it did when it went in her mouth! So, worried she wasn't getting the nutrients out of it that she needed, tonight I milled the quinoa before boiling it. I milled 1/4 cup and boiled, while constantly whisking in 1 cup water. Looks like baby cereal. I will add this to her meals instead, and hopefully she will reap the benefits.



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