Last night I decided to make my first baby food for the freezer with some wonderful butternut squash from my mom’s garden. It was so bright orange and flavorful, I couldn’t help but eat a few scoops myself after it was cooked! I’m a little over 31 weeks now with our first baby (a girl!), due on January 7. As fast as fall is going so far, it will be nothing short of a miracle if I am able to get anything else in the freezer (including regular meals for my husband and I) before she is born!
Since this is my first “go” at baby food, I am no expert and would appreciate any advice, tips, or tricks that you experienced moms may have! I just did the very basics and am hoping for the best. Making baby food seems like a very easy process (although it was a bit harder with my feet hurting so much last night!), but just requires a little bit of time. In my mind, it’s worth it for the health benefits of improved nutrition (the freshest foods available locally)- plus you know exactly what goes in it and how it was processed. The basic steps I followed were: cook the food plain, puree it (I used my trusty food processor), and then freeze it.
I know they have those wonderfully fancy little freezer containers at baby stores (and I even added a few to my registry!), but I had an extra ice cube tray free and figured that I would give that method a try first. Each “ice cube” is approximately one ounce so it should still be easy to track how much to thaw/feed the baby.
To start, I cut the butternut squash in half, removed the seeds, and baked it on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about an hour and 15 minutes. I knew it was done when I could slide a fork easily into the thickest part. I let the squash cool for quite a while on the counter and then scooped out all the insides into my food processor.
I ran it in the processor until the squash was nice and creamy with no chunks. I then carefully scooped the squash into the ice cube tray (trying not to make too big of a mess) and placed it in the freezer overnight. Today, I will pop the frozen squash cubes out of the trays and put them in freezer bags (hoping I’ll be able to reuse them again later) so they will be easy to grab and thaw when I need them.
I’m pretty excited to at least have made my first attempt with baby food, although I’m sure I still have lots of practice and learning to do!
