Baby First {Sweet Potatoes} + Baby Food Prep

I've been weirdly excited about introducing new foods to the girls, but I decided that after introducing rice cereal around 4 1/2 months I wanted to wait to do fruits and vegetables at least until they were 6 months old.  Well, holy twinkies, they are 6 months old.  Already.

About a month ago I started researching recipes and scouring over blogs and questioning fellow mommy friends about their baby food making/introducing experience and I realized it is going to be easier than I thought.  I originally registered for the Baby Bullet and recieved it as a shower gift, but fell in love with the Baby Brezza after the recommendation was given by a twin momma bloggy friend.  There are a ton of baby food processors out there, but this one is unique in that you are able to steam and puree your fruits and vegetables all in one step.  Ok-ayyyyy!

Starting simple with baby's first foods (ages 6-8 months):  Sweet potatoes, Squash, Green beans, Carrots, Peas, Zucchini. 

I decided to make sweet potatoes and carrots for a first go round with orange veggies. 

The processor carriage can hold 2 small or 1 medium sweet potao.. peeled and diced.

I selected the steam and blend setting for the sweet potatoes.  25 minutes for steaming and then it automatically blends the cooked veg once the steaming stage is complete.  We were in the middle of enjoying dinner when the baby food blended itself.  Welp, that was easy..   

Perfectly steamed and pureed to perfection.  Nothing but sweet potatoes in there..  but I mixed about a tablespoon of breastmilk to just the portion I was serving my girls that evening to thin it out a bit for now.  Until they get better with the textures I will thin it out. 

And now for the verdict..

My mini Taste Testers

Miss Jolie and her first bite.  I think I like this, momma..  

 Parker's turn..

 Groooooooossssss, mom! What have you given me?!  Where is my oats?  I want my oattttssss!

 I hate sweet potatoes!

..back to Jolie.. Gimme her sweet potatoes, mom.. I'll eat them..

Get that spoon out of my face. Stop laughing at me.  Turn the camera off. I'll fight you.  i.hate.sweetpotatoes. 

NOT another bite. I'll fight you to the death over these sweet potatoes.   

What?

Both Jordan and I were COVERED in sweet potatoes and baby oatmeal.  Parker was not having it.  After three days of offerring it to her, she officially hates them. 

A couple things I learned from this first attempt with baby veggies {sweet potatoes}:

Cheap, Cheap, Cheap.  Just 3 medium sweet potatoes made 4 1/2 cups of sweet potato puree.  I've frozen all of it and pull out what I need just for that next day's feeding.  Buying and preparing my own baby food seems to be the cheaper route.  On average a jar of baby food is about 60 to 80 cents each.. and my sweet potatoes cost me just about $3.00 or less. 

Exclusive? Probably not.  Making my own baby food is definitely cost effective, BUT, there will be times when we are out and about or traveling that I'll probably end up buying baby food or pouches for convenience.

Mix it up.  Mixing the sweet potatoes with prepared oatmeal helped the texture of the potatoes become more familiar and allowed Parker to enjoy a couple bites before freaking out again.  She tolerated them, but not for long.  I did notice that Jolie seemed to enjoy the sweet potatoes a lot more mixed with the oatmeal. After she finished the sweet potato oatmeal, I gave her a few bites of plain sweet potatoes again and she made the most hilarious gag face ever. 

I made the mistake of mixing all the oatmeal I had made with the sweet potatoes, so Parker ended up refusing to eat all together that night. Whew!

Three Days.  New foods should be introduced slowly. Waiting at least two to three days before offerring a new type of food is recommended. This way, if your baby develops an allergic reaction, it will be easier to identify the source.