Homemade baby food: Round 6

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Here’s the menu for today: Apricots, prunes, egg yolks, chick peas and blackberries. And it’s oh so easy!

First up, soak your apricots (if using dried) and prunes.

Apricots: To be honest, this one stumped me. I had never bought a fresh apricot when I decided I wanted to feed this food to M. I had used plenty of dried apricots, but I was a bit at a loss with the fresh kind.

Good news: You can use either! For fresh, just grab 4-6 apricots and peel and pit them before pureeing them. They can be a bit watery, so you may need to add a grain (such as oatmeal, brown rice, barley) or a thicker food (such as chicken, prunes) to make it more spoon-able.

For dried apricots, place them in a cup or bowl, cover with water and soak them for 20-30 minutes so they’re softened up. Then drain, reserving the water, and puree, adding the reserved water as needed to get them to a smooth consistency. I usually need to add most of the water.

Prunes: You do the same with these as the dried apricots – which is why I put them in same round-up batch. Place them in a cup or bowl, add water to cover and soak for 20-30 minutes. Drain, reserve water, puree and add in reserved water as needed for a good consistency.

Note: J had some constipation when I weaned him from breastmilk to cow’s milk at age 1, so prunes were a mainstay to help keep things moving. He loved them plain, mixed with apricots, mixed with pumpkin, mixed with pears and mixed with banana (which is the only way I would serve him banana for those few transitional weeks, since it can cause constipation).

While the apricots and prunes are soaking, boil up some eggs.

Egg yolks: They used to say that you should introduce egg yolks before egg whites and/or whole eggs. It was an allergy thing. That’s not really true anymore, but talk to your pediatrician if you’re concerned. Either way, it’s really easy to make a batch of hard-boiled eggs (place 3-4 eggs in a small pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, cover and turn off heat. They’ll be ready in 10 minutes.) and scoop out the yolks and mash up for your baby. You can serve as is or spread on some whole wheat toast for a finger food. Or even mix with mayonnaise or mustard for an older baby for a mini egg-salad. And feel free to chow down on the leftover egg whites yourself for a healthy breakfast. Just sprinkle with salt and pepper and enjoy! (Or slice and serve on toast with avocado – yum!)

Once you’re read to offer the whole egg, scramble up one or two eggs and serve them as finger foods for your baby. You can even throw in some shredded cheese or chopped fresh herbs (dill, parsley, cilantro) to make it extra fancy. What a lucky baby!

Chick peas: I have some seriously hummus-loving kids in my house. I get it – hummus is downright delicious! And there are so many options available. Mine are particularly fond of beet hummus but we eat plenty of regular hummus and definitely mix in some spinach hummus, edamame hummus, roasted red pepper hummus, even pea and parsley hummus.

If you have a very young one, you may just want to blend up some chick peas and water to start, and introduce the hummus combinations a bit later. Use a rinsed and well-drained can of chick peas or a bag of homemade crock pot chick peas. Add water as necessary to get it to your desired consistency. You’ll have a hummus lover on your hands in no time!

Blackberries: I keep a bag in the freezer, but if you can get fresh ones, have at it. Either way, puree these beautiful berries and serve ‘em up. That’s it!

Note: Both of my kids are particularly fond of blackberries mixed in with applesauce. (In fact, Trader Joe’s sells a packaged “organic applesauce with wild berries” that is apples and blackberries.) Blackberries also work well with peaches and either spinach or kale for a yogurt fruit mix-in.

And there you go – 5 more easy foods for your baby to enjoy!

In case you missed them, or for quick reference, here are my other batch baby food making round-ups:

Homemade baby food round 1: peas, green beans, applesauce, butternut squash, oatmeal
Homemade baby food round 2: sweet potato, brown rice, chicken, pears, banana
Homemade baby food round 3: quinoa, peaches, avocado, pumpkin, cottage cheese
Homemade baby food round 4: broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, black beans, Greek yogurt
Homemade baby food round 5: asparagus, barley, edamame, blueberries, mango

Here’s a collection of my favorite baby food combinations. Plus, the full list of my favorite baby food resources.

And if you’ve gone through all six of these rounds, you may be in need of ideas for finger foods and homemade squeeze pouches!

** What’s been your baby’s favorite food so far? Anything he or she doesn’t like?