Sweet Potatoes

Well, the time has come again. I can't believe I am making baby food again. It is so silly to think of me being so committed to making all my kids food when they're babies. I do not cook under normal circumstances. I am very open and willing to admit that unless it's a grilled cheese sandwich or a box of mac & cheese, I do not cook. And when I married someone who cooks as well as Jon, I am more than happy to allow him to handle that aspect of the household duties, and I'll do the clean up.

However, since it's not much more than baking, steaming or boiling, I'm always willing to "cook" for my babies. I'm in love with the idea of knowing exactly what they are eating. Both of my kids are exclusively breastfed without any formula needed in any form or fashion, and it makes me amazed to see how well they can grow and thrive by eating what I am providing for them. So once they move to solids, I appreciate knowing that I can continue to provide for them and know what they're eating without getting it from a jar. Now, as with Harper, there are obviously times when jarred foods are simply needed or are more convenient. (I love E@rth's Best organic jarred food and buy a ton of it when it goes on sale.) But I save a bunch of money making my own food, and it's more than worth the effort, so I will continue to make time to make what I can.

I don't plan on feeding Jasper solids until he's 6 months old, and at that time we'll start with oatmeal and rice cereal for a while. With the research I've done, babies really don't need anything other than breastmilk exclusively for the first 6 months of their life, and feeding solids before that time tends to increase the chances of allergies in childhood. I did it with Harper, and I'll do it with Jasper. He's already almost 5 months old and loves to smack his lips together and watch us intently while we eat - it's a crackup! I think he'll be more than ready in September! My supply will most likely take a dip once we start that, so I have been very diligent to stock up a backup in the freezer.

I started with some bananas that were close to being too ripe to eat. I usually let them turn pretty dark and then use them for banana bread, but I'll now be buying extras so I can use them to mash up and freeze for Jasper. Even though bananas are fairly easy to keep on hand, and certainly very easy to mash up for a quick meal, I learned with Harper that it's always great to have something in the freezer for those times when you're out of something fresh!

Here's a picture of one shelf in our freezer. As you can see, we're quickly outgrowing the space that's been dedicated to the frozen breastmilk and baby food. I date the freezer bags and use the oldest ones first when making the bottles on Sunday night, which so far has been the only times I've had to use the frozen stuff, since I freeze everything I pump and have left over from Thursday and Fridays so that it doesn't go bad by Monday. Man, a stand alone freezer would really come in handy!


About a week ago, I found a great deal on some huge sweet potatoes. I think my eyes were bigger than my freezer, and I bought about 6 of these ginormous beasts. I finally got to cook them this past weekend. I took some pics below to remember just how much there was!

This picture does not do their size justice.

Peeling potatoes is one of the most mundane things I can think of doing. Steaming the potatoes is certainly an option, but if I bake them in foil, they peel incredibly easily once they're cool enough. Score!! No peeling!

My mini food processer would only fit one potato at a time. What a pain!

I've had to freeze them in 3 different groups, since I only have 3 covered ice cube trays. Jasper will be having sweet potatoes for a looooong time to come!

And there we are! My first foray into cooking for our little guy. I probably won't be documenting every time, but as I've said time and time again, I use this blog as a type of memory book. I am definitely going to commemorate every new food he gets just like I did with Harper. Butternut squash will be another definite, just like it was with Harper, and we'll take it from there!