Adventures in baby food making: Beef Stew!

This was a delicious meal for Cohen! He really loved this one. And it made me and Hector really want to eat better...like home cooked meals. :) It was so easy, just took a little time.

Braised beef with carrot, parsnip, and sweet potato, the real name given in the book
1 T olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 1/2 ounces lean beef, cut into pieces
2 T all-purpose flour
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small parsnip, peeled and chopped (what is a parsnip?? am I right??)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 T chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 cups unsalted chicken broth

Heat olive oil in heavy-bottomed saucepan. Saute the onion and garlic for 3 to 4 minutes or until softened. Toss the beef in flour and saute until sealed. Add the carrots, parsnip, sweet potato, bay leaf and parsley to the pan and pour in the stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 1 hour 45 minutes or until the meat is tender. Blend, adding as much of the cooking liquid as necessary.

The ingredients. That white carrot? That's a parsnip. Who knew?

Even at Central Market, no unsalted chicken stock. So we found sodium free bouillon that I turned into a broth. :)

Here, the meat is added, after sauteing the onion and garlic. We got a good sirloin steak from CM.

Hector's awesome knife skills!

YUM. Pretty sure we ended up adding an extra cup or two of the chicken broth.

After the pureeing. And into the silicone trays.

Why the color variation between these two pics? I don't know. But it looked a lot like carrots. :)

Ignore me, I don't quite know how to edit me out yet. :) First bite!

"Ehhh... I've had better..."

Beef is a totally new taste for him.

We share some of the same facial expressions... :P

Maybe it's ok... 

"Aaaanndd... how do I get this thing open?"

So, this was a great dish and it accomplished it's purpose. Introducing Cohen to new flavors. And by the 11th time he had this.. he LIKED it. :)

Also this night, we tried pureed peaches. I just scored and "x" in the skin on the bottom of the fruit with a paring knife and dropped it in a pot of boiling water for a couple minutes.. to blanch it. Then peeled it and took out the seed and threw it in the food processor. I pureed it and tasted it... SOUR! So, I added a tablespoon of sugar. Better, but still a little tart. I just KNEW these peaches would be sweet.. nope. 

Couldn't care less about the peaches I prepared for him. :(

But look at those cheeks... :)

I am enjoying making Cohen's food so much. It brings me such peace knowing exactly what is in the food he eats. I highly recommend trying to make your own baby food. You will feel so accomplished when you spoon your own homemade, heartfelt meals into your little one's mouth--and they like it! I'd rather give him something fresh any day, than give him something vacuum-sealed that expires two years from now. Yuck. Our food doesn't last that long, why (how??) should his? 

Do you have any great baby food recipes? Please share!