Adventures in baby food making: Creamy Broccoli and Cherry Banana Delight!

Today was a big day in Cohen's world! We tried two new foods!

The day started with me going about 15 minutes away from our home to Central Market, in an effort to buy organic. The only item that surprised me price-wise were the organic cherries...$6.99/lb!!! eeek! But I got a bag of less than a pound, jeez, that's hard to justify! :) I bought the cherries, some bananas, butternut squash, sweet potato, broccoli and a papaya. The papaya is the only thing that did not come organic. Oh well.

So, the broccoli.

Bright green broccoli crowns! I used two of these.

Into the steamer with water and a tablespoon of unsalted butter. Steamed in microwave for 20 minutes.

Pureed in food processor with a scoop of rice cereal, half a scoop of formula and a little more water. (I added the steaming water, but there wasn't much left.)

Looks very yummy! (we tasted it and both agreed we'd need some salt.. sorry, Coco!)

Ok with his first bite...

Starting to dislike...

Literally dry heaving here... :(

Sealing that mouth so I can't get anymore in!

So. The broccoli wasn't a huge hit. Better luck tomorrow. I'll get Hector to add some of the leftover mashed potatoes to it tomorrow, maybe. I knew it would be rough--broccoli has a strong flavor! It ended up being the perfect consistency, though. I'm kind of glad it only made enough for three more servings... we're moving on to something really yummy on Monday!

I wasn't planning on giving him more after the broccoli, but I felt bad for the little guy--not getting a dinner he could enjoy. So I whipped up a Cherry Banana Delight. I got this recipe from Annabel Karmel's Top 100 Baby Purees. 

So for the Cherry Banana Delight:

6 beautiful, red cherries. Cut them in half and remove the pit and stem.

Simmer with 1 tablespoon of water for about 2 minutes.

Mash up one banana.

Add mashed banana to pot and simmer for just under a minute. Pour mixture into food processor and add  1 tablespoon of rice cereal. Puree. 

So pretty and smells won.der.ful.

He was scared I was giving him broccoli again!

Then he realized what it was and ate it all right up! He loved it! I'm pretty sure if he could lick the bowl, he would have!

This mixture was enough for three servings; I froze two. It was sort of a simplified compote--baby style. I tasted this.. and I wanted to put it on a piece of puff pastry and dollop some home made whipped cream on top! YUM!

I don't know if you remember the original food containers I got, to freeze and store the food I made, but those were very poor quality. Cute, but cheap. :( The little lids broke off and almost all of them cracked. 

So, today, I bought new ones. Silicone ones, with screw on lids. :)

I'll be sure to pop the food out of the little cup before microwaving anymore. 

Next up: Papaya! (I'm expecting him to love this!)

Then: Butternut squash and sweet potato puree! (I think he'll love this one, too!)