Food for Baby

I like to cook.  I find it relaxing, challenging and satisfying all at the same time.  Being home has allowed me to expand my repertoire.  I can take 3 hours to make dinner or start a roast that will take 6 hours - on a work day!  It's awesome.  I have time to look up recipes and try new things.  I even have extra time to experiment with the baby's food.

I started making my own baby food with our first daughter because we were super poor and I could make her food much cheaper than I could buy it.  I continued that with our son and had a lot of fun trying to keep his menu interesting.  Now that our baby has gotten big enough to really try some food I've had fun breaking out of the norm and expanding her palate.  When she first started solid foods one of her favorite "dishes" was when I steamed carrots and apples and then chopped them up together in the food processor.  I know it sounds weird, but she just loved it.  I tried it and it wasn't bad.  Peas and apples are pretty good together too.  Then for some reason she started not liking carrots at all.  That was until I switched from steaming to roasting.  She went absolutely crazy.  And when I added roasted zucchini, sweet potatoes and yellow squash, she got really excited.

She has currently moved past the smashed peas, green beans, etc and is chomping on big bits of food.  She loved when I cored some apples and roasted them for about 10 min.  It made them nice and soft and even caramelized them a little.  The best part was how well they stayed fresh.  Tonight she enjoyed some broccoli with a touch of butter and Parmesan.  I'm not sure where we're headed next, but I know it will be tasty.