Baby Food: Sweet Potatoes

I decided early on in my pregnancy that I wanted to make Jr.'s baby food, more for cost savings than anything else. I can buy a 5 lb bag of sweet potatoes at Sam's club for just under $4. I found a price online where a grocery store was selling a 4 oz. jar for $1. My last batch of sweet potatoes yielded 74 ounces. That's about $0.05 per ounce. If I bought the same amount in a store it would have cost me $18.50. It's not quite like calculating the cost savings between breastfeeding and using formula, but it still adds up.

It isn't hard to make your own baby food and isn't all that time consuming. I would advise only making one variety at a time, simply because who has the room for more than six ice cube trays in their freezer. If you want to make combined flavors that's okay, you can either make the vegetables at the same time, or make them separately and combine them when thawing.

If you have three varieties of vegetables in your freezer they should last you around 2 months. But you should use any food you make within 3 months. So, don't go too crazy making a huge amount of food, because chances are it will not be good when you go to use it. 

You'll need:

Sweet potatoes (I usually buy a 5 lb bag)

Peeler

Knife

Large pot

Something to purée the sweet potatoes with

Ice cube trays

Slotted spoon, ladle, regular table spoon

The gear.

Instructions

1. Wash, peel, and cut sweet potatoes into small pieces.

2. Place sweet potatoes in a large pot. Cover with water.

3. Bring to a boil, then simmer until sweet potatoes are fork tender. Remove from heat.

4. Use the slotted spoon to place the sweet potatoes in your blender/food processor. Don't overload your machine.

5. Blend, using the ladle to add water from the pot until you reach desired consistency.

6. Use the regular spoon to spoon the purée into the ice cube trays.

7. Place trays in freezer. Allow to freeze over night.

This is what happens when you
cover with plastic wrap.

Not covered with plastic wrap.

8. Remove cubes from tray. Run cold water over the back of each tray before attempting to remove them. Use a cookie sheet to catch the cubes.

74 ounces of sweet potato goodness.

9. Place in freezer bags. Mark with contents and date. (I recommend using quart sized freezer bags since you'll be opening and closing the bag a lot.) Return to freezer.

Make an educated guess on how many bags you'll need.
Then mark before placing cubes inside. It's just easier.

To use after freezing:

Place in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 1:30 at 40% power. Increase time if thawing more than one cube. Stir to disperse any hot spots. Check temperature before feeding to child. (hint: don't use your finger, it's used to higher temperatures. Just touch a spoonful to the inside of your wrist.)

Sweet potatoes are probably the easiest to make with carrots being just as easy (especially if you buy a bag of frozen carrots and cook as directed). Squash is a little harder, just because of how tough it is to peel, but you would cook it in the same way or you can steam it.

Here is a link to a printable recipe: Baby Food: Sweet Potatoes