Thursday, January 31, 2013

Making Apple(sauce) for Emma

I finally continued the baby food making.  It seems like it's been a while since the butternut squash introduction and we've just been enjoying our vegetables.  We did try bananas but Emma does not like them, at all.  You can sneak in about 1 bite and she'll not take another.  Her mouth is clamped shut and if you sneak another bite in she will gag.  We've tried it with cereal, sauteed in butter and whipped, you name it.  Bananas just might not be her thing......and that is the go to fruit that is easy to make on demand!

So this past weekend I purchased some apples and pears.  You might be thinking...hmmm...didn't you guys already make a bunch of applesauce?  Yes we did, but it has sugar and cinnamon in it and I haven't been giving Emma food with sugar yet.  After consulting my cookbooks the recommendation was Golden Delicious Apples.  We don't eat those unfortunately, we're more Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Pink Lady apple eaters.  As Tim says "Golden Delicious are mushy".  So we got a smaller bag just for Emma.
So my tools were all set out an ready to go.  My handy apple peeler/corer and stand, a bag of Golden Delicious ($4.37 from Wal-Mart) and reading my recipes about 10 times to make sure I wouldn't forget.
I don't get to use my apple peeler/corer that often.  Usually just for apple pies, but since we weren't using the Foley mill we had to peel and core the apple.  It is so quick and easy, I had it done in no time.

And they make cute curly cue apples.  I had to cut off a couple spots and remove a couple of seeds but I did that when I was cutting them up.  Then I just added 1 tbsp of water for each apple (I did 6 at one time) - and I might have added an extra tbsp just to be safe and put them in a pot.  Here's where the applesauce making unfortunately kicked in - I set the stove temp 8 to boil them, since we're not putting them through a mill they don't have to be mush.  As I was re-reading the recipe one last time I caught my error and it's supposed to be on LOW.  Quickly turned that down and no apples were lost due to my error.  The recipe called for less apples than I made at a time so I cooked them longer and stirred them to get them softened, probably about 15-20 minutes.  Then just dumped the whole thing in the blender and vooolah!
6 apples made 15 servings and Emma's dessert for the night.
Survey says:
Emma:  Lip smacking sounds, and "Heee, hee, hee", which I translate into "YUM"
Abigail:  "This is warm, but it tastes okay"
Megan:  "I like it, can you make me some?"
Ann:  Very sweet, not to bad.....as I take another bite and remind Megan to feed her sister and not herself.
Tim:  (Insert typing sounds because he's at work)

Overall we have 30 1 oz squares freezing.  Megan has put apples on the grocery list for herself, Abby wants us to bring up a jar of applesauce just for her, and I'm happy that Emma likes a fruit!
After dinner I put her on the floor to play and she was rolling around with her thumb in her mouth clutching her bib and passed out.  Happy full baby!  She stayed like that until her sister tried to pick her up because "I never get to hold a sleeping baby" and you can guess how that went.....

2 comments:

Julie said...

What book are you using for your baby food making ideas? I am hoping to plant several veggies in our garden to make into baby food this summer for Maclin.

The Schmidt Family said...

Top 100 Baby Purees: 100 Quick and Easy Meals for a Healthy and Happy Baby - Annabel Karmel
and
So Easy Baby Food: A Personalized Guide to Making Baby Food At Home, 2nd Edition - Joan Ahlers (got as the starter kit for Christmas)
Both have good tips.