Monday, July 14, 2014

How to Turn Apples into Baby Food and an OXO Tot #FirstBites Giveaway

Posted by Tina / 6 comments » / *Recipes, Baby, Giveaway, Product Reviews

The giveaway within this post is sponsored by OXO Tot, I received a goodie bag of the items in the giveaway but was not compensated monetarily for this post. All opinions of the products mentioned are my own (and accurately represented)!

Little Miss is LOVING solid foods these days. To tell you the truth… I’m actually loving MAKING homemade foods for her. Knowing exactly everything going into her foods makes me one happy momma! And honestly, it’s really EASY!  Like seriously easy… Especially when you have all the right tools (stay tuned – at the end of this post, you will have a chance to win them too!!!)!

Let me walk you through the making of one of Peyton’s favorite first foods… APPLES! You can see just how simple it is to create your own nutritious baby foods!

First off, when it comes to apples, you want to go with USDA Certified Organic apples. Why? Apples are on that nasty “Dirty Dozen” List which means when tested, they come up with a high concentration of pesticide residues in comparison to other produce. I try to be mindful of this when purchasing produce for my little one. I’d rather play it on the safe side.

Once you’ve picked out your apples (I chose some nice Gala apples), you want to peel, core, and chop them into uniform sized pieces (About 1/2″ cubes). I don’t have a fancy corer so I just did it the old fashioned way… with a peeler and knife!

Next, you want to steam them… you can do so by placing the chopped apples in a steamer basket (or using a metal colander as a makeshift one like me!) over a pot with an inch or so of water in it. Turn the heat to high and allow the water to boil and create steam that will gently cook the apples. They are done when they are nice and tender (like you could mash them with a fork)!

Next, add them to a food mill (or if you have a really good blender you can always use that instead) to puree into a smooth consistency!

Last, spread the puree into your storage containers of choice. Right now I’m LOVING these Oxo Freezer Food Trays (I actually had these already!). Peyton is still working her way through single food purees so I like that I can freeze them in 3/4 ounce cubes and then pull out a couple cubes of different purees and let her sample different mixtures to see which she likes best!

And VOILA! You just made baby food!

See, I told you it was easy!

I plan to circle back and do a post on the nitty gritty of baby food making essentials, so keep your eyes peeled! But in the mean time, enter below (SCROLL DOWN –> IT’S AFTER THE RECIPE) to win your own prize package of OXO goodies to get you started!! I’m a HUGE fan… and I’m seriously not just saying that! I had a ton of OXO Tot products prior to receiving this goodie bag and have loved every single one of them (See my Favorite Baby Products: Newborn Edition Part 1 and Part 2). Can I just say… the SPOONS!!! Oh. My. Word. I’m in love. Try them out, you won’t regret it!

Print Save

Organic Apple Puree

Ingredients:

3-5 pounds organic apples, such as Gala (may do this in any quantity)

Directions:

Peel, core, and chop the apples into uniform sized pieced (About 1/2" cubes). Place the chopped apples in a steamer basket (or using a metal colander as a makeshift one) over a pot with an inch or so of water in it. Turn the heat to high and allow the water to boil and create steam that will gently steam the apples. NOTE: Keep an eye on the water level, you may need to add more. They are done when they are nice and tender (you could mash them with a fork)!

Next, add the cooked apples to a food mill (or blender) to puree into a smooth consistency! As needed, add some of the cooking liquid left in the pot to thin out the mixture (thinner for newbies to food). Last, spread the puree into freezer trays and freeze. Transfer to a freezer safe ziplock bag and freeze for future use!

 Print Recipe   

Share

6 comments