Beaba – The Simple Elements

Ingredients

1 small organic butternut squash, washed, peeled and cubed ( I always wash things before peeling because then you’re not transferring any dirt or bacteria from the store when you cut into them)

6 small organic yukon gold potatoes, washed, peeled and cubed

2 large organic Honeycrisp apples, washed, peeled and cubed (I used Honeycrisp because I wanted to eat the leftovers :

Directions

Using your Beaba, steam the butternut squash and the potatoes until tender. You can steam these two veggies together because they both use level 3 water. However, I find that separating them allows me to better measure how much of each ingredient I put into the final dish. Reserve the cooking liquid from either the squash or the potatoes.

Instead of pureeing the squash and potatoes in the Beaba, I mashed them by hand using a fork so that I could give them a chunkier texture. I added the reserved cooking liquid to make a consistency that was easy to blend.

Steam the apples using water level 2 and blend into a smooth puree.

In a large bowl, mix the squash, potato and apple together. You can use any ratio you like, mine was heavier on the squash, then potato, and lighter on the apple as to not make it too sweet. The butternut squash is sweet enough on its own.

This medley can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Butternut Squash, Yukon Gold Potato and Apple Medley

At 6.5 months, Marielle has started enjoying all sorts of foods, which makes cooking for her a lot of fun. I’m pretty sure she’s a little mini foodie, and loves all types of cuisine, just like her daddy! Our pediatrician said at this point, Marielle can try anything she wants (pureed or chopped fine of course) with the exception of honey, due to botulism. I’ve introduced her to several flavors of yogurt, green veggie puffs, spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, bananas, sweet potatoes, green peas, and now we’ve added pears and zucchini to the list! I was a little worried she wouldn’t like the zucchini because unlike sweet potatoes and green peas, there isn’t even a hint of sweetness. I steamed and pureed a couple of organic zucchini for her to try and much to my surprise, she LOVED them! A huge smile came across her face as she tasted the bright green squash for the first time. I have no doubts that she wouldn’t love pears…I used organic D’Anjou pears for her puree. As always, I try all her foods before I give them to her and the pears were definitely a winner. I love how easy it is for me to create nutritious, homemade food using the Beaba Babycook! In another week or so, we can introduce her to a couple of meats, such as chicken and turkey. This will be a whole new flavor profile and texture for her, so we will see how it goes! If for some reason baby doesn’t enjoy green veggies, try mixing in a little pear or apple puree to begin with, and gradually eliminate the sweetness until they are eating the veggie on its own.

When buying produce to create purees, keep this in mind. To make a 2 ounce container of babyfood, it takes 1 small apple or 1 small pear, for example. My containers are all 2 ounces so it’s easy to determine how much produce I need to buy to make a full batch. Fruits are generally cooked with Level 2 water in the Beaba and veggies are usually Level 3.