Babyfood Bonanza

I knew I had been needing to make more baby food. I kept going down to the freezer and seeing the bags dwindle - now that she's eating three solid meals a day, they go a lot quicker. Then finally last week we were down to a few cubes and I really needed to get busy. So last Sunday was baby food bonanza day.

Here is what I ended up making:

• Stew meat with parsnips and carrots. She liked stew meat a lot the first time I did it, so I thought I would try it again since it is so easy in the crockpot and it makes a lot. I put the stew meat in first, then the peeled parsnips and carrots, trying to have a few more carrots than parsnips. I threw some thyme in there, a couple cups of filtered water, and let it cook on low for about 7 hours. She liked this one, but not as well as when I put just potatoes, carrots, and onion in it. I think the parsnips have a pretty strong, distinct flavor. She has eaten it by itself, but sometimes I've had to mix it with other things.

• I found this recipe for Basic Creamy Veggie Soup and altered it a bit. I wanted to use asparagus, but Marcs didn't have any, so I ended up using zuchini, white potatoes, and spinach. I boiled some potatoes, then threw in the zuchini on top when the potatoes were mostly done. Then I just put the spinach in a skillet with a little water and let it wilt a little. I put all the veggies in the food processor with some of the cooking water, and tossed in a few Laughing Cow cheese triangles. The consistency was great and Addy really seems to like this one.
• Lovely Lentils from naturebaby.com. I ended up using onions instead of shallots and sage instead of thyme (since the beef I made already had thyme in it, I wanted to mix things up) and it smelled really good as it cooked. I wasn't super happy with the consistency when I took this one out of the food processor. I think when things have a lot of potato in it, the food processor makes it extra gluey. I'm not sure on this one if it was that or just having all the beans in there. Addy didn't really like it at first when she tried it by itself, but I've since mixed a cube or two with other things and she eats it. Not sure that I'll make this recipe again.

The lentils and veggie soup, after being pureed.

Those lentils look about the same coming out the other end. TMI? LOL

Then I also steamed a squash, some peas, and some green beans. Oh, and some blueberries.

Needless to say, I was in the kitchen for about 5 hours total. We ended up buying two more ice cube trays because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to cycle through it all this week with just two.

It took most of the week, but I got all of it frozen. 
I love seeing the colorful little cubes pop out - I don't know why,
but something about it is so satisfying.

We have another good base of stuff in the freezer, but I still feel like I want to do some more things that are "different," especially when it comes to packing in the veggies.  I'm not sure what that is, so if anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them!