Mix n' Match

Lately since my freezer has been stocked full of frozen purees and I haven't bought more to make due to vacation coming up we have been doing a lot of mixing of what we have.  I thought I would share what I have tried and what has gone over well and what hasn't.

Blueberry Cereal (just oatmeal with blueberries)
Kendall : 2 stars (she doesn't like blueberries)
Seren: 4 stars

Blueberry Pears (1 cube pears with a teaspoon of blueberries)
Kendall:  2 stars
Seren: 4 stars

Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips (1 cube of each)
Kendall:  4 stars
Seren: 3 stars

Apricots and Pears  (1 cube of each)
Kendall: 2 stars
Seren: 3 stars

Pears, Apple and Mango (2 pears, 1 apple and 1 mango)
Kendall: 4 stars
Seren: 4 stars

Pears and Plums (3 cubes of pear and 1 cube of plum; trying to sneak the plum in on my picky eater Kendall)
Kendall: 3 stars
Seren: 4 stars

Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans (2 cube sweet potato and 1 cube green bean)
Kendall: 4 stars
Seren: 4 stars

*see the trend of who is being the picky eater.  Kendall loves sweet food and veggies but doesn't seem to like anything that is a little tart (ie peaches, apricots, blueberries or her teething pain aid that is cherry flavored)*

Pear Puree

We had about four pears that seemed to be getting a little too ripe.  So into the pot they went and became puree for the freezer.  Peel and core the pears first and then cut into small pieces.  To help prevent browning of the fruit I splash a little lemon juice on them and then drained it out.  Some infants may have sensitivity to citrus (it isn't technically supposed to be introduced until 12 months).  I didn't find any problems with this technique and it's a very small amount of juice.  For the pears I decided to boil them (for about 8 minutes).  Once this was done I poured out most of the water.  Pears are naturally watery so there wasn't a need to add any of this water to the puree.  I then scooped the pears into my small mixer; I would recommend this over a large blender (especially if you only have one baby).  Once again I used my pastry bag to dispense the pear puree into the ice cube trays for freezing.  Four pears filled about one ice cube tray with a small amount of extra.  I put the extra into a small jar and into the fridge to see how the lemon splash prevented browning.  It did end up turning about the color of apple sauce in the fridge.  The frozen cubes stayed fairly golden.

Cost:  4 pears (approx $3)
Servings:  1 tray (16 cubes ~ 1 oz each) and 4 oz jar
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Notes:  Splash with lemon juice and drain to prevent browning (watch for sensitivity though)

Tools:  pearing knife, boiling pot, small power blender, pastry bag and ice cube tray.

Ratings:
Kendall - 3 star
Seren - 3 star