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Friday, March 19, 2010

BATCH PREP METHODS: Part I - Cooking

There are many, many ways to cook food in bulk for your babies and toddlers, but I'm going to talk here about the ways that I have used and like the best.

Beaba Babycook 
I really, really have loved this tool. I debated for a long time if it was worth the money, but since I don't own a food processor, I decided to go for it. My only complaint is the amount of food it makes at a time, which I wish was more since I'm feeding two little ones. But, I've just figured out which foods work best and stick to other methods for larger amounts.

  1. This little machine is just that...it's small. It doesn't take up much space in my cabinet and doesn't have lots of pieces or interchangeable parts. I like that, because I'm not a huge fan of lots of kitchen gadgets anyway, so it stores away nicely.
  2. It is super easy. Basically, cut your fruit or vegetable up into small pieces, put it in the basket with the appropriate amount of water in the reservoir. Turn it on and go about your business for 20-30 minutes while it cooks. Once the light turns off, dump the food pieces into the main cup without the basket, snap it into place and turn the knob to chop, blend, or puree to your desired consistency. This takes a matter of 30 seconds - 2 minutes.
  3. It's a cinch to clean. You basically unscrew the blade and put the pieces in the dishwasher. Done. When preparing multiple foods at one time, I will just rinse in between and keep going. NOTE: You do want to make sure to clean well if you are making foods that haven't been introduced yet.
  4. It gets the job done. This little machine just gets it done. You don't have to have any other tools, stoves, ovens, choppers, blenders, etc. It does everything in one simple container with one simple machine. You don't have to guess at cooking times or amounts of water. It just takes care of itself.
Pot with steamer insert and blender or food processor
I have always steamed fresh and frozen vegetables, so this was a no-brainer for me. Just be sure to cut your pieces in similar sizes for even cooking.
  1. A large steamer insert in a large stock pot is great for large batches of fruits and vegetables. You can find information on amounts of water and steaming times from resources like Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron or wholesomebabyfood.com.
  2. I use a smaller, collapsible insert if I'm doing more than one thing at a time or a smaller batch.
  3. Steaming retains the most nutrients for your foods and is a super-healthy way to prepare fruits and vegetables, even for yourself or your whole family.
  4. I use a blender since I don't own a food processor. And, it's an old, basic blender, too. It does just fine. I add my cooked pieces with some leftover cooking liquid (use fresh water for carrots) and set it to puree. I sometimes have to add more liquid for the desired consistency or scrape down the sides in mid-blending.
Oven and blender or food processor
This is similar to the steaming process, but instead of steaming pieces of fruits and vegetables, I will bake something in the oven. It might be whole and ready to scoop out the insdies or cut in pieces, ready for serving once finished. This can be a simple method that doesn't require much attention, or good for those whole vegetables that are hard to cut up raw.
  1. This is a helpful method for items such as potatoes sweet potatoes where you can just cut in half once finished and scoop out the insides for mashing or pureeing.
  2. This is also a nice way to cook a large squash. Just cut it in half, placing it flesh-side down in a baking dish with 1/2" of water and bake. Then, you can just scoop out the insides for mashing or pureeing.
  3. You can also bake cut up pieces of many other fruits and vegetables. This is even helpful when you are preparing foods for the whole family. You can remove apple pieces before serving to the family for pureeing or mashing.
  4. Again, I use a blender since I don't own a food processor. See #4 above.
Crock pot and blender or food processor
This is very similar to the baking process above, but uses a crock pot to slow cook your pieces.
  1. I find this helpful in that you can start it and leave it.
  2. It also makes for super easy cleanup as you just have the cooker insert to clean.
  3. Also, I have a large 6.5 quart crock pot that I love and allows me to make large batches at one time.
  4. Again, I use a blender since I don't own a food processor. See #4 above.
Consider buying lots and taking an afternoon to prepare lots of foods to freeze at once. If you haven't started solids with your baby yet, I would suggest cooking now to get ready. Most foods can be frozen for 2-3 months in a regular in-house freezer.

I don't talk here about specific foods, buying tips, cooking times, amounts, etc., but you can find a wealth of information in my favorite resources. Who knows, maybe I will blog about that too someday.  

Yep, you guessed it. The title of this post is PART I, so stay tuned for upcoming posts about freezing, storing, thawing, and serving your homemade food. Invite your friends, neighbors, brothers and sisters to subscribe so we can all share and learn together.

Please share your thoughts and ideas.
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