recipes

As you may have read before, I have learned from experience that kids’ food preferences start young. With Red, it was a huge factor that led me to having a picky eater, and I’ve been much more cautious about feeding Scarlett. While I love to purchase pre-made purees that I can snatch the lid off of during our busy dinner routine, I do love to make some of my own mixes as well. Easy, soft foods like bananas, strawberries, and avocados are the easiest to prepare, while tougher veggies like beans, potatoes, and corn need cooking before you mash them up. Unlike Red, Scarlett really enjoys bananas, so I make them often. I took some photos and video so you could watch my banana puree recipe in action!

Watch this cute, one-minute video displaying my banana puree recipe – you’ll just melt at the last thing Scarlett does when she’s eating!

You don’t necessarily want to use bruised fruits, but from my past years as a smoothie jerk, I know that a browner banana is actually sweeter than its yellow or green neighbors. It’s also softer and easier to mash. I throw my slices into a bowl and mash them up the old-fashioned way.

After roughly mashing the bananas, I add them to a food processor.

When I’m done pureeing the bananas to my preferred consistency, I add a few things to some of the bananas, like applesauce, cinnamon, oatmeal, or milk. Some portions I leave plain to later combine with stronger flavors like green beans (Scarlett prefers those toned down). 15 minutes in the kitchen from start to finish yields quite a few containers that I can refrigerate, freeze, or use immediately. It’s a time saver!

I portion out my purees into mini BPA-free containers like these (I never was one for those baby food cube makers; I hate gripping the frozen cubes out and thawing them. I just don’t have the patience!), and labeling them with fridge-safe washi tape.

They stack so nicely and make my organizational heart very happy! What are some baby foods that you make yourself?

If you’re like me and don’t always have the time to make your baby’s food at home, Beech-Nut is the next best thing. Try some Stage 1 and Stage 2 flavors with bananas, Scarlett’s favorite fruit, like these below:

• Beech-Nut® Naturals Stage 1 bananas
• Beech-Nut® Naturals Stage 2 banana, orange & pineapple
• Beech-Nut® Organics Stage 2 banana, cinnamon & granola

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Beech-Nut and originally appeared on Redhead Baby Mama. All opinions and thoughts expressed come from Lindsey.