Sweet Potato & Chicken Baby Food

My son, Danny, is 7 months old, and he eats food. Let me tell you, there's not much more adorable than a baby schmeared with his dinner. Melt my heart.

Some of the time, I make Danny's baby food. And before I go on, pay very careful attention to this next statement: If you choose to feed your baby food from a jar, don't feel guilty about it. Hear me? This is an order: DO NOT FEEL GUILTY. There are ridiculous standards for moms and dads these days...Make your baby's food from vegetables you grew in your all-organic backyard garden! Plan a $40,000 first birthday party with DIY balloon banners! Paint a storybook mural in baby's nursery! Sew your baby's clothes and matching hair accessories! I make Danny's food because I enjoy being in the kitchen; it's fun for me. If it's not fun for you, then don't do it. End of story.

If you do want to give baby food a whirl, start with something simple. Like a banana. Here's how you make it: 1.) Buy a ripe banana. 2.) Peel banana. 3.) Mash banana with a fork. Done. Same with avocado. Just moosh it up and feed it to your kid. Get more adventurous with sweet potatoes. This one is slightly more complicated because it requires actual cooking. Pierce a sweet potato with a fork so it doesn't explode, then microwave it for 10ish minutes until it's soft. Peel the sweet potato then mash it with a fork.

When it was time to introduce Danny to meat, it wasn't quite as simple. The idea of pureeing meat in the blender grossed me out. I figured I'd disguise the blended meat with another vegetable that Danny already liked to trick both of us into thinking pureed chicken wasn't weird. And it worked! If your kid doesn't like sweet potatoes, try it with carrots or parsnips or squash. I bet it would be just as delicious.

Also, I should mention that I don't have a super-power blender. So at our house, Sweet Potato & Chicken Baby Food has very, very tiny bits of chicken in it. This bit of texture doesn't bother Danny at all, but keep your eyes peeled for that when you make it. We don't want anyone to choke.

Let's make baby food!
--Erin

Sweet Potato & Chicken Baby Food

2 chicken breasts (about 1 pound), cut into 1/2" chunks
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks
2 cups water

Place chicken and sweet potato in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sweet potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

Once the chicken and sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, place them in a blender. (You don't want to over-fill the blender, so you might need to do this in batches.) Add some of the cooking liquid so you can easily blend into a smooth mixture. Turn on the blender and whiz everything together. You may need to stop and stir a couple times or add more cooking liquid until it's smooth. (I ended up using all the cooking liquid.)

Allow baby food to cool completely in the fridge. Spoon it into ice cube trays and then freeze until solid. Place the baby food ice cubes in a plastic freezer bag that you've labeled with the date and type of food. Defrost baby food as needed for meals.