"Hit Puree!"*

Every month or so I see some of my favorite bloggers Tweeting and posting about their Freezer Cooking efforts. In an earlier life when I had fewer children, I used to do a lot more of it. Now, when it would be more convenient, I just can't seem to get back into the swing of things. I have all the cool recipe books, just not a lot of inclination. However, I do have a new passion for homemade baby food. Like cloth diapering, this is a new venture for me and so far it's proven just as surprisingly easy. Last week, I went to Homeland and bought a bag of their ripe bananas. I froze a few individually for smoothies, a few made banana bread, and the rest were pureed and poured into the little food freezing cubes I found on sale at Babies 'R Us when last week's trip to the Oklahoma City JBF sale failed to find me an affordable high chair. (I am not going to spend more on a used one than I would on a new one, what are some of these mamas thinking when they price their stuff? No worries, I found one better-priced at BRU, no joke.) Then I went through my frozen veggie stash and made a few jars of green beans too. It was so easy! 


While discovering the joys of homemade baby food, I also discovered Jessica Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious, on sale at Big Lots for $3. The premise behind it is that you up your kids fruit and veggie intake by adding purees to the foods they already eat. While a lot of people complained the recipes weren't that great and that the idea was unoriginal, for $3 I was sold. If nothing else, I have more ideas for purees to feed the baby. Because I just can't seem to get excited about freezing meals for the family, I am going to use this months OAMC session to fill my freezer with baby food purees. Not only for my own convenience, but also because I'm going to be helping out a couple of mornings per week at my former workplace now that school field trip season is in full swing again. My mother lives very close to there, so Alexis will hang out with MeMe while I keep a toe in the part-time employee pool. 


My plans for OAMC are pretty simple and unambitious. Wal-Mart had the Steamables on sale for $1 per bag, so on Wednesday we will be making purees of green beans and carrots for the baby and cauliflower and broccoli purees for some of the Deceptively Delicious recipes. Thursday is my first day back at work (wish me luck!) and on Friday I will make some Apple Blueberry and Blueberry Pear mixes. If I have any ripe-looking bananas by Friday, I'll probably puree them too. Banana purees work for both the baby and the recipe book. I realize these plans aren't nearly as ambitious as the plans of others, but I am excited about them. As FlyLady says "Babysteps" and in this case I am taking her quite literally. (And if anyone out there has any other baby food recipes to share, please do. My baby will thank you for it.)


*As usual, I stole my title from a movie quote. Can anyone tell me which one? It is still one of my favorites and I can offer the following clues:

1. It came out in 1985
2. "Rocky Road?"