Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Foodie Baby: Blueberry Spinach Apple Puree

This was the first recipe I taught to the women who are taking my Foodie Baby class on Wednesday evenings. It doesn't matter how young or old your baby or toddler may be, this is a tasty and uber-healthy puree that is easy to whip up.  Call me lazy, but I am going to just copy and paste the pages that I typed up for the class and paste them here. Hey, I've already done the leg work!

As easy as it can be to grab a few jars of basic fruits from the baby food aisle, it is also a lot less expensive and a lot more fun to experiment with fruit combinations at home! To make things even easier, fruits generally boil down on their own and very little, if any, water will even need to be added.

Slap Me Some Skin – I am a huge advocate in leaving the skins on fruit and vegetables. After doing research on the topic, I have found that many fruits and veggies contain more valuable nutrients, minerals, and vitamins in their skin than in their flesh!  As far as I could tell, my daughter never experienced any adverse reactions to leaving the skins on and I feel she is healthier for it.  Just make sure to wash all of your fruits and veggies first!

Recipe #1 – Blueberry Spinach Apple Delight

You can make this recipe with or without the spinach if you’d rather have pure fruits, but I find that incorporating spinach delivers an even heftier punch of antioxidants, not to mention calcium and iron.


Ingredients

1 and ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 and ½ cups of baby spinach leaves
2 medium apples of your choice, cored and chopped
¼ cup of water
Medium pan
Colander
Stirring utensil
Large bowl


Directions
1.        

Place the blueberries, apples, and water in a medium pan, cover with a lid and simmer on medium-high heat until apples are tender. About 10 minutes.
2.       
Reduce heat to low and add the spinach.  Cook until the spinach has wilted, no more than 3 minutes.
3.      
Pour the contents of the saucepan into the colander, placing the large bowl underneath to reserve the cooking liquid.
4.       
Transfer the fruits and spinach into a food processor or blender and add the cooking liquid until desired consistency is reached.

2 comments:

  1. Yummy!!!!! I might just have to try this!

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  2. I also forgot to mention to ALWAYS RESERVE YOUR COOKING LIQUID when you're boiling down fruits and veggies. Some nutrients exit the skin and flesh when high heat is applied. If you simply re-add the cooking liquid you're putting the nutrients right back in!

    Traci - The kids will love it! It's tart but SWEET!

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