Squash!

Hunting season = Connor and I get to spend a lot of quality time together on the weekends. Last Saturday was the first day of bear season. Ryan was gone bright and early so Connor and I had a mini photo shoot for his Christmas card picture. Now that I am a mom, I suppose I have to actually order and send Christmas cards. I won't spoil the surprise but I got a few cute picture possibilities. Now I just have to figure out how to actually upload one and order them! A little after lunch, Ryan texted me a picture of the bear his dad killed. In Pennsylvania, when you shoot a bear, you have to take it to a Game Commission weigh station, where they weigh it and take a tooth to determine its age. This one was a female and they estimated it to weigh about 370 lbs!

 

Sure would make a nice rug in Connor's room in our new house!

 

 

While the boys were hunting, I decided to try my hand at making a batch of baby food. I had read that you should start with veggies before the fruits, because babies may be resistant to eating veggies once they get a taste of the sweet fruits. I'm now fairly certain that my dad's first foods were apples, pears, and peaches, and that explains why he doesn't like vegetables! We bought a butternut squash at the grocery store, so I stuck Connor in the jumperoo and went to town.

 

 

Cut in half, remove seeds

 

Chop in to small pieces, add a Tbsp or two of water, cover, and steam

 

Puree with an immersion blender

 



Spoon into ice cube trays and freeze overnight

 

 

I was able to go from start to finish (including clean up) before Connor got bored in the jumperoo! It was really very easy, even for someone whose husband does 100% of the cooking in our house. Since Connor is really only eating solids to get used to the different textures and tastes right now, the individual ice cube size portions are perfect - we usually get two, sometimes three, "meals" out of one cube. I can see how it will be easy to build up a stockpile pretty quickly once we rule out any allergies and can start having a variety.

 

I had some extras that didn't fit in the trays, so I saved it and gave it to Connor later.

 

Still wearing more of it than eating it, but he definitely likes it better than the rice cereal. I think the next thing I am going to try is either sweet potatoes or green peas...oh the possibilities!