Babies love the naturally subtle flavor of zucchini, which is packed with Vitamin A that helps with growth and development and the maintenance of a healthy immune system.
This post contains affiliate product links. Clicking on the links may result in my being paid a commission based on product sales. Regardless of commission, all opinions expressed in this post are my own. For more information, please review our site policies.
I've been doing a lot of apologizing lately. Unfortunately, I wind up having no idea
what I apologize for or
why I felt compelled to apologize in the first place.
Case in point:
It came up in a recent conversation that I make the majority of our daughter's food myself (as opposed to buying jars or pouches of baby food). Most of the time, people ask me whether it's a lot of work, but this time, I heard a response I wasn't prepared for.
"Of
course you do."
Before I could even think about it or stop myself from doing it, I told her I was sorry. The conversation moved on to other things, but I just sat there silently getting angry at myself.
What the heck did I just apologize for? For talking about the baby? For choosing to make her food from scratch? For unintentionally making someone feel inferior?
I'm still not sure.
All I know is I have to STOP apologizing for things that don't require an apology.
While I try and figure out the best way to do that -- do you guys have any advice for me?? -- I'll continue making homemade baby food for as long as it makes sense to do so.
In terms of introducing her to solids, we
started with carrots and then moved on to zucchini. At the time, they were still plentiful at the farmers' market, and I wanted to take advantage of our access to the locally grown loot.
First, I washed the zucchini, trimmed the ends, and sliced each of them into rounds. I placed the zucchini slices in a medium pan, poured in just enough water to cover them, and brought the water up to a boil. Then I reduced the heat and let the vegetables simmer until they were fork-tender.
Once the zucchini slices were tender, I transferred them to the bowl of my food processor with a slotted spoon, and pureéd them. Since zucchini has a naturally high water content, I didn't have to add any extra water or liquid to get the consistency I was looking for -- smooth but thick.
As I did for the carrots, I made a large batch of zucchini purée so I could freeze the majority of it.
Once the purée had cooled to room temperature, I spooned it into the compartments of ice cube trays, covered the trays tightly with plastic wrap, and then put the trays in the freezer to set overnight.
