George's Braised Beef with Carrot, Parsnip and PotatoShare

"This combination of root vegetables and beef has a smooth consistency that appeals to young babies." Wendy and I could have eaten the entire dish ourselves. DELICIOUS!!

2 tablespoons butter
1 cup leeks, sliced (we used 2 medium leeks)
1 pound lean stewing beef, cubed
1 1/4 cups sliced carrots
1 cup peeled and chopped parsnips
3/4 pounds potatoes, chopped (we used Yukon Gold)
2 cups beef or chicken stock (we used chicken)

Heat the butter in a flameproof casserole or Dutch oven. Add the leeks and saute for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the beef and saute until browned.

Add the carrots, parsnips, and potatoes to the casserole. Cover with stock and bring the mixture to a boil.

Transfer the casserole to a 350 degree preheated oven and cook for 1.5 - 2 hours, or until the meat is soft. Blend to a puree of the desired consistency.

This made 7.5 cups - or 5 (1.5 cup) servings.

Leeks and Beef

Vegetables added to the dish!

After the braising in the oven! YUMMY!!

Into the food processor it goes!

Voila! Beef and vegetable puree!

It made five delicious servings for the little man. That's one lucky baby!

George's Flounder with Tomatoes and Potato

This makes a good, creamy-textured fish puree.

Makes 4 portions (in our case 2)

1 flounder, filleted and skinned
2 medium tomatoes, skinned, seeded, and chopped
a little margarine or butter
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup milk
1 small potato, peeled

Put the flounder (I used sole) into a casserole dish, cover with the tomatoes, dot wth butter, and add the bay leaf. Pour over most of the milk. Cover with foil and cook in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 20 minutes. (Note: My fish was soooo thin, I did 15 minutes and it was perfect.)

While the fish is cooking, boil the potato. When soft, mash it with the remaining milk and butter. Flake the fish when it is cooked, remove the bay leaf, and mash or puree the fish together with the liquid in which it was cooked. You can either mix in the mashed potato or serve it as an accompaniment to the fish.

OK - my other notes . . . I mixed in the potatoes. I also did not need the cooking liquid from the fish dish to puree it. I used a slotted spoon to scrape the fish & tomatoes out of the pan and it was juicy enough. Now George likes things on the think side, but there was plenty of other liquid if it's neeeded.

Coming out of the oven - the fish with tomatoes, a bay leaf and milk.

I flaked the fish and added in the mashed potatoes I made. Then into the food processor.

I didn't HAVE to process it prolly, but I hadn't diced up the tomatoes fine enough. So, I just pulsed a few times to make it the right texture for the little guy and VOILA! Fish (Sole) with Tomatoes and Potatoes.

George's First Chicken Puree

Bouillon cubes are unsuitable for babies under a year as they are high in salt, so I make my own chicken broth and use it as a base for chicken and vegetable purees. It keeps in the refrigerator for 3 days. For babies over one year you can add 3 chicken bouillon cubes for a stronger flavor. Instead of a boiling fowl, you could use the carcass from a roasted chicken.

Makes Approximately 4 Pints

1 large boiling fowl, plus giblets
4 pints water
2 parsnips (I used sweet potatoes instead)
3 large carrots
2 leeks
2 large onions
1 celery stalk
2 sprigs of fresh parsley
1 sachet bouqut garnis

Cut the chicken into 8 pieces (or ask your butcher to do it for you), trimming any excess fat. Trim, peel, and wash the vegetables as necessary. Put the chicken pieces into a large saucepan together with the giblets. Cover with 4 pints of water, bring to a boil, and skim the froth from the top. Add the vegetables and parsley and simmer for about three hours. It is best to remove the chicken breasts after about 1 1/2 hours if you are going to eat them; otherwise they will become too dry. Leave in the refrigerator overnight and remove any congealed fat from the top in the morning. Strain the chicken and the vegetables to make the chicken broth. Season to taste.

Then, puree the chicken and vegetables together in a food mill, adding some broth as needed to make a chicken and vegetable puree.

Here is George's first chicken and vegetable puree - chicken, sweet potatoes, leeks, carrots, onion, celery, herbs. Lucky boy!

Chicken was shredded and added back to the pot. It all cooked down beautifully. Then the mixture was strained and pureed in our food processor.

Wendy puts the yummy puree in little tupperwares for the freezer.

And voila! Chicken and vegetable puree and an ice cube tray full of chicken broth!

George took us camping this weekend. Rough life.

The boys were twins today. Sooooo cute. They're having some fun tummy time together.

Today Wendy made a TON of baby food for George. Can you pick out all the varieties?? There are pears, purple cauliflower, broccoli, peas, acorn squash, butternut squash, cauliflower (white), and green beans. My boy eats in style. Plus yesterday I made him a ton of peaches too. Here are some pics of our hard work . . .

George got a great report at the doctor's office today. Doctor Amy said he looks fabulous and is stronger than the average 6 month old. ;)

Weight: 17 pounds, 11 1/2 oz = 53%

Height: 26 1/2 = 50%

Head Circ: 17 1/4 = 50%

Here's George and Judi together at the doctor's office today. He's so happy in this pic, but that didn't last too long. He got three shots today. Poor baby.

Waking up is hard to do.

George and I went to the pool today for swim lessons. My mom tried to take a picture of us in the pool. Turns out the camera was facing the wrong way. HA!! Hysterical. I had to share.

We finally got the camera pointed in the right direction for a shot of George learning to kick his little legs. It was a fun 25 minutes in the pool. Good times.

Afterwards we came home and George had a mini meltdown. Too much excitement for one little guy for the day. After a bottle and a stroll in the stroller to kill some time, it was straight off to bed. We did catch a few more smiles before bedtime. Here he is happy in his stroller before bedtime.

This boy LOVES his jumperoo!

George is enjoying some play time.