Who Stole the Pea Puree?

Baby food rounds two and three have been a great success!  As you've previously read, I made a whole batch of delicious carrots in preparation for baby Claire's six month veggie milestone.  Since we have a deep freeze, I can store the food a bit longer, so I figured I'd go ahead and get a few more veggies out of the way. 

First up, peas.  I used frozen peas.  I won't lie, I had a dumb moment trying to think if I'd ever seen fresh peas in the market.  I couldn't even imagine how you'd buy peas fresh.  Then I was eating a steam fresh veggie pack and out rolled a pea from what I thought was some kind of bean/pod thing.  Oh yeah.  THEN I remembered you had to buy fresh peas in PODS.  Well.  I'm still glad I went with frozen.  I'm reasoning that it was easier anyway. 

It's not easy being green...

 I read that peas can be a challenge to get smooth because sometimes the outsides don't mash up well.  A lot of people recommend straining your peas because they never get it smooth enough.  But look at mine!  Smooth as can be!

The secret of the ooze?  Does anyone watch Top Chef, where they made pea puree and someone stole it?  Who would eat this but a baby?

I didn't see anything gross in there, but I knew better than to taste, because the grossest thing of all about this puree was that it was made of peas (not my favorite veggie--probably another reason I don't know anything about them!)

But they froze up so pretty, I was pretty tempted.  I kept imagining lime popsicles.  Again, I knew better. 

So pretty

And then I tried sweet potatoes.  If you know my muddy past of cooking sweet potatoes, you'd know it was a labor of love to even attempt these.  I've only cooked sweet potatoes from a raw potato once, it took forever, and they tasted exactly like the kind you get out of the can.  So I got angry and started using canned potatoes.  They're hard to cut.  They're hard to skin (because they're big).  But I did it anyway, and hey, with a better peeler and a giant kitchen knife, they weren't so bad.  And I still have all my fingers! 

Just add some brown sugar, butter, pecans, and cinnamon, and then we'd have something to talk about!

Two big sweet potatoes made almost 48 servings.  We still have an extra one we'll probably eat ourselves (look how daring I'm getting).  And these DID turn out delicious, even with no seasoning!  I MIGHT have slipped a small spoonful into a serving of cereal for Claire, just to see what she'd do, but she gobbles so fast, I don't think she noticed.  Can't wait for May 3rd!