Baby Fish

In order to make life move a little smoother, I like to make my baby food in bulk one day a week. Although with the rate my son is putting the calories back I have had to up this to twice a week. I usually spend a few hours making five or six meals and I freeze them in small individual portions. That way when I am hectically running in the house 5 minutes before dinnertime, I don’t have to stress.

There are many different baby food storage containers out there. I personally purchased the Baby Cubes. More often than not though, I find myself using plain old ice cube trays. I fill each ice cube slot with food and place it in the freezer. Once frozen, I pop the cubes out of the tray, place them in a labeled Ziploc bag, and return them to the freezer.

I also use a regular food processor for making baby food. I have an old 7 cup Cuisinart which I am very happy with. I know that there are a few specialty ‘baby’ processors and bullets out there. I have not tried any of them personally but they seem like an unnecessary ‘single purpose’ purchase that accomplishes the same task as my food processor.

The following recipe is a great way to introduce fish to your baby’s diet. I have used this same recipes with various types of white fish as well as salmon. Feel free to experiment!

Baby Fish
Adapted from Annabel Karmel

1 large sweet potato
1 fish fillet (approximately 150 g)
2 tbsp of milk (breast milk can be used here instead)
2 tbsp butter
1 cup diced tomatoes, either canned or fresh tomatoes, skinned and deseeded
¼ cup grated Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F. Poke several holes into a large sweet potato. Cook the sweet potato for 45-50 minutes or until tender when poked with a fork. Once cool enough to touch, slice the sweet potato in half and scoop half of the potato out of the flesh. Reserve the remaining half for another use.

Meanwhile, place the fish fillet in a small baking dish with the milk and dot with the butter. Cover the dish and cook the fish for 8-10 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. [Alternatively, the fish can be cooked in the microwave. Cover the dish leaving a vent open and cook for one and a half minutes on full power].

Place the tomatoes in a small saucepan with the remaining butter. Sauté the tomatoes for approximately 2 minutes until mushy. Add the sweet potato and cook until just heated. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese until melted. Add the fish with the cooking liquid.

This can be mashed or puréed depending on your baby’s abilities.