Pumpkin and Cranberry

This is a really good combo.  For Thanksgiving I even decided to make a pumpkin pie with whole cranberries in it and it was a hit and has already been requested for Christmas.  Once again, this is a great opportunity to let the Baby have a similar (more healthy version) of your holiday treats.

What you need:

 - Basic Pumpkin Puree 

 - Basic Cranberry Puree, as an alternative use the Cranberry Sauce with apples

What to do:

 - Combine (at a two to one ratio) the pumpkin puree and the Cranberry puree.

 - Mix to combine, or blend if necessary to get the desired consistency.

Sweet Potato and Cranberry:

This is a great recipe for the holidays, especially if mashed sweet potato's will be served as part of your holiday meal. If you will not be serving sweet potato, chunk up a sweet potato and steam until soft and mash or puree the sweet potato.

 

What you need:

 - One baked (or steamed) Sweet Potato

 - Cranberry Puree or Cranberry Sauce with Apples

 

What to do:

 - Puree your baked (or steamed) Sweet Potato to the desired consistency for your baby

 - Add one scoop of the Cranberry Puree or Cranberry Sauce with Apples

 - Mix to combine

Cranberry Sauce with Apples

 

This recipe will be very similar to the basic cranberry puree with one simple addition....Apples.

 

What you need:

 - A 1 lb bag of Fresh Cranberries

 - 1 cup of fruit juice (you can use just about any kind - grape, cranberry, pomegranate, apple, apple cider) or water

 - 1 Apple (you can dice or chunk based on the consistency that you want to achieve)

 

What to do:

 - Rinse Cranberries and add to a medium saucepan

 - Add the 1 cup of the Juice of your choice (you can replace the juice with water, but I like the juice for added flavor)

 - Once the cranberries have begun to pop add the apple (For younger babies I say dice so that they cook down quickly to a consistency that will puree well, for older babies/toddlers leave the apples in chunks so that they will still have some texture to them once the cooking process is complete).

 - Cook until the berries and apples are soft and then puree to the desired consistency

Basic Fruit Puree - Cranberry

As we all know, fall is the prime season for cranberries.  Take that opportunity to introduce your little one to this tangy treat.  I make a cranberry sauce that your entire family will love, we serve it as a side dish every year for Thanksgiving (and sometimes Christmas).

We all know that Cranberries can be acidic, so you may want to hold off until your baby is between 9 and 12 months before introducing this fruit.  For the same reason, I suggest introducing in small amounts.  Offer just a couple of spoonfuls the first few times, until you know that your baby is not impacted by the acidity.  On the allergy front, you will be happy to know that cranberries are not in the same "berry" family as strawberries, etc... and as such you don't not have to follow the "wait until 12 months rule" and you will also be happy to know that from my research cranberry allergies are very rare.

 What you need:

 - A 1 lb bag of Fresh Cranberries

 - 1 cup of fruit juice or water (you can use just about any kind - grape, cranberry, pomegranite, apple, apple cider) or water

What to do:

 - Rinse Cranberries and add to a medium saucepan

 - Add the 1 cup of the Juice of your choice (you can replace the juice with water, but I like the juice for added flavor)

 - Cook stirring ocassionaly until berries are soft enough to puree.

 - Add the cranberries to your pureeing devise of choice and puree until the desired consistency is reached.

**Mommy Tip**

I like to use 100% fruit juice (with no added sugar) when making this for the baby.  It allows you to add some sweetness to cut through the tartness of the cranberry without adding sugar.

**Mommy Tip**

If you choose to not add a sweetner think about combining the cranberry with a sweeter fruit puree such as peeches or pears to offset some of the tartness.