Carrots and Peas

Hi Everyone! Sorry about not getting to post yesterday... it was a little busy. Somehow days off/weekends tend to be busier than the weekdays! =o)

Anyway, So I decided to talk about carrots and peas today since I didn't post yesterday.

Carrots:

I know that Gerber has the nice packaged diced carrots (for crawlers), which are fine, but I think they taste weird.  They are nice and mushy, but again... they taste weird, maybe a little metalic-y? I don't know, I can't pinpoint it.

So with carrots I made diced/cubed ones and pureed carrots at the same time.
Make sure that you buy ORGANIC carrots in this case. I read it somewhere that carrots is one thing you should buy organic if you can.

To start making the puree or diced/cubed you will need to cut up the carrots.

• For the puree, you can just cut them into chunks and be done with cutting. (For the diced/cubes, obviously you need to cut them into cubes.)
• Get a pot of boiling water ready. (If you want to steam but less water in so the steamer basket can sit above the water.) DO NOT SALT THE WATER!!!!!!!!!
• Put the carrots in and cook till tender. (Test by taking one out and lightly smushing it with your finger, if it smushes, then its ready.) DO NOT THROW the cooking water out!
• After cooking, let the carrots cool a little before putting the food processor. (Or stop here if making dices/cubes. And just place in ziploc bag, label, and freeze.)
• Puree until the desired consistency is reached. The cooking water may be used to thin out the puree. (The puree may not be totally smooth, but get it as close as you can.)
• Put in ice trays and freeze. Then pop out and store in labeled freezer bags.

Peas:

• Peas you can again either steam or boil. I used frozen peas since it was much easier than getting fresh peas. But your more than welcome to use fresh. Only thing with the frozen peas though is that they say thawing the peas before cooking it will help to make the skins less noticeable in the puree. I tried it and it didn't seem to work.
• Follow the same directions as the carrots.  (Again, save the cooking water just in case you need to think out the puree. 

So I think we're good for today! =o) Have fun cooking!
-Mindie