Fresh Baby Food Trays and Beets

Well today was another exciting day in our household. Our little girl was going to try beets for the first time. Growing up I never had beets which is understandable since my parent probably never had them either since beets don't grow in tropical areas where my parents are from. But I discovered them a couple of years ago and I love them. And I just realized that they are so good raw and are easily incorporated into a salad or coleslaw. Yum!

Photo credit

Beets are a root vegetable that are high in dietary fibre and are a rich source of B Vitamins and carotenoids, and minerals such as iron, manganese and magnesium. You can also eat the tops which are rich in Vitamin A. Vitamin A is good for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin and is also essential for vision.


And I've seen in cookbooks that you can use beet juice as an alternative to food colourings for your icings...and I just thought of it this morning. Since I've never made red velvet cake probably because of the high amount of red food colouring required to get the rich red colour of the cake that I could use some of the beet puree that Kate will be eating to make a cake in the future. Since I'll have the puree in frozen cubes to use later.


So this morning I peeled and cut the beets into approximately 2" squares with a little water and cooked them in a stainless steel pot. I cooked them until they were tender. Then I used a hand blender to puree the beets and the remaining water in the pot. I added more water for the consistency I wanted.

Before I purchased the Fresh Baby Food trays I was using regular ice cube trays, which don't get me wrong. They work. But I love the food trays because they come with their own covers and the frozen cubes slide out easily when I need them. I usually freeze the cubes and then place them into containers or freezer bags to store in the freezer until we use them. And they ease my mind since they are BPA-Free and Phthalate-Free. They are made in the USA and are also dishwasher safe. However, they are pretty easy to wash by hand.
The only con I can think of is the price but I'm sure you could find them for a lower cost online.
Overall I think it's a great product that I can use for the baby foods and breast-milk but I can also use it later on for pestos, beet puree, tomato paste, basically anything that I would require in small portions. I've also tried other brands and I'll post about those later.


Oh, and Katelyn loved the beets! I didn't want to post or take pictures because it was an absolute mess. Even more so because I decided to feed her in the contraband walker with the toys on her tray. But she liked them and it was worth it!




So if it is your first time trying beets. Just be aware of a couple of things...

• There is a harmless condition called "Beeturia" where one passes red or pink color urine after eating beets and its top greens. The condition can be found in around 10-15% of the population who are genetically unable to break down betacyanin pigment. This happens to me and the first time I actually called the Family Health Advisory Telephone Service and talked to an RN about it.

• Beet greens contain oxalic acid, a naturally occurring substance found in some vegetables which may crystallize as oxalate stones in the urinary tract in some people. Individuals with known oxalate urinary tract stones are advised to avoid eating excess greens.

Source: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/beets.html