Squashed Apples baby food recipe - Growing up Grace

Making your own baby food is easier than you think. Here's one of my daughter's favorite recipes.

Find my baby food tips in this week's Growing Up Grace column on lehighvalleylive.com/food.

Find other baby food recipes and tools in your Wednesday copy of The Express-Times and on lehighvalleylive.com/food.

Squashed Apples

I got the inspiration for this recipe from "Blender Baby Food" by Nicole Young. (Yes, they make baby food cookbooks. And this is one of the simplest and best I've found.)

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash, halved
• 3 peeled, diced apples
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• pinch (and I mean a pinch) of cinnamon
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider

Directions:

Rinse your butternut squash and halve it, scooping out the seeds. Put on a baking tray and spread olive oil to cover the inside surfaces of the squash. Sprinkle nutmeg on the squash.

Roast in a 375 degree oven until the squash is fork-tender, about 30-45 minutes. About halfway through the cooking process, add the diced, peeled apples to the tray so they can soften.

Allow the apples and squash to cool. Scoop out the squash into a blender, breaking it into smaller chunks as you go. Add the apples and 1/4 cup apple juice or cider to the mix. Blend until it's the consistency of mashed potatoes. You may need a little extra juice, cider or water along the way to get the right texture.