Let Loose

My older son Eric can’t believe I don’t have any games on my cell phone.  He is completely awestruck as to why I would have a smart phone with no games on it.  As obvious an answer it is to me, I find it difficult to say, “I use my phone as a phone…if I wanted to play a game I would break out the hungry hippos”.  Instead of accepting my answer gracefully, my 12 yr. old i-brainwashed son replied, “why don’t you let loose once in a while and download a game on your phone??”  LET LOOSE?  Obviously he didn’t remember the day I had the family dinner all planned with meat out of the freezer and thawed and ingredients prepped and ready to go when a friend called and asked if we wanted to go out for dinner with them.  I was beyond flaccid when I agreed to that!  I can let loose with the best of them.

He ended up saving me from my uptight existence by downloading Temple Run.  The sales pitch conversion occurred when he told me he had put many adults onto this game and they loved it.  How could I say no?  Basically it’s a guy on a treasure hunt all the while being chased by crazed monkeys.  Sounds a lot like my life at home on a weekend. (treasure = wine, crazed monkeys = my boys)

I suppose the game is pretty good in a mind numbing, vertigo inducing kind of way.  Thanks Eric, I’m now as loose as a goose and lots more fun at parties.

I figured in keeping with the theme of letting loose, we could take a break from cooking a batch of baby food today and instead just grab some from the freezer that I’m sure you’ve thoughtfully prepared a few days ago if you’ve been following along with this blog and trying out some of the recipes. J

I’ll take you through some good tips to keep in mind when freezing your purees and thawing them to ensure they are safe for baby.

Two great books I’ve used as reference are Ruth Yaron’s “Super Baby Food" and Daina Kalnins RD, CNSD and Joanne Saab RD’s “The Hospital for Sick Children Better Baby Food".

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Freezing

·         Always transfer purees into portion sized baby food freezing trays or into ice cube trays when they have slightly cooled, but haven’t cooled completely.  By allowing them to cool off a bit it will minimize the condensation collection on the wrap of the tray.

·         Once the cubes are totally frozen you can pop them out of the tray and transfer them into freezer bags to save some space.

·         Sometimes it’s tricky getting the cubes out of the tray so if you leave them out on the counter for a couple of minutes while you run and check your favourite blog post, (maybe mine?) they will begin to soften around the edges making them easier to pop out of the tray.  Make sure not to leave them out any longer than a few minutes though…you don’t want them to start thawing at all.

·         Label the freezer bags with the name of the dish and the date so you know that you have up to 3 months from that date to use them up.  Any cubes still left in the fridge after the 3 month mark, toss them out.  You wouldn’t want to take any chances.  Water crystals tend to build up the longer the food is in the freezer so the nutrients may evaporate upon thawing.

·         If you make a puree with an ingredient that was previously frozen in it’s raw state, such as un-cooked frozen blueberries or strawberries, it is safe to re-freeze the new puree.  However, if the previously frozen ingredient was a food that was cooked first and then frozen and thawed, you can’t re-freeze the new puree due to the threat of potential bacteria growth. 

Simple rule of thumb:

Ingredient used was raw then frozen then thawed and re-used in new puree = o.k. to re-freeze new puree.  Ingredient used was cooked then frozen then thawed and re-used in new puree = not o.k. to re-freeze.

·         Frozen fruits, berries and vegetables are o.k. and convenient to use in a pinch in baby food purees.  They are typically flash frozen in their raw state so they’re frozen at a very low temperature, very quickly, which retains most of their nutrients.

Thawing

·         You can thaw frozen purees in a microwave on a defrost setting or in a saucepan as long as they are completely heated through.  Allow them to cool and stir thoroughly before feeding to baby.

·         You can also thaw the frozen cubes in the refrigerator the day before you want to use them.  Think about what you will need the following day for baby’s meals and take out an appropriate amount of cubes from the freezer and put into small storage containers in the fridge to thaw and be ready to heat up for baby the next day.  Refrigerated purees should be used within 48 hrs. so make sure if you’ve put some in there to thaw you use them up within that time period.

·         Never thaw purees at room temperature or in warm water…especially ones containing meat.  The outer layers of the puree can become warm enough for bacteria to multiply even though the inside is still frozen.

·         Once purees are thawed, cooked and fed to baby, never keep any uneaten leftovers from the feeding bowl.  The bacteria from baby’s saliva can be present in the leftover food so it’s best just to discard it.

·         Make sure baby’s food isn’t too hot.  Luke warm is best as their mouths are a lot more sensitive than an adult’s.  So make sure to thaw and heat through the puree well, then stir to distribute the heat and allow to cool slightly so it’s warm rather than hot.

·         I use little glass bowls from The Pampered Chef to thaw purees in the microwave.  They are the perfect size to thaw and cook 1 serving (2 tbsp.) of food and are very easy to keep clean.

So there you have it…a little time to let loose and keep your apron in the closest for a few days and use up some of those purees you’ve got in the freezer and maybe even play a game or two of Temple Run!