freezing baby foods

[tubble]

can anyone help me? I'm trying to find out if i can freeze nectarine, beetroot, melon and papaya once i've prepared them for baby?

Yummy, tubble. Lucky baby. According to Annabel Karmel, most freeze well (she cites bananas and avocados as not).

You could always experiment with little pieces next time you eat a melon or nectarine. Even if you just freeze an icecube or two of mixture.

I think as long as things are juicy they should be OK.

I know that whole beetroot freezes well so I should think that pureed beetroot does too. As for the fruits, they should be ok and probably the worst that will happen is that the juice will separate from the pulp but this doesn't matter in a puree anyway (you can just mix it back together or even add a little baby rice to bind it). What a lucky baby.

I've an ancient 'Good Housekeeping' freezer book (my mother gave it to me, so is circa 1976). So, bearing in mind that the advice in it could be a bit dated, it says that tangerines freeze well whole (so I guess puree is totally fine), it suggests balling or slicing melons then sprinkling a little sugar over them before freezing (not that healthy, I suppose, but I'm just quoting book). Beetroot it suggests blanching, then freezing whole, so, again, guess that puree is fine. I don't think it's heard of papaya though - maybe rarer in the 70's?! The only fruit it mentions as not suitable for freezing are banana's and pomegranate.

Nectarines freeze well in our freezer! In fact I have been stewing and pureeing loads while they are cheap at the moment because they are ds's favourite. I have also pereed and frozen very ripe cantaloupe melon without cooking first.
No idea about papaya, would like to know myself!

During my last pregancy I lived off a frozen tropical fruit mix that I bought at tesco's. It had no added ingredients (ie no preservatives or sugar). It had papaya, mango, melon, kiwi and pineapple. So I know that all those freeze well. I've seen similar things with nectarine and peach. I used to eat frozen bananas as a child so i'm surprised that Annabel Karmel says you can't freeze them. Maybe they turn brown (like they do in the fridge).

I've frozen nectarine, melon and papaya with no problems at all.

Not tried beetroot though! IME the only thing you can't freeze is banana, although you can wrap a whole one (peeled) in foil and freeze it and then eat it like a mini milk ice cream - could be a good idea for a little one too

A stupid question, but how do you prepare a nectarine for baby consumption and freezing? Do you have to get all the pith of first and do you puree it in a blender or mash it????

HI!!

I did pureed beetroot and it was fine.

We recently froze half a banana on a stick and it was gorgeous. I don't eat dairy so this is the nearest thing to ice cream I can have. And it's good for you.

We recently froze half a banana on a stick and it was gorgeous. I don't eat dairy so this is the nearest thing to ice cream I can have. And it's good for you.

www, have you tried Swedish Glace vanilla dairy-free icecream. I used to eat this when I was vegan (not anymore as love chocolate too much!), but still would choose this over normal icecream. It is utterly yummy!

I would peel and slice the nectarine and put it in the microwave for 20 secs or so and then mouli it. Wickedwaterwitch, have you tried frozen mango puree. It's so rich and thick it's almost like ice cream. Also, I freeze persimmons (i think you call them sharon fruit) whole (make sure they are super ripe) and eat them frozen.

Thanks SofiaAmes. No I haven't but may do, thanks. I have made mango 'ice cream' for ds by freezing mango mixed with natural yoghurt. He loved it.

You seem to be able to freeze banana if its cooked- I made the Lizzie Vann banana porridge this weekend, and froze it as per instructions, and it seemed fine when defrosted this am!

Yes, I've successfully frozen cooked banana mixtures before (including the porridge).

Have also frozen papaya puree too.

I'm probably too late for this line, but I found with any fruits like peach, apricots, plums etc. I zap mine in the microwave (the whole fruit)and find that the skin then very easily peels off, then the flesh comes away from the stone easily too. Them either mash or blend. I freeze mine in cubes (or small tubs) and them mix different fruits together for variety. You can also mix (especially the soft fruits) with either frozen or fresh fruit for even more variety. My babies current favourite is mango, bluberry and peach.