How do i cook butternut squash and sweet potato?

[RGPargy]

Sorry if this has been asked a thousand times already, but today i bought a butternut squash and a sweet potato but dont really know what to do with them. I would assume i can just boil them up? They are for DD so i cant really add anything to them. She loves mashed carrot so thought i would try her on something else. What goes with Butternut squash and sweet potato or can i just mash them on their own??

Any advice would be great, TIA!

There you are!

Sweet potato is easy. Just treat it like a normal potato - boil and mash it and put a little bit of cinnamon in it. Just a little mind, not loads like I did.

I used to chop and boil and then mash the squash.

squash will take longer to cook than sp. how old is your dd, what are you aiming to produce?

I would roast the butternut squash, tbh, it's a bit flavourless when it's boiled. Cut it in half, pull out the seeds & stringy bits, brush the cut sides with oil and then stick it in the oven on 180ish for about an hour or so (I'm sure someone will come along and be more precise!).

Sweet potato cooks a lot quicker than ordinary potatoes, if you were going to mash them they'd only need boiling for about 10 mins or so.

Sweet potato chips (do big, chunky chips, no need to peel) are lush too, oven bake them in a bit of olive oil (no need to parboil).

hth

Hello NAB!!! How are you?? LOL @ you putting loads of cinnamon in. Is cinnamon ok for a baby?

fishie - just aiming to produce some sort of mash-type thing for DD, who is 6 months next week.

Lovecat - I suppose i could roast some of it for us and boil some for DD?

roast it for you, mash some for dd. no need to cook separately and will be nicer.

So if i coat it in olive oil and roast it, the oil will be ok for DD?? Sorry for all the questions. i've never done all this cooking my own baby food stuff before. DS was jar fed and that was nearly 18 years ago so i'm a bit out of practise!!

Hi

I don't think I measured it out!

Just checked my book and it is okay from 4-6m (an old weaning book) so I would say it is okay from 6 months.

yes, i'd use veg oil not olive as tastes strong and is expensive. at 6m she can eat normal food, no need to mash, she could have a chunk or two of roasted veg to scoff.

Ooh, yes - roast with olive oil it will be more than ok for dd and you. Also gorgeous on the barbecue...

Thanx guys. Not sure i could give DD roasted veg as she has no teeth so i'm scared she would choke! lol!

hand it over, is very funny to watch and she can't choke, there is a natural mechanism to stop it.

lol Thanx Fishie, i might just be brave enough to try it!

OK so i've just boiled some of it and baked some of it. The baked stuff has come out quite well but i think i put too much oil on it so i wont be giving it to DD. The boiled stuff has been blended up but is quite grainy in texture. Have I not cooked it long enough?? The baked stuff was very smooth so i'm wondering what i've done wrong!

Jools Oliver (Jamie Oliver's wife) says in her baby book that you can roast a whole butternut squash. I tried it and it worked. I just washed the butternut squash, peeled off any labels and stuck it in the oven. My oven thermostat has broken but I think it was about GM5 for about 45mins-1hour long - basically until the outside is slightly blackened and the bulb end of the butternut squash is soft and sqiggie.

This was much easier than cutting it into cubes or peeling it - as I found it too hard to do this without injurying myself with a knife!!

I bake sweet potatoes whole in the oven - just like ordinary baked potatoes. They take less time as the sweet potato gets softer quicker.

My roasting vegetables tip- cover with foil for first 20 mins- this steams them for a bit, then uncover and continue cooking for 20 mins- nicely cooked, roasted flavour without greasiness or burnt bits.
Sprinke pumpkin seeds mix over butternut squash before cooking gives it a lovely flavour.
Sweet potato mashed with a bit of orange juice makes a nice baby food.Not too much liquid though,or else it goes really soggy.

cool, thanx for the tips. I'll give it another go i think!

Butternut squash makes a great risotto. Roast the squash in slices first, mash and add to the risotto for the last five mins of cooking