Cherry puree for children for the winter. How to prepare baby puree for the winter: apple, pumpkin, squash and other baby food recipes. What foods do I usually freeze for myself?

With the arrival of autumn there is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy different varieties of apples. Many mothers prepare this healthy fruit for the winter to provide their babies with vitamins and to start the first feeding with homemade puree. Every family has its own proven recipe, but it wouldn’t hurt to add to your collection of culinary tips.

The benefits of apples

The composition of the fruit is preserved as much as possible when preparing compotes, purees, baking and drying:

vitamins B and A
iron, magnesium, iodine, sodium, etc.
cellulose
pectins
flavonoids
organic acids

Which apples to choose?

If you don’t have your own apples, it is advisable to choose nondescript varieties with minor defects in the store. Glossy and large fruits will bring minimal benefits to the child’s body if they do not cause allergic reactions in children. To check, you can use a small test: cut an apple and leave it for a while. A high-quality fruit will almost immediately turn brown when cut (a sign of a high iron content), while a bad one may only become weathered, but the flesh will not change color. Unfortunately, such actions are only possible after purchasing an apple, so the appearance of the fruit is an ideal clue.

As complementary foods, be sure to use those varieties of apples that grow in your native region. Most suitable for baby food:

Semerenko
Antonovka

They do not retain their properties for very long after harvest:

Jonathan
Jonagold
Golden and a number of other imported varieties

Green apples contain easily digestible iron. Its amount is lower than in liver or meat, but daily consumption of this fruit will reduce the risk of anemia. And the favorite delicacy of all infants is applesauce, because it is with it that pediatricians advise preparing the child’s body for adult food.

Proven recipes for making puree for future use

In summer and autumn, there is no hassle when preparing dessert from apples: just wash the fruit, cut off the peel, remove the core and grate it on a fine grater. The baby will happily eat the sweet dish offered. In the cold season, it is more problematic to find a “native” variety of fruit, so it is advisable to take care of the baby’s diet in advance and prepare puree for the winter, using any recipe you like.

Classic applesauce

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For the children's version you will need:

3-4 kg green apples
up to 1 liter of water
100 g brown sugar
a little lemon juice

The process of making puree is described step by step:

The apples must first be washed, peeled and cut into small cubes.
Place water on the stove, let it heat up and add sugar, stirring until it is completely dissolved.
Dip apples into syrup
While the puree is cooking, sterilize the jars and lids for it.
Mash the finished apples, heat them again and pour into jars
Sterilize, cover with lids, and roll up
Turn the jars over and cover with a warm blanket until completely cool.

The recipe does not include tips for sterilization, but you can’t do without them:

Wash the puree container and lid thoroughly with baking soda.
Boil water in a saucepan, after placing a sterilization circle on it
If the necks of the jars are small, you can make a hole in a regular tin lid, similar in diameter
Sterilize jars for about 2 minutes

After the jars are filled with puree, cover them with lids and immerse them in a pan of hot water (on the stove) about 2/3 full.

Sterilize for 10 minutes, roll up.

Apple-carrot puree

Apple and carrot puree, prepared for future use for the winter, is no less beneficial. The recipe contains a minimum of ingredients, but the delicacy turns out very tasty:

400 g each of apples and carrots
200 g sugar

Be sure to use only fresh and unspoiled products:

Wash and peel the carrots, cut into small cubes
Add a little water and cook until done
Cool and puree in a blender
Wash the apples, remove the core and peel, cut into small slices
Pour in hot water until the liquid barely covers the fruit.
Grind the finished apples in a blender
Mix both types of puree, add sugar and bring the mixture to a boil, then boil for a couple of minutes so that the puree is well preserved in winter
Pour into jars, sterilize for another 15 minutes, roll up and cool upside down under a warm blanket

You can supplement the recipe with orange juice or honey. To taste, add freshly squeezed orange juice during the cooking stage of both parts of the mixture, and replace sugar with liquid honey if the baby is not allergic to it. It is better to take carrots that have remains of soil on them, and not “washed” ones. Natural carrots growing in black soil contain much more nutrients than their “foreign” sister.

The assortment of modern stores has made the life of young mothers as easy as possible, providing a huge number of jars of baby puree to choose from. But none of them, even the most expensive ones, can compare with homemade ones, which can be safely offered to the baby as complementary foods.

Apple and pear puree

To prepare apple and pear puree for the winter, you will need:

equal number of pears and apples
a little citric acid to taste

If you take green, sour apples, you don’t need to include citric acid in the recipe:

Wash the apples, peel and core them, cut into cubes and boil in a small amount of water until thickened.
Wash the pears, peel them, cut them into slices and boil them in a small amount of water until soft.
Puree the fruit mixtures separately, then combine and simmer again
Pour into sterilized jars and additionally sterilize the puree in them for at least 10 minutes, covering with lids
Roll up and cool upside down until completely cooled.

If you want not to boil the fruit, but bake it in the oven, you need to wrap each pear and apple in a piece of foil and place it on a baking sheet. The fruits will reach the desired consistency, but their juice will not splash on the walls of the oven. The recipe does not contain sugar, since the pears themselves are quite sweet. All fruits must be from the “native” region and free from rot. In winter, kids will be happy to devour delicious puree, which contains all the beneficial substances.

Freezing is considered the safest way to prepare vegetables, berries and fruits for children. Homemade juices, purees and compotes prepared with minimal use of preservative ingredients are also suitable for children.

Freezing fruits and vegetables

As a way to preserve all nutrients freezing fruits and vegetables has no competitors, especially if you freeze vegetables and fruits grown on your site. Then in winter your little one will receive a full set of vitamins, because from these products you can create a healthy and varied menu. They are good to use in salads, soups or served as a separate dish. And culinary greens enrich winter recipes, giving food a real summer taste. By the way, it can be stored without freezing. To do this, parsley and dill need to be washed, dried, finely chopped, mixed with salt and kept in a glass jar in the refrigerator. One more advantage of frozen vegetables and fruits should be noted: they reach readiness very quickly, especially if they were sent to the freezer already blanched. In this case, it only takes 15–20 minutes to cook them. And that is why you need to add frozen fruits to the soup shortly before the end of cooking.

You can freeze carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers, zucchini, green beans, and green peas. It is better to cut large vegetables in advance, and then freeze them in special plastic containers and simply pour out the required amount as needed. Cauliflower and broccoli must be divided into inflorescences. It’s also good to freeze pumpkin for the winter (also peel, cut and put in portion bags), and in winter add it to mashed potatoes or millet porridge. Green beans are also frozen for the winter. Just before doing this you need to hold it in boiling water for a few minutes.

In the same way, you can freeze berries and fruits: currants (red, black, white), cherries, cranberries, peaches, plums, pears, etc. Fruits must be sorted so that only intact fruits are used, then washed, cut and placed in plastic containers.

Doctor's advice

Homemade vegetables blanks for children, which contain vinegar and salt in varying concentrations (depending on the recipe), can be offered to children over three years of age and only in small quantities, such as as a pre-dinner snack. You can start with squash and eggplant caviar. From factory canned food, a child after three years of age can be given canned peas, corn and beans.

Canned food in child nutrition

It is good to make juice from apples, plums and pears using a powerful juicer (it is convenient if the device accepts whole fruits, then you do not need to cut them, which saves time). And then everything is simple: the squeezed juice must be boiled for 20 minutes, removing the foam that appears on the surface, poured into sterile jars and rolled up. Raspberries, strawberries, and currants can be ground with sugar and placed in glass jars. But such fresh “jam” should only be stored unopened in the refrigerator.

It is useful to give your kids strawberry juice without sugar. To prepare it, the berries are boiled in a juicer for 50 minutes. Then the juice in the pan is heated to 80–90 degrees, poured into glass jars and rolled up. It's not difficult to make applesauce. To do this, the fruits must be washed, damaged areas removed, placed in an enamel pan, covered with water and cooked for 10–15 minutes (until soft). Then the apples are rubbed through a colander, the resulting puree is boiled down a little, placed in jars, sterilized and rolled up. It is best to use single-serving baby food jars.

It is a fact: Pediatricians do not recommend giving children under 3 years of age store-bought canned vegetables, fruits and compotes, since these products do not meet the strict requirements that experts impose on baby food. In addition, to increase shelf life, unscrupulous manufacturers often add substances that can cause disturbances in the functioning of the body, including severe poisoning.

Kids will also love apples in their own juice. You can add them to porridge and cottage cheese, make pancakes with them or cook compote. Moreover, 1 kg of apples requires only 200–300 g of granulated sugar (the difference in its quantity depends on the type of apple, that is, whether they are sour or sweet). The fruits must be peeled and seeds cut into slices, covered with sugar and left overnight. The next day, transfer the apples, along with the juice they release, into any convenient fireproof container and place in the oven for 15–20 minutes. Then place in sterile warm jars and roll up or screw on the lid.

To make plum jam, the fruits need to be pitted, chopped and crushed in a blender, then add a little sugar, bring to a boil and roll the mixture into jars.

Children will surely be delighted with homemade apricot marshmallows. To do this, remove the seeds from the ripe fruits and sprinkle the halves with sugar to remove excess water from the pulp. When the apricots release their juice, drain them in a colander, then place them in boiling syrup (water with sugar to taste), cook for 2-3 minutes and drain in a colander again. When the liquid has drained, grind the apricots in a blender and dry the puree in an oven for drying vegetables and fruits. Store the finished treat in glass jars under a plastic lid.

Expert opinion: Tatyana Barzenok, head. pediatric department Center for Natural Development and Child Health, Moscow

Homemade blanks for children, of course, are good because the origin of the fruits, vegetables and berries from which they are made is known.

However, the very recipe for their preparation involves the use of a fair amount of salt, sugar and vinegar as preservatives. And it doesn’t work out any other way, since it is not possible to simulate other preservative factors (very high temperature and high blood pressure) at home. Therefore, despite the fact that homemade preparations are tasty and quite healthy, they are not suitable for children under three years of age. Especially vegetable ones that use salt and vinegar. Fruit and berry preparations can be more adapted to baby food. Firstly, they can be prepared with a minimum amount of sugar (though then they will have to be stored in the refrigerator); secondly, they can be diluted with water before use.

Nevertheless, in the nutrition of children of the first three years, I would put industrially produced baby food (vegetable and fruit jars) in first place, and after three years you can switch to homemade food within reasonable limits.

To the question “Which puree is better?” I answered for myself a long time ago - best fruit puree for babies , and even for an older child- of course homemade. I offer you a step-by-step photo recipe for making fruit Homemade apricot puree.

Using this recipe, I have been making puree for my child for three years now, not only from apricots, but also from other fruits: pears, apples, plums, peaches. It's going great, even though we've grown out of babies a long time ago ;) Plus, you don't have to worry about a lack of vitamins in the winter. Most of the vitamins are in place. In addition, almost all fruits (especially apricots and apples) can be classified as fruits, which in itself makes such purees irreplaceable.

How to make fruit puree at home

Wash the apricots, remove the pits and place them in a saucepan. Add 50-100 grams of water (so as not to burn), put on low heat and simmer until soft.

During this time, we wash and sterilize the jars. I take small jars (170-200 g) of baby puree, mustard, sauce, etc.

For sterilization, I came up with a high-tech special device: I cut out a corresponding hole in a regular preservation lid. Like this.

I place each jar on my super sterilizer and sterilize for no more than 2 minutes.

I also put the jar lids in boiling water for sterilization.

When the apricots become soft (depending on the degree of ripeness of the berries, this can take from 10 minutes to half an hour), they need to be cooled.

Blend the cooled apricots in a blender until pureed. Then bring to a boil, put into jars and close the lids tightly.

I'm cooking apricot puree without sugar, since I have been giving it to my daughter since she was 6 months old, and feeding an infant excludes the presence of sugar. If you like a sweeter puree, you can add sugar to the blender to taste when blending the apricots. The sugar will completely dissolve when you bring the puree to a boil.

Be careful: when the puree is on the fire, it “shoots”, so you need to cover the pan with a lid, periodically lifting it and stirring the puree so that it does not burn.

If you are preparing fruit puree from pears or apples, it is better to rub them through a sieve rather than beat them in a blender, since after the blender you get an uneven puree-like mass.

In the end it turned out like this fruit puree for babies for the winter.

Looks amazing!

Two kilograms of peeled apricots yielded 10 jars of ready-made apricot puree (1.7-1.8 l).

Preparing applesauce for the winter for children at home is not at all a troublesome task. All you need are delicious apples. The puree contains no sugar, only apples and a little water. If you still take sour varieties of apples, you can sweeten the puree a little, but this is also at your discretion.

Take ripe, sweet and juicy apples to make baby puree. Even if their appearance is not ideal, ugly apples do not mean tasteless.

This recipe uses domestic summer juicy apples – the “Gala” variety.

Wash the apples thoroughly and cut off the peel. This process is quite lengthy in making puree. A vegetable peeler will help you quickly remove the peel, or get helpers to do the job.

While peeling apples, count the number of apples and write them down. This information will be useful to us.

Cut out the core with the seeds, remove the tails, etc. Cut the apples into small cubes.

By the way, don’t rush to throw away the apple peel. It can be frozen in plastic bags (for up to 6 months) and made into compotes or added to tea. The peel is very aromatic and contains many vitamins, so you can use it too.

Choose a saucepan or saucepan with a thick bottom and pour in boiled cold water at the rate of 1 apple - 1 tablespoon of water. Remember when you had to count the apples?

Why is water needed? To prevent the apple cubes from burning to the bottom, they will then be stewed in their own juice.

Reduce heat to minimum, put a saucepan with water and apple cubes on the fire, cover with a lid and simmer for 10-25 minutes. The time will depend on the variety of apples and how hard they are.

If you decide to add sugar, then do it now - at the stewing stage. Add it to taste, focusing on the acidity of the apples.

If older children (two years and older) will eat the puree, then you can add a pinch of cinnamon to it.

While the apples are stewing, you can prepare the jars for seaming. It is better to roll baby applesauce into small glass jars (about 100-150 ml). Such a small package is convenient to eat at one time and not leave for later.

Sterilize the jars with their lids by steaming, in the microwave or in the oven. I steamed it by placing a metal steamer in a pan of water.

After the specified stewing time has passed, you need to make puree from soft apples - you can use an immersion blender or rub through a fine sieve. Put the puree back on the heat and wait for bubbles to appear. It's best to cover the pan at this stage, otherwise the bubbles will explode and could get on your skin or stain your work surface and stovetop.

For the first feeding of babies, vegetable purees from zucchini, broccoli or cauliflower are used. When the child’s body gets used to the new menu, fruit dishes are gradually introduced into the diet. For infants, puree is prepared from apples, pears, plums, peaches, etc. In the Daughters-Sons online store you can get acquainted with a huge assortment of fruit purees made by domestic and foreign manufacturers. In this article we will tell you how to prepare such dishes yourself.

A universal recipe for making homemade fruit puree

Thanks to the combined nutritional composition, including foods rich in vitamins and microelements, the baby will be able to develop properly. It is recommended to introduce a new dish no earlier than 6.5 months, after successful introduction to vegetables. Give it between feedings or along with cottage cheese.

Puree can be made from one type of fruit (monocomponent) or from several (polycomponent). When choosing fruits for homemade puree, you need to pay attention to the following points:

the skin of the fruit should be free of dark places, damage and rot;
You should choose only ripe fruits;
Homemade, self-grown fruits are healthier than store-bought ones.

All fruits, except bananas, are subject to heat treatment. Peel the fruits using a knife or steam (apricots, plums). Fruits with skin can be given to children who are already 8 months old. They will add a new taste and make the puree more satisfying.

Apples, apricots, pears or plums should be steamed. (It is possible in water, but steam treatment helps to better preserve vitamins). To do this, use a double boiler or place the peeled fruit on a sieve set over a pan of boiling water. Steam apple and pear pieces for 6-8 minutes, plums, cherries, apricots for 5 minutes. Then grind the fruit in a blender or through a sieve. The dish is ready. You can give it to your baby right away or freeze it for the winter. If you want to roll up the puree, then the pureed mass needs to be boiled again and then put into sterile jars.

From 10 months of age, you can try giving fresh fruit puree - pureed apple or pear is ideal. It is best to always make it fresh and not store it in the refrigerator.

Important!

Orange and berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries) can cause an allergic reaction, so they should be introduced into the diet later, when the child’s body gets used to different types of complementary foods.

conclusions

Fruit puree contains many vitamins and minerals, so it should become an integral part of your child's diet from a very early age. Preparing this dish at home is quite simple. Most recipes suggest steaming the fruits and grinding them in a blender. All fruits must be ripe and fresh.