Roasted Blueberries & Bananas – A Family Favourite

08/28/2014

Transitioning my babies to solids, and introducing them to new foods was, and is, one of my fave experiences.  I enjoyed it with my first, and therefore couldn’t wait to start with my second little guy. It’s so exciting and fun to watch them try new foods, flavours and textures for the first time. One of Roman’s original favourites was the blueberries and banana combo. So messy, but oh so delicious!

Roman @ 6 months old (now 5 years old) enjoying his blueberries & bananas

In my search for new combos of flavours for Nico, I stumbled on Tyler Florence’s roasting recipes, and his cookbook Start Fresh. This particular cookbook of his is filled with recipes, for infants, babies, toddlers and well…adults too. Tyler loves to roast. He says in his cookbook that it’s “your best tool for winning your children over to what they may still consider the dark side of eating; fresh vegetables. The roasting process brings out food’s natural sugars and deeply develops its flavour in a way that boiling and even steaming simply can’t”

He’s right!!!! The proof is in the difference between a roasted sweet potato on the bbq vs steamed.

Using fresh blueberries from the market (#summerbucketlist), I ventured to try roasting the blueberries and bananas instead. Wow! So sweet and delicious! It was a big hit, not just with Nico but the whole family! While Nico eats his as a puree, the rest of us mix it in our oatmeal, yogurt, and just this past weekend, we put it on top of our homemade banana ice cream (#summerbucketlist).

For Tyler’s original recipe, click here.

Throw about 4 Bananas & a bunch of Blueberries (about a pint) on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

After about 20-25 minutes in the oven. Usually gauged by when the banana starts to split

Peeled bananas and blueberries in the Nutribullet

Pureed and put ice cube trays, ready to be frozen and packaged in a ziploc bags.

Tip: Check out Fresh Baby Ice Cube Trays. They are great for freezing, and so easy to pop out the purees once frozen.

These messy smiles say it all!