Should I use frozen peas?

[mamainflorida]

Hi,
I'm trying to make my own baby food, but so far, the only kind I've been successful in making is sweet potatoes!

1. Apparently, we can't make carrots at home because of nitrates
2. Squash freezes weird

I'd like to make peas and green beans. Is there anything in particular that I need to know before I try to do this?

I went to Whole Foods yesterday and was told there are no fresh peas, only frozen ones, so I bought those. I just realized that there's salt (obvious, I suppose). Is this ok? Has anyone made baby food from frozen peas?

Thanks!

[Andi98989]

I've got this site bookmarked to use when we start making baby food; there is information about squash, peas, and carrots.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com

ETA:
When choosing frozen veggies, look for those that contain no salt. If you cannot find any veggies that are salt-free, simply give the veggies a good rinsing prior to cooking them. When choosing frozen fruits, try to find those that are not frozen in syrups or other sugars.

[mamainflorida]

Thank you! That's what I ended up doing... rinsing them.

[mmsmom]

TJ's has frozen organic peas with no salt. Only no salt ones I have found.

[rizzo0904]

My generic store brand has all the veggies with no salt. It's not even a high end supermarket.

[cestkaren]

If you DC is over 8 months, I don't think you need to worry about nitrates in carrots. The wholesomebabyfood.com site explains this. Butternut squash, cooked, and pureed freezes great. I used frozen peas.

[Katigre]

You can make carrot babyfood at home - the nitrates thing is sort of blown out of proportion. It's an issue if you're feeding solids to a 3 month old, but a 6+ month old baby is just fine with homemade carrots (and the store-bought food has nitrates in it too).

See here - http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/nitratearticle.htm

[maydaymommy]

Squash freezes nicely after baked or steamed and pureed.

One thing to remember abt peas is that they have those little skins that are tough. You have to really blend and blend and blend to get them smooth. You may have to add lots of exta water, too. I usually used the left over water from steaming to add when I was blending.