Product Review: Beaba Babycook

So I know this isnt really what Cooking with Cuties is for, but this is what I spend a lot of time doing.. so I thought I would share it with you mamas. For Christmas my mother-in-law got me a Beaba Babycook to make my own baby food.

I cannot RAVE enough about this product. You can steam and puree the fruits or veggies in the same compartment. Below is a tutorial on how to use the Babycook. Hope you enjoy.

First you add water to the Babycook. The product comes with directions on how much water to add, depending on what fruit or vegetable you are using.

You then cut up the fruit (I used Nectarines) and add it to the Babycook. You turn the switch on to the "steam" icon and wait until the light turns off.
Once the light is off... you take out the fruit in the "basket" it is steamed in. You then choose how much of the water produced from the steam you would like to mix in your fruit. I use all the water because that is where the nutrients go after steaming. Add it back to the fruit.
You then hold the knob on the puree icon until fruit is pureed to desired amount.
Lastly, pour baby food into desired containers. I have been using leftover Gerber Organics containers, along with ice trays. I freeze the baby food in an ice tray and then pop them out of the tray and store in freezer friendly Ziplock bags.

Its as easy as that!! I love love love making Henry baby food.. and its probably because I have this amazing baby food maker.

**I did this review on my own and did not receive anything from Beaba for conducting it.

Strawberry Jam

Hello!! My name is Elizabeth and I am good friends with Katie. I have been a viewer of cooking with cuties since it started!! I feel honored to get to post on here!! WOO HOO!! I love to cook and try new recipes... I have a blog called The Stone Family Blog, if you want to check it out...

Some friends and I went to a local strawberry patch to pick berries. It was a lot of fun and pretty reasonable for fresh berries (1.75 a lb.) I took my cutie Henry and we saw Sarah (Katie's sister) there with Jack and Noah. Henry tried his first strawberry and loved it!

Because the berries were so ripe, I decided to make jam with them because there is no way I could eat them all before they went bad. I have never made jam before so I looked for the easiest recipe I could find.

Here it is!! Strawberry Jam recipe

Ingredients:

2 lb fresh strawberries, hulled

4 cups of white sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions:

Crush strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of crushed berries.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring mixture to a rolling boil. Boil, stirring often until the mixture reaches 220 degrees.

Transfer to hot sterile jars leaving headspace in the jar and seal. Process in a water bath. If going to be eaten right away, dont process, just put jars in the refrigerator.

Footnotes: To test for jelling, place three plates in the freezer. after about 10 minutes of boiling, place a tsp of liquid jam on plate. Put back in freezer for one minute. Run your finger through the jam, if jam stays seperated, its ready for canning!

Henry watching his mama make Strawberry jam!

Review:

This was such a fun jam to make. Each process did not take too long and I was able to hang out with Henry and get other things done while making it.

I was not familiar AT ALL about how to process and can jam. Looking back that is something I would have researched before getting started. I think I did it right but felt a little unsure of what I was doing.

The jam tastes great. It is pretty dark red, which I dont really like.. but it has a yummy taste and flavor... good texture and very easily spreadable without being runny.

I ate the jam over scones last night with my sister and friend. They both gave the jam a B+... I think thats what I would give it too... a good jam, but I cant give it an A.

I got the jars for $1.85 a piece at the glass barn in Reading. I plan to give the jam to my neighbors.