The Perfect Pear

Well, let's just say the bananas were a huge success!  My little guy has a voracious appetite, but it appears his tastes take after his mama's!  In fact, we quit cereal all-together this week, and my son ate one whole banana three times each day!  He loved it!  We tried puree, we tried adding some cereal, but honestly, his favored preparation was simply smashed with a fork!  I'll admit, the bananas were a bit messy, since they were kinda slimy.  And after the first day or so we had some constipation issues (BRAT diet, anyone?!)...but they were a success!

But those constipation issues are what led me to this week's new flavor: pears!  Pears are high in fiber, potassium, and Vitamin C, making them a great choice for one of your baby's first foods!  They are also known to reduce the risk of  cancer, heart attack, and high cholesterol...and are a natural remedy to both constipation and reflux.  That combo - constipation and reflux - sold me right off the bat, as my son had some tummy issues and projectile vomiting very early in life.  As he's grown and we've added new foods to his diet, those issues have subsided, but every once in a (very long) while we'll have an episode!  Additionally, pears pack a ton of nutrients into very few calories, meaning that every bite your baby takes is doing him a world of good, something every mama likes to hear!

As for cooking, pear skins are easily digested, so you may peel them if you like (cooking them in the skin retains for nutrients) or puree them with the skins in tact.  Or try them a few ways, as I plan to!  In fact, they don't even have to be cooked at all:

"Steaming fruits is typically recommended for babies under 8 months old to help breakdown sugars and fibers in fruits. However, as pears are gentle on the digestive system and very watery to begin with, use your own discretion based on your baby's digestive system. If you will be offering pears as a baby food to an infant who starts solid foods prior to the age of 6 months old, please give pears a gentle steaming."

Try baking pears, halved with skin on, with a bit of water in the pan.  Try simply mashing them with a fork.  Try them steamed with the skin on.  Or, introduce them in stages, and steam them skinless, as I did, for Round 1!

Step 1:  Peel and core pears.  Cut them into big chunks and
place in a steamer basket (this is two Bosc pears, with
water level 2 (1/2 cup) in my Beaba). 

Step 2:  After steaming, puree the pears to desired consistency. 

Step 3:  Save the steaming water.  Use it in cereals instead
of milk/formula for a sweeter flavor or mix with other
foods to thin and sweeten! 

Six pears made me 14 servings!

Have extra pears on hand? Try making apricot-glazed pears!


Was it worth it?  Well, at $0.99 per pound, pears are on the pricey side.  But eight pears (3.8 pounds) cost me $3.73 and made 18 portions, at a cost of $0.21 per serving, which is less than half was the $0.49 jarred pears cost!