7 Essential Recipes For Our NEW Stage 3 System Food Mix-In (Plus, Tips to Ensure a Diverse Diet for Your Child)

Looking for easy, healthy DIY baby food recipes to mix our NEW Stage 3 system in? We've got you covered!

Ready. Set. Food!'s new 100% organic Stage 3 system introduces 8+ month old babies and toddlers to 9 of the top allergy-causing foods, without any added sugar.

After all, the USDA's new Dietary Guidelines for babies under two years of age recommend feeding babies a variety of healthy foods, with no added sugars. As the USDA advises, feeding baby too much added sugar poses the risk that they will prefer overly sweet foods for the rest of their life.

But you'll need to mix Stage 3 with your baby or toddler's food---and many store-bought foods designed for babies still contain the added sugar that babies don't need.

Instead, you'll want to mix Stage 3 with healthy, age-appropriate and diverse foods that your child enjoys, foods that also stay away from added sugars.

• Introducing a variety of different flavors will help your child learn to love many nutritious foods.

• You'll also want to introduce your child to a variety of textures, beyond purees, as this will help them learn to chew and swallow pieces of food.

Choosing the right balance of diverse, nutritious foods is crucial to helping your child develop healthy eating habits for life, as the USDA guidelines also state.

Try making these 7 simple, healthy baby food blends for your 8+ month old to encourage healthy eating habits, and mix in Stage 3 of Ready. Set. Food! to give them the best chance at food freedom later in life.

These blends are known as Stage 3 baby food, not to be confused with our own Stage 3 system. They are meant for babies who are ready for chunky, lumpy textures and chewing small pieces of soft foods.

Beets And Yogurt

Inspired by The Bump

Ingredients:

• 1 whole beet
• 2 cups plain yogurt (be sure to choose plain yogurt with no sugar added)
• Water to boil/steam

Instructions:

1. Cut off and throw away any beet greens.
2. Wash the beet with cold water.
3. Peel the beet.
4. Chop the beet.
5. Pour water into a pot 2 inches deep. Boil the water on high heat.
6. Put the beets in a steamer basket and put the basket into the pot. Cover the basket and pot with a tight lid.
7. Steam the beets in the pot for 12-15 minutes, until they're tender.
8. Puree the steamed beets in a food processor.
9. Let the beets cool.
10. Mix the beets with yogurt.
11. If adding Ready. Set. Food! Stage 3, thoroughly mix it into the beet and yogurt mixture before serving.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

Inspired by First Cry Parenting

Ingredients:

• Medium-sized potato
• Sliced cheese
• Water to soften potatoes
• Breastmilk, formula, or cow's milk, if desired

Instructions:

1. Wash the potato.
2. Chop the potato into cubes.
3. Divide the potato in half and save the other half for later.
4. Cook the potato cubes from half of the potato in water to soften.
5. Mash the potatoes to your desired texture.
6. If desired, thoroughly mix 2 spoonfuls of breastmilk, formula or cow's milk in with the potato.
7. Take ⅓ of a slice of cheese and cut or tear it into small pieces.
8. Mix the cheese into the potatoes well.
9. Let the mixture cool.
10. If adding Ready. Set. Food! Stage 3, mix it thoroughly into one serving of potatoes after they cool.

Raspberry-Peach Oatmeal

Inspired by Baby Foode

Ingredients:

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats (rolled oats)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen peaches, with pits removed
• 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
• 2 cups water
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, if desired

Instructions:

1. Pour the water into a medium saucepan and bring it to boil.
2. Pour in the oats. Also add the cinnamon, if desired.
3. Turn the heat to medium or low and cook the oatmeal for 10 minutes. Stir as needed.
4. Let the oatmeal cool slightly.
5. In another small saucepan, heat the peaches and raspberries on medium or low heat for 10 minutes, or until fully cooked. Stir often.
6. Let the fruits cool slightly.
7. Pour the oats, peaches and raspberries together into a food processor.
8. Pulse together for 5 seconds at a time. Stop when everything is mixed but still chunky.
9. Pour a serving into baby's bowl and refrigerate the extra mixture in an airtight container (keeps 3-4 days)
10. If mixing in Ready. Set. Food! Stage 3, mix thoroughly into baby's bowl before serving.

Banana Spinach Mix

Inspired by The Bump

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe, peeled banana (medium or large)
• 2-3 cups washed baby spinach
• Water to boil/steam the spinach

Instructions:

1. Pour water into a pot so the water is 1 inch deep. Bring to a boil.
2. Place the spinach into a steamer basket and place the basket in the pot. Make sure the bottom of the basket doesn't touch the water.
3. Cover the pot with a tight lid.
4. Steam for 5-7 minutes (or until the spinach is wilted).
5. Break the banana in half. Place the banana into the food processor.
6. Pour the spinach into the food processor with the banana.
7. Pulse the spinach with the banana until you're satisfied with the texture. The spinach and banana should be mixed well, but you should be able to see banana and spinach pieces.
8. If adding Ready. Set. Food! Stage 3, mix it thoroughly into the spinach and banana before serving.

Easy Blueberry, Mango and Avocado Mix

Inspired by Baby Foode

Ingredients:

• ½ cup blueberries
• ¼ mango
• ¼ avocado

Instructions:

1. Peel and cube the mango.
2. Peel and roughly chop the avocado.
3. Place the berries, mango and avocado together on a cutting board.
4. Use the back of a fork to smash and mix together the three ingredients.
5. Plan to serve right away or freeze, so the ingredients don't brown.
6. Add Ready. Set. Food! Stage 3 to your child's serving if desired.

If your child isn’t yet ready for chunkier, lumpier textures, you can puree the three ingredients together in a food processor instead of mashing them together on the cutting board.

Homemade Strawberry Applesauce

Inspired by The Bump

Ingredients:

• 4 large apples (any type, but avoid tart apples)
• 10-20 fresh or frozen ripe strawberries
• Water to boil/steam the apples
• Cinnamon, if desired

Instructions:

1. Wash the strawberries, remove the tops, and chop them.
2. Wash, peel, core, and chop the apples.
3. Pour water into a pot so the water is 1 inch deep. Bring to a boil.
4. Put the chopped apples into a steamer basket and put the basket into the pot. Make sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the basket.
5. If the strawberries are frozen, add them to the steamer pot with the apples. If they're fresh, they don't need to be steamed.
6. Cover the pot with a tight lid.
7. Steam the fruit for 7 minutes, until you can easily pierce the apples with a fork.
8. Pulse the fruit in a food processor until smooth.
9. Add a pinch of cinnamon if desired.
10. Mix Ready. Set. Food! Stage 3 with your baby's applesauce if desired.

Chicken, Spinach and Sweet Potatoes

Inspired by Allrecipes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sweet potato
• 2 cups spinach leaves
• 1 cup skinless/boneless chicken
• Water to boil/steam the vegetables

Instructions:

1. Peel and cube the sweet potato.
2. Put a steamer into a saucepan. Fill the pan with water until the water is just below the steamer. Bring the water to a boil.
3. Place the sweet potato into the steamer and steam for 8 minutes (or until softened).
4. Add the spinach. Steam the sweet potatoes and spinach together for around 5 more minutes (or until you can easily mash the sweet potatoes).
5. Bring another saucepan of water to a boil. Add the chicken and cook until there is no longer any pink (this will probably take around 10 minutes).
6. Combine the three ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix them into a chunky puree.
7. Let cool and serve.
8. If adding Ready. Set. Food! Stage 3, thoroughly mix it into the finished chicken puree before serving.

Use these recipes with our new Stage 3 system for a lifetime of food freedom for your happy eater!

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