I didn't post about this originally because I thought the food was going to be ok. So I made sweet potatoes Tuesday night and it was a partial disaster. I peeled the potatoes and started steaming them. DH was bugging me to come sit down and watch Fringe so I set the timer for 20 mins (that's what the book said to approx steam them for) and went into the living room. After about 15 mins it started to smell really good, sort of like french fries. Yum! Within seconds it started to smell really bad. We both lept up and went into the kitchen to find that the water had all evaporated out of the pot and the sugars in the sweet potato must have dripped down and carmelized on the bottom of the pot. Not cool. It's taken a day to get the smell out of the house and 2 days to get the pot clean. The potatoes seemed ok so I put them through the food mill and froze the servings.
Fast forward to last night. I put a serving in the microwave and I started smelling the burning smell again! I was beginning to get concerned about the quality of the food. They continued to smell bad even as they cooled. I took a bite and they were disgusting! Poor J5. I didn't have any milk to mix up some cereal for him so he had to have carrots for dinner for the 3rd night in a row.
Re: Made my own sweet potato baby food = FAIL
Sorry it didn't work out. I steam some veggies and I boil others. I always boil sweet potatoes and so far so good. I just cut them up in small pieces, add water, and cook until very tender. You can't over cook potatoes when boiling them since they will get pureed anyways so it's nice although I understand that the food loses more nutrients than if steamed.
Good luck with your next try.
I had that same problem I burned up 3 pot and dh was less than thrilled with me. He bought me a kick a** steamer and I LOVE it so much.
https://www.amazon.com/SALTON-Richard-Simmons-Electronic-Steamer/dp/B001TIWVWC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1241786134&sr=8-2
That is the one and it is great bc it has 3 seperate compartments so you can steam 3 different things at the same time and the juices stay seperate.
For sweet potatoes though I rec. doing them in the oven. I put them in the oven for about 40-50 minutes and the skins comes right off and then I pop them right into the food processor. Much easier than steaming and I will usually do it on a night that dh and I also have baked sweet potatoes for a side dish with dinner so it kills 2 birds with 1 stone.
Good luck!
next time, try baking them! The peels come off super easy afterwards and all you have to do is mush them up. I didn't even add any water/liquid to Avery's
I had a similar experience with Apples if it makes you feel any better.