Recipes Using Leftover Baby Food

Snacking becomes fun when you add baby food veggies. Gigi Lee Chang, who was inspired by the birth of her son to create Plum Organic baby foods, loves to spread bread with her own blend of super greens, which include spinach. Mix pureed spinach with plain yogurt for a dip to accompany pita chips or thin slices of baguette bread.

Dinnertime is the perfect opportunity to create healthier meals by sneaking in quality baby foods. Hood throws an assortment of baby food extras into her spaghetti sauce—zucchini, carrots, meats; any baby leftovers can add extra nutrients. Chang tosses pureed spinach with pasta for a quick pesto.

Get creative with ways to use savory baby foods like vegetables and meat into your recipes. Try adding a little green beans into your gravy, sweet potatoes into regular mashed potatoes, and zucchini into casseroles.

As with baked goods for breakfast, you can create healthier versions of your favorite sweets by adding in some extra baby food. For instance, pureed prunes are a secret sweetener and fat substitute in chocolate chip cookies.

Healthy fruit desserts are simple and tasty with baby food. Hood tops off meals with fruit smoothies—she tosses a variety of fruit ice cubes in with frozen yogurt in the blender.

Baby Food Bliss

Blending baby foods into your regular diet can help your add flavor, convenience, and nutrition to your own meals—even better, it can be fun!

The next time you think baby food is just for babies, try a few of these recipe suggestions to wow everyone in your family, from your toddler to your spouse.

• The Strawberry "Dream" Smoothie
• Sweet Potato Turkey Casserole
• Red Lentil Cranberry Chicken