Si En's Weaning Diary: Butternut Squash Puree

I've never taste butternut squash before and was to amazed to have stumbled upon it when I was looking for suitable food ingredients to wean Si En when she was 7months old. 

If you are as puzzled as I was to how it looks like, here's a picture for you:
 

After cooking I realised that it tastes as similar as a pumpkin because, it comes from the family of pumpkins. Haha!

The nutrient value of a butternut squash exceeds the pumpkin though. 

• Butternut squash contains many vital poly-phenolic anti-oxidants and vitamins. Similar to other Cucurbitaceae members, this too is one of the low-calorie vegetables, which provides just 45 calories per 100 g. It contains no saturated fats or cholesterol; however, is rich source of dietary fiber and phyto-nutrients. Squash is one of the common vegetables that often recommended by dieticians in the cholesterol controlling and weight reduction programs.
  
• It has more vitamin A than that in pumpkin. At 10630 IU per 100 g, it is perhaps the single vegetable source in the Cucurbitaceae family with the highest levels of vitamin-A, providing about 354% of RDA. Vitamin A is a powerful natural anti-oxidant and is required by the body for maintaining the integrity of skin and mucus membranes. It is also an essential vitamin for good eye-sight. Research studies suggest that natural foods rich in vitamin A help the body protected against lung and oral cavity cancers.
  
• Furthermore, butternut squash has plenty of natural poly-phenolic flavonoid compounds like α and ß-carotenes, cryptoxanthin-ß, and lutein. These compounds convert to vitamin A inside the body and deliver same protective functions of vitamin A on the body.
  
• It is rich in B-complex group of vitamins like folates, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin, and pantothenic acid.
  
• It has similar mineral profile as that in pumpkin, containing adequate levels of minerals like iron, zinc, copper, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus.
  
• Butternut squash seeds are a good source of dietary fiber and mono-unsaturated fatty acids that benefit for heart health. In addition, they are rich in protein, minerals, and numerous health-benefiting vitamins. The seeds are an excellent source of health promoting amino acid, tryptophan. Tryptophan converts to health benefiting GABA neuro-chemical in the brain.
  

The upper part of the tray contains the butternut squash puree.

How to do:
- Peel the skin and remove the seeds
- Dice into small cubes and steam for 7mins
- Remove the water and blend/mash it into puree.
- If you would like to freeze it, wait for it to cool down before spooning it into the ice cube trays to freeze.  Try to finish the frozen food by a week if possible.