Making your own baby food

[hulagirl87]

Does anyone do this? I'm very curious about it as I think it would probably be a ton healthier. Thanks for any tips you can give!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We did.

For the first baby, I dependon the Super Baby Food cookbook and even made my own homemade cereal.

But basically--you take the common first introduction foods--and steam them and then I put them through a baby food grinder to ensure proper consistency. As they gummed more, we began practicing with very small cuts of steamed food and over time progressed to full on table foods.

In the beginning, you would water down the food as they do with the jarred foods.

I'm not sure I'd call it "healthier" since jarred foods do not and should not have any artificial ingredients or preservatives. (exception are foods that discolor and then citrci acid is added.) I did it b/c I found it more economical as well as more--normal to what baby would really be eating. We did jarred foods as backups on trips in the beginning when i wasn't sure what we'd find that we could pass through the grinder. Though I did carry it with me in the event there was something we could use from our meal to feed baby in the early days of learning to eat.



I would often make a small batch and freeze portions in an ice cube tray so that you don't have to fully cook everyday.

For foods that discolor, I would put orange or lemon juice in the water for the steaming process and that would prevent discoloration.

Foods that don't require cooking include banana and avocado which can both practically be fed straight from the peel after they have ripened.

Foods such as canteloupe, I'd put through the grinder to mush them up.

For the beginner, a baby food cookbook is nice just so that you have the proper times and some neat recipes. It will also give you a schedule of when foods can be introduced as some foods need to wait until later. When you buy jarred foods, you will notice some ingredients are only available in latter stages.

Interesting little thing--with peas, I had tried grinding them, but the "shell" or outer part of the peas would never grind. Then I figured out I could "pop" them and squeeze out the mushy inside. I have no idea what the parts are called--but I popped the peas until my babes were old enough and skilled enough to eat a whole pea. They dont' grind well at all--unless maybe you puree them. But I didn't have the equipment for that.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

My stint of making baby food consisted of taking the baby's portion out of the regular meal, prior to seasoning and using either a baby food grinder, or a blender.

Cereal consisted of oatmeal, finely ground and then cooked, and cream of rice, or wheat (per whatever schedule you felt your child was on for introduction of new foods).

We did it because we wanted to know exactly what was in the food the baby was eating. (Distrust of packaging plants and the like).

We used no recipes, but we did make enough from the "dinner" meal to last through the next day's lunch.

It's really not that difficult, more economical, and can be more sanitary (depending upon your own cooking habits, of course ).

Get a decent grinder (best for travel) and a decent blender and you are good to go!

 

[Laura]

We do it. Super easy. Get a food mill and this book: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/First-Meals/Annabel-Karmel/e/9780756603656/

It's cheaper than buying it, and it definitely tastes better!

 

[bekkiz]

I made (well, still do) most of the boys' fruit and veggie purees. Some things, like applesauce, are not worth the time or effort, since organic applesauce isn't very expensive. I did do batch cooking and would freeze portions in a silicone muffin pan. After the "pucks" were frozen, I'd pop them out and store them in a big (labeled!) ziplock.

Bananas and avocado don't freeze well, so I'd usually just mush that up with a fork or run it through a potato ricer.

www.wholesomebabyfood.com is a great resource. I know we saved a lot of money by making our own food, and a lot less trash because there weren't any jars or things to throw away. I will say there are some excellent store bought foods that I still will use for convenience sake (like when travelling etc). Plum Organics are great, and the frozen Happy Baby food is really good too.

I bought a Beaba Cook (baby food maker--steamer and food processor in one). A lot of people told me it wasn't going to be worth the cost, but I use that thing every day now. It's not great for batch cooking because it's on the small side. But now, my boys really like pasta with sauce, and it's so easy to steam some broccoli or squash or whatever, then blend it with cottage cheese/cheddar cheese and a little milk to make an instant sauce.

 

[Piecey]

I do. I don't have a book or any special tools...

I buy most veggies frozen, steam and purree in the blender. I bought Ball plastic freezer jars. Pour from blender into the container and freeze it. I've been pouring enough for 2 portions into the jars and when he finishes one I just grab another and let it thaw overnight.

Very easy. Much cheaper and Lucas likes my food better than the jars.

 

[aprilgail2]

I never fed my daughter jarred baby food when she was a baby- I made it all and everything had to be organic. I would have one marathon "cooking" day every once in awhile and freeze everything in ice cube trays and then transfer them to ziplock bags- so when it was time for dinner I would pull out a cube of carrots, a cube of sweet potato, a cube of squash,a cube of magno and have a whole variety of foods there for a meal!

 

[minkydog]

I always made my baby food.
1) Cook dinner
2) get out the grinder
3) put dinner in the grinder
4) make. baby. food.

I never used any special recipes. Just whatever we were having, minus the spices. We eat plain healthy food anyway so it wasn't a big deal. I really don't get the whole gotta have a special cookbook. Most of the human race never heard of a cookbook and somehow their babies get fed.

 

[merryweather20]

I always made my baby food.
1) Cook dinner
2) get out the grinder
3) put dinner in the grinder
4) make. baby. food.

I never used any special recipes. Just whatever we were having, minus the spices. We eat plain healthy food anyway so it wasn't a big deal. I really don't get the whole gotta have a special cookbook. Most of the human race never heard of a cookbook and somehow their babies get fed.

Thats because they say "Hey, Mom how did you do this when I was a baby?"

Not all of us have baby food making Mom's, so we like to have cookbooks

 

[MichelleinMaine]

I always made my baby food.
1) Cook dinner
2) get out the grinder
3) put dinner in the grinder
4) make. baby. food.

I never used any special recipes. Just whatever we were having, minus the spices. We eat plain healthy food anyway so it wasn't a big deal. I really don't get the whole gotta have a special cookbook. Most of the human race never heard of a cookbook and somehow their babies get fed.

Ditto. I just had a minichopper on the counter that I used to puree whatever up. Obviously, when they were just starting solids, kept it simpler (eg single veggies) and watch anything that has a tendancy for allergies (eg strawberries...) You can look at the commercial baby foods for what's good starting foods.

 

[robinb]

I made my DD's food when she was a baby and I believe that she is a pickier eater because of it. I tried and tried to get her to eat meat put though the grinder but she wouldn't and I was too stubborn to open a jar of baby food. I wish now that I had tried the traditional baby food at the time because now I have a vegetarian DD while my DH and I are carnivores.

 

[Sleepy]

I always made my baby food.
1) Cook dinner
2) get out the grinder
3) put dinner in the grinder
4) make. baby. food.

I never used any special recipes. Just whatever we were having, minus the spices. We eat plain healthy food anyway so it wasn't a big deal. I really don't get the whole gotta have a special cookbook. Most of the human race never heard of a cookbook and somehow their babies get fed.

I agree with you on this. My son ate from the table....exactly what we ate, with the exception of spicy stuff. He turned out fine.

 

[clgwli]

We did for some foods but not all. For some fruits it turned out to be more expensive to make my own. Most veggies were cheaper but some were a wash. Mine also preferred the texture of some baby foods to the ones I made since they had a much smoother puree to them than I could get out of my equipment. It wasn't too hard. Just ground up the food and added water. Exact same ingredients as were in the baby food.

 

[hulagirl87]

Thank you everyone for your help and tips!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I always made my baby food.
1) Cook dinner
2) get out the grinder
3) put dinner in the grinder
4) make. baby. food.

I never used any special recipes. Just whatever we were having, minus the spices. We eat plain healthy food anyway so it wasn't a big deal. I really don't get the whole gotta have a special cookbook. Most of the human race never heard of a cookbook and somehow their babies get fed.

Some of us are not born with cooking common sense.

I also mostly bought the one book with the purpose of having my food introduction charts all in one place and the steaming times and all that.

There is nothing wrong with having a cookbook.



Robinb: My oldest refused meat until 2 and then only chicken until around 4 or 5.

Now if you have are cooking steak, her nose perks up and she hunts it down. She's 9 now. When she was little, I never envisioned the day when she would eat red meat voluntarily or stalk steaks.

It may have helped that her doc was a vegetarian and while he doesn't pass along his eating habits to his patients, I found it very helpful when he said to not worry about it. In time, she came to meats on her own.

I tried my dd on the jarred meats--it smelled horrible and she wouldn't touch it. My dd would also not eat green beans to save her life. She hated them. It didn't matter if I made it or bought it in a jar.

So I'm not sure you making her own food had to do with her being a vegetarian. Some people are just born not liking certain foods no matter how you opt to feed your child.

 

[Laura]

Thats because they say "Hey, Mom how did you do this when I was a baby?"

Not all of us have baby food making Mom's, so we like to have cookbooks

Exactly. First Meals gave us some ideas and tips for things to try. Saves us time and money because we're not experimenting.

DD has recently been eating regular table food rather than just purees. She gets upset if I'm eating in front of her and not giving her pieces of my food to munch on. And no, giving her puffs or something else doesn't fool her. I gotta say, the idea of taking my spaghetti dinner (or whatever) and putting it through the food mill just sounds gross to me. If it's something I wouldn't enjoy pureed, I wouldn't give it to her that way.

 

[java]

In the beginning when you are slowing introducing foods- I didn't do the what we are eating thing- I always had a banana and avacado on hand- both so easy to mash up with a little liquid.

Applesauce is super easy to make- I steamed with skins on- then just scooped out the pulp- added some of the steaming water(distilled because of our well)

Easy peasy.

Freeze in ice cube trays then pop them into ziploc bags. It's so easy to take out a cube and mix it into Oatmeal.