How To Make Baby Food at Home

You may or may not know this about me, but I’m a self-proclaimed “Foodie”. What does that really mean? Honestly, I’m not completely sure…but I do know that I love GOOD food! I love cooking, trying new things, eating REAL food, and I love knowing that I can provide this experience for my family. That includes wee Sammy who will be 10 months old next week. Wait!!! What??? Where did all the time go?

So, I couldn’t wait until we got the green light from our pediatrician at Sammy’s 6-month checkup to go ahead and start him on solid food. All this formula (yes, he’s a formula baby; breastfeeding didn’t work out too well for us) is making me crazy and I can’t stand not being able to give him something REAL to eat! Long before his 6-month mark, I had a plan for Sammy; I was going to make all of his food! I can do this, right? I mean…how hard can it be? And why buy the jarred stuff if I can give him something that I made for him? I wasn’t sure how all this was going to go, but I have to say, it’s been a pretty smooth process so far!

How To Make Baby Food

Before I get into how I actually make, prep, store and serve the food, I’ll tell you that we feel incredibly lucky that our kid will eat just about anything that we give him! So far, (knocking on wood right now) he hasn’t been the least bit picky! He’s had everything from peas to spaghetti squash, bananas to plums, and salmon to corned beef! Right now, I’d have to say that his favorites are sweet potatoes, peas, chicken, and salmon. Can’t seem to get enough of that salmon!

Sooo…how do I make his food? Well, basically, I steam, puree, and then put the puree into ice cube trays. Once the little cubies are frozen, I put them into ziploc bags and keep in the freezer to grab from during the week. I often make up a few batches of fruits and veggies on the weekend so that we’re all stocked up for the busy work week ahead. Then, as far as proteins go, I keep cottage cheese and tons of frozen chicken around. I boil the chicken with a little bit of oregano or rosemary and then shred it up for later. When I plan our dinners, I often make something that I know Sammy can munch on along with payday loans savings account us…pork, halibut, shrimp, etc. You get the idea. Don’t be afraid to let your kid try anything and everything, just be sure to keep an eye out for allergic reactions and don’t give them too many new things all at once.

Here’s a step by step for making carrots for Baby….

1. Wash and cut up the carrots into smallish chunks. I don’t peel them as there are great nutrients in the skins!

2. Put them in a steamer and cook until nice and soft. I have a Beaba Babycook machine that I use, but you can steam them in the microwave or a sauce pan.

3. Save the steaming water and set it aside. Puree the carrots, adding water as needed. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a ricer, potato masher or good old fashioned fork to do the job.

4. Spoon the carrots out into ice cube trays and freeze.

5. Pop the cubes out and throw them into a ziploc bag for later.

6. Pull out a few cubes before baby’s meal and microwave them for 30-90 seconds (depending on how much food you’re preparing).

7. Viola! Healthy food, happy baby!

I’ve used this same process for the following foods:

– Peas (I buy the bag of frozen peas, no prep work needed here!)

– Green Beans

– Zucchini

– Summer Squash

– Acorn Squash

– Butternut Squash

– Apples

– Blueberries (again, buy the bag of frozen blueberries and just throw them in to steam)

– Plums

Some tidbits that I’ve found helpful in saving time and effort:

– Buy food in bulk so you can make a good amount at one time

– Make the food ahead of time so you can grab it during your busy week

– Make a variety of things so your babe gets to have different things on a day to day basis

– Make extra of what you’re having and save it for the baby – when making mashed sweet potatoes or cauliflower, I make extra for him and put it in ready to go tupperware in the fridge

– Don’t limit your baby to only the foods that you like…if you’re a picky eater, your baby will be too!

Now, go forth and experiment! You can even steam mixed veggies…get creative, your baby will appreciate you!

Here are some other sites that I’ve found super helpful:

Momtastic’s Wholesome Baby Food

Homemade Baby Food Recipes