Home Made Baby Food

[Crissyanna]

Ok, so I posted this before the crash. I got a few replies (thanks to those who did) and now I hope others will add from their stores of knowledge on the subject.

I am planning on making my baby food when the time comes (I am due the end of Sept. with our first). It should save us a ton of money, and this way I can control exactly what my child is eating (I have food allergies, and yeah, I dread passing them on) as one can never be guaranteed exactly what is in the food you buy (like lots getting put into the wrong container, someone forgetting to modify an ingredient list and stuff like that)

So, how do you do it? What kind of liquid do you use? Do you use a food processor or a baby food grinder? Do you grind whatever you are cooking that day for food or do you make up plenty in advance and freeze it? There are so many different ways to do this, I was wondering what the eaisest way is. I know there are a ton of books out there on the subject, but I have had no success at the library, and we can't afford to buy any right now. Besides, I prefer first hand experience to an extent. Like how practical a suggestion really is (one of my pet peeves is parenting "experts" who don't have any kids, that kind of thing).

Thanks.

Crystal

[KansasMom]

I have made my own baby food from the beginning. Other then the cereals. (which I was told you can make as well but I never got into).

Anyway, to start off with I used the blender with well cooked veggies (ie green beans, carrots, zuchini, squashes, peas, etc). I would add the veggie and then just add water to make it puree. If I didn't have fresh or frozen I would get the canned goods from the store that only had water and the vegetables. One can cost $0.79 and makes a ton of baby food. With the purees, I would freeze them in ice cube trays and label them, then I would defrost in fridge or sometimes in a crunch microwave but microwaving is not as good.

After we had introduced all the foods I could think of except meats, I started using a baby grinder which has a little rougher texture. I then started just using whatever I made for supper and picking what we gave. this was when we introduced meats. I think we started this with Abigail at 6 months. So she had two months of pureed foods and then we went to ground food, from the table, to finger foods & very small pieces of food once I noticed she was chewing and had enough teeth to do so. With Nathan, we are going so much slower with the introductions of foods because of his allergies that we are still trying the pureed foods and his is 6 1/2 months old. I tried some of the food grinder and it was a bit much for him still.

Hope this is helpful to you!

Melanie

[Crissyanna]

Thanks Kansas Mom. I appreciate it. I know that each kid can be very different from their siblings (I worked in an infant room in a day care. Some kids could start things well before others...). I understand about allergies. I have an allergy to walnuts and sulfite (any form of it) so we have to be careful as it is.

I hadn't thought of using canned food to make baby food. That is genius!

I lived in Wichita the year before I got married. I loved Kansas. Now, I'm stuck in Mo until December or January. Waiting for Hubby to graduate Bible college. I can't wait to head back west! Though I am so not looking forward to moving with an infant, moving just the two of us was challenge enough.

Crystal

[Rach]

Easy:
smash a banana with a fork
mashed potatoes, can add breast milk to thin
squash - bake it for you, smash extra good w/ a fork for baby

Baby Safe Feeder:
cantalope
honeydew
pineapple
mandarin oranges
orange slices
grapes

For fruits I baked or steamed, to keep vitamins in.
apples
apples + apricots (or peaches, plums, pluots)
pear
pear + pineapple
(I use a lot of apple and pear cause other fruits get real runny, and mixing one of those in helps.)

Veggies I boiled/steamed.
potatoes, green beans
yams (add some of the water you used to boil)
potatoes/spinach


I used the ice cube method and made batches Sat mornings in the food processor. Then during the week, if we had extra, we used that, too. HTH.

[meg]

Like the other mums, I used to just boil or steam fruit (eg. apples and pears) and veggies (potatoes, pumpkin, carrot, peas etc).

Sometimes I'd make a mix, like peas and potatoes which both boys loved.

I also used to make lamb shank broth for them, which they loved. That was when they were a bit older though.

[DuckyMomma]

All good ideas!! I would just add that you need to wait on homemade carrots and brocolli and spinach because they have a lot of nitrates naturally and when you make them at home it can overwhelm little ones under 9 months. That is what my pediatrician told me. :D

[emilyrosejewel]

Just thought I would throw in a link to a great site on info. about homemade baby food with good nutritional break downs and tips. Good luck and congratulations on your new bundle of joy!

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

[Crissyanna]

Thanks everyone. I just hope I'm not getting to ambitious with all this. I have been planning on making my own baby food, using cloth diapers, making my own wips and ecolgocially b/f. I am begining to wonder if I'm nuts! Guess time will tell [whatheadagainstthewall]

Crystal

[LadyLavender]

You are obviously passionate about doing your best for your baby, which is wonderful! All I would say to you is not to be too hard on yourself if things don't turn out exactly the way you've planned- there are so many variables with little babies. You will still be a great mommy even if you have to make some adjustments you hadn't planned on.

Best of luck to you! :)

I never did make my own baby food. I do know how my mother did it though. She just boiled up potatoes, sweet potato and pumpkin or potatoes, carrot and silverbeet. And then mashed it all up with some boiled water or breastmilk. Don't add salt or anything else to it.
She also stewed apples (with skin on... the skin will fall off when they are ready) and pears. And then mashed them up. You don't need to add sugar. And bananas she just mashed up with a fork.
You can use a blender if you have one.

[tracy]

I think it's great! Go for it! Just make sure to take your time...

I started dd around 7mo on veggies only. Fruits, even though natural, have sugar and I wanted to wait on those for a bit. The only liquids I've added are breastmilk or water. I've never added anything else, except when my ped was worried about my dd weight he asked that I add a very small amount of olive oil to fatten her up. I only did this for a couple of months. I just wasn't comfortable with it. Although, now that I think about it, I do line the muffin pans with olive oil so the food comes out easily. You can freeze some food for a month, so I watch for sales. DD started w/broccoli and cauliflower. (Puréed cauliflower has the consistency of mashed potatoes.)

Veggies I steam, use a blender/food processor, freeze in muffin pans (mini-muffin pans in the beginning, now normal sized ones). After freezing I empty each food in marked gallon freezer bags to store in the freezer. I like the muffin pans because of the size. My dd will eat up to 3.5 at one meal! You can control the consistency of the food as they get older.

I had a little trouble w/spinach being too runny at first.
I boil chicken then use a food processor and freeze in pans. You need to add a little water so it will freeze.
Fresh avocados are great, but leave the pit in what you'll finish later.
You can buy organic applesauce and frozen organic peas (a little pricey, but convenient and healthy, just mash cooked peas w/fork).
Carrots I don't heat up all the time. She likes them cold. These are great to throw in your bag if going out for the day. They should be defrosted by lunch/dinner.
For breakfast she has Quaker Oats 1-min Oatmeal.

This has saved us a lot of money and I am like you, I like to know what she's eating. And I enjoy knowing she is eating well! :D

BTW, thanks emilyrosejewel for the site. I can't wait to check it out. I noticed birthday cakes there and I'll be needing one soon...

[Crissyanna]

Thanks again everyone.

I look forward to reading the website(s, I can't remember if there is more than one listed or not, sorry, preggo brain) and using your ideas. I hadn't thought of avacado! Or cauliflower. It is amazing what one gets used to by seeing what is already premade to buy at the store. They dont' have much variety, do they? At least not around here. There is only one store I know of that sells baby food zuchinni! No one has brcolli until stage three, and cauliflower is unheard of.

Well, I need to get going. Hubby will be home soon on his lunch break and I need to get cooking something.

Crystal

[suzyq]

I have ben making my baby food and it has been great! wholesomebabyfood.com is an awesome site. Some thoughts and tips:
-I use a blender or cuisenart

-I buy frozen organic vegetables, blendm and then pour into icecube
trays, and store in ziplock bags

-Be careful about canned foods, they are usually not just in water, but in syrup, with salt, preservatives, etc. ALWAYS look at ingredients. Even some of the frozen veggies you will see salt in the ingredients.

-I use organic unsweetend applesauce from Motts instead of make applesauce.

-There is no need to buy all the "baby" specific food.... they try and market everything to moms and make you think you have to buy their brand.

It is an easy and fun process and alot cheaper. I would recommend anyone to try making their babyfood. The only problem i have had is with traveling...it is challenging, I pack all the food in a cooler.

You baby will love it and probably be a less pickier eater. Homemade babyfood is usually thicker and adds different textures sooner for babies

Good luck!!

[cjropher]

I didn't make my own babyfood with number 1 but am this time. I have taken sweet potatoes and wrapped them in foil and just put them in the oven at 350. Then a few hours later I pulled it out. Oh it was soooo good

...:oops: Oh, sorry, this is the babyfood thread...

Just kidding! No, it was really good, I put a little butter on it and was about to eat it all. David wanted to eat though, so I had to blend up some for him :( ! He really liked it (without the butter for him, that was just me). I also cut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, put in a pan with a little water and roast for about an hour at 350. Then I scoop out the good stuff and mash. I did need to add water to the squash but not the sweet potato. I also have made apples (haven't done much so far), and just peeled them and put them in a pot with 1/2 cup water and let them cook for about 20 min and then blended them. David loves them. Oh, and I blended a banana which he also liked. I'm going to try green beans, carrots, and pears next. Should be fun!