How do you make your own baby food?...And what?

Brandi - posted on 02/21/2010

I heard the same thing about carrots.

Jennifer - posted on 02/19/2010

I make all of mine! I buy organic produce and steam it then puree it in a food processor. It tastes way better than store-bought jarred food, plus it's cheaper!



yams/sweet potatoes

potatoes

cauliflower

asparagus

peaches (don't steam, just peel and pit)

peas

green beans

prunes

hard boiled egg YOLKS not whites and add water to thin

avodado (no need to steam)

apricots

bananas raw





I have heard NOT to do carrots yourself because they mey contain too many nitrates, but the carrot baby food in a jar is tested for this so it is safe.

Brandi - posted on 02/19/2010

Wow guys, all great suggestions, thank you :) And I LOVE the Magic Bullet! I have owned mine for about 6 years now and still going strong.

Amy - posted on 02/18/2010

I feed my daughter minestrone soup (pasta, tomato, carrots, celery, etc), and blend it with fresh carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and artichoke hearts. She LOVES it!

Karri-ann - posted on 02/17/2010

I make all of my son's baby food. I use the oven a lot to prepare the veggies. I will bake a sweet potato or squash in an oven set at 350 for about 45 minutes. I then scoop it out and mash it with a potato masher. If I make carrots, apples, peas, mango, pears or anything like that I boil it in a little water and then pour the fruit/veggie along with the water (to keep the nutrients that were boiled out) into the blender to smooth it out.

I live in Alberta Canada, and we are told by nurses that you can now start your baby on meat at 6 months (a good source of natural iron). So I roasted a whole chicken, and then put all of the meat into a blender with a little bit of water to smooth it out. Dane isn't too fond of the texture of the blended chicken. Next time I will just chop the chicken up into very small pieces and maybe add it to some sweet potatoes or something like that.

Another good trick I learnt is that once you have blended/mashed the food, if you pour it into ice cube trays and let it freeze, you can then store the frozen cubes of food in baggies. The size of the ice cubes are approximately 1 tbsp which is a perfect way to keep track of how many servings of food your baby is getting.

Michelle - posted on 02/17/2010

I cook the food, then use a food mill, and then put the extra in ice cube trays in the freezer and reheat when I need them. When they are old enough to eat meat, I put cooked meat in a food processor. I would start with poultry first. From 7 months on, a cooked egg yolk mixed in with some veggies is good. I also like to add foods that are high in fats for brain development. Avocados mashed up with bananas or mixed with baby yogurt are great for this. Also, the grains or fortified cereal which are high in iron mixed with your homemade veggies or fruits are good. If you can find organic fruits and veggies even better. Avoid tomatoes, citrus, nuts, and egg whites until they are older. This book by Ruth Yaron is helpful..it is called "Super Baby Food" See http://www.superbabyfood.com/

Griselda - posted on 02/17/2010

To Lyla:



Depends how your little one is eating. If she's on finger food then broil the chicken then shred the chicken. if you're still spoon feeding her then I would add a little home made chicken broth, add veggies and blend it. I suggest using a food processor or my favorite- the Magic Bullet.

Lyla - posted on 02/17/2010

I have been wanting to use the blender to make my own baby food , but im not sure how to prepare the chicken , boil , bake ???

Griselda - posted on 02/16/2010

Hi Brandi

The following site is a great site I use as a tool to give me food ideas for my infant.

"What kind of food do you mash up and feed to them?" At this point, I'm feeding my 8 month old pretty much everything we eat (minus the salt) However, I started with the basics, carrots, grean beans, peas, acorn/butternut squash, pears, apples, bananas, egg yolk, pasta. Now she's eating chicken, ground beef/turkey, spagetti, beans. She's pretty much on table food now. Here a sample of my girls menu.



Breakfast- toast with fruit spread (banana, apple) sometimes cottage cheese with avocado or just avocado



Snack (when I remembrer) cracker



Dinner: Cut up veggies, or fruit, or lentils, beans, chicken with steams brown rice.



I only feed my baby 2 a day since I mostly BF.



I hope it helps you like it's helped me.



http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/pureeba...

Sheree - posted on 02/16/2010

My litle girl will be 8 months on Friday and she is mostly eating what we eat now, with the exception of when we have something not healthy. But we started her on the following at 6 months:

For breakfast she usually has:

farex, weet bix, toast, pancakes or scrambled eggs

Lunch is fruit, or fruit and yoghurt:

kiwi fruit, water melon, rock melon, peaches, strawberries, apples, pears, banana, nectrines, oranges, mangos and avacados.

Dinner veg include:

sweet potato, potatoe, pumpkin, squash, beans, peas, spinach, broccoli, cauilflower, chokos, zucchini and carrots.

I only puree (magic bullet) apples and pears as she doesnt like them cooked. The rest I just mash with either a fork or potato masher.

But now that she is eating our food she has, chicken fettuccine, apricot chicken, roast with roast veg, pork on the bbq, lamb loin chops and veg, meatloaf, spag bowl, rissoles basically whatever we are having for dinner. I dont puree her meat just hand it to her and she feeds herself. Babies have one of the best gag reflexes so generally if they swallow something too big they will bring it back up quite easily. Also for snacks if she is hungry through the day, i give her biscuits, yoghurt, toast or custard. Hope this helps a little :)

Vanessa - posted on 02/16/2010

Hi,

Well I just buy a bunch of fruits and vegetables. I have a steamer and a food processor, so that helps a lot...

I've made

-applesauce

-applesauce with nectarines

-sweet potatoes

-carrots with mango

-carrots

-pears

-squash

-fruit coctail( apple, pears, peaches)

-green beans



I still haven't started her on any meats but when I do, i'll probably mix it with vegetable and throw it in the food processor. Hope this helps...Look up this website,

www.wholesomebabyfood.com