Making my own baby food for my 8 month old

Summer - posted on 02/26/2011

I made all my sons baby foods. I would cook everything very simply. Boil meats and steam or bake the veggies & fruits then puree them using a small food processor. I would use ice cube trays to freeze them in to portions and then store them in zipper bags.
Once he got a little older I found it helpful to throw a meat cube, a starch cube, and a veggie or fruit cube into a snack size baggie to pull out at meal time.
Cubes are easily defrosted/ heated in the microwave.
His faves were fresh peas and sweet potatoes. Good Luck!!!

Erin - posted on 02/26/2011

My 8 month old is on table food, I don't make special food for him anymore. Just don't use salt/sugar in the cooking and they can eat what ever you're eating at this age. I just cut the pieces up and put them on his tray, the only thing he doesn't self feed is things like yogurt or soup. Oh yeah get a floor mat to put under the high chair to help contain the mess ;)

Mary - posted on 02/26/2011

My son is much older now, but I did make his foodbake in the day. Pretty simple . I had a little hand food grinder that I put it thru after I cooked if it needed cooking. I started with veggies so as to make sure he didn't prefur sweets over veggies. One Item at a time was introduced slowly so as to see how my son adjusted to the new items. maybe google natural food for babies. I found it to be cheaper and fresher which is better. Even if you have frozen some local food. Stay away from pesticides in the food.. If you are interested in some food supplementation for your children let me know. blessings.

Tyrae - posted on 02/25/2011

this is a great site

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babyfir...

Amy - posted on 02/25/2011

There are baby food mills/grinders for around 7 dollars at local stores. I just put WHATEVER we were eating at supper in there and ran it through. Voila, supper done for baby. It was just that simple. Breakfast, lunch, supper, kids pretty much ate whatever we did thanks to grinder. If something didn't fit well in there, we opted for a different fruit/veggie - usually something frozen to warm quick and run through. Some noodles/rices we added a bit of water to make it easier to eat - as long as the consistency is like baby food, it worked.

Angie - posted on 02/25/2011

I made all of my children's babyfood and it was a huge savings. I had a baby food mill (but I'm sure a food processor would work) and ran whatever food I wanted to give my child through it. I'd make plenty and freeze the food into cube trays. When they were frozen, I'd put the cubes into a freezer bag. I never had any trouble getting the food out if I let if freeze solid and didn't get impatient and try to get it out when it wasn't fully frozen. My kids' favorite was sweet potatoes cooked in the microwave - with no salt or butter. Everything I cooked was low sodium, low sugar, not overly fatty.

Keli - posted on 02/25/2011

i baught the baby bullet to make my own food,it came with storage containers and recipe book,my son is only 3 months so i havent got to use it yet but excited to!

Catherine - posted on 02/25/2011

I agree with all the tips so far, and I just wanted to add that I would advise against making your own pureed meat. I'm not sure why, but it smelt awful when my friend tried it.

Heather - posted on 02/25/2011

Thank you all for the tips! Very helpful and will be busy trying this out this weekend!!!! Appreciate your time and advice ;)

Heather - posted on 02/24/2011

Ice cube trays are a pain. I used a silicon mini muffin 'pan'. Each cup is exactly 1oz and there are 12 cups. That's 3/4 of a pound of food. From there the frozen food would just pop right out and into a freezer bag. Since the food didn't spend too much time in the bag in the freezer I would reuse the freezer bags.

I pureed only meats and veggies. Chicken, pork, beef and any veggie that would puree well spinach, broccoli, sweet potatoes and carrots ,just to name a few.

Elfrieda - posted on 02/24/2011

Roast some butternut squash at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. It'll be soft enough for the baby to gum safely, but still be able to be cut into squares for the baby to practice picking up.
My son loves squash. LOVES. I put nutmeg on it for flavouring. It's a great food for taking out as well.

Kimberly - posted on 02/24/2011

I made my own baby own and froze them in 'take & toss' containers. It was way cheaper and I used to be able to to more combo's then the store bought ones.I still sort of make my own, my daughter is 15 months and when I make things like pasta and meat sauce I freeze smaller portions for her that way I can give them to her for lunch or tea. Also dont know if you ever make stew but we used to put some of the juices into ice cube trays and freeze them so they could be added to the veggies I made and gave it a bit more taste. I used to taste all the foor I made to so I knew the taste that she liked. Good luck

Victoria - posted on 02/24/2011

I have the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld. It tells me how to puree all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Fruits usually just involve blending.
I froze my food in the plastic Gerber containers either wrapped in plastic or stored in plastic bags. The containers are not freezer safe. But I did label the container with contents and the date I pureed them. Also I tried to use the frozen stuff within 3 weeks of making it.
It saved a LOT of money and I could re-use the containers after I tried the food out with my daughter.

Sabra - posted on 02/24/2011

Yes making it is way cheaper than buying the jars. Plus its healthier.
I didn't really use recipes I just made fruits and veggies and such by themselves and my daughter enjoyed them. As for storing them I found these storage containers at babies r us called baby cubes that I really liked because they stacked nicely and were a perfect portion size. I have heard though that ice cube trays are also great. Great foods that stretch a long way are sweet potatoes, and squash they are pretty cheap so they can go a long way.
If you are trying to make fruits you are going to need to add bananas or custard (custard is alot of sugar so try and avoid it if possible) otherwise you end up with fruit juice. Be careful with too many bananas though it can cause constipation.

Alison - posted on 02/24/2011

I have one tip only. Use ice cube trays to freeze the food, then store in ziploc bags.

I should also mention that at 8 months the only baby food your child needs is the iron fortified pablum. I fed my second table food exclusively at that age (mushy veggies and meat cut very fine, pasta, cheerios...).