Making your own baby food..

Nancy - posted on 04/14/2009

I made baby food for my third child. You do need to plan ahead. I would peel and core apples and cook them until they are mush. Then I would puree the sauce in a blender. Carrots cook until soft and puree you will need to add water to this one you may be surprised how much water it will take to make a smooth mixture. I would cut butternut squash in half length wise and cook butternut squash in a glass dish add a 1/4 cup of water. Cover with plastic wrap the time will very depending on the size. Start with maybe 20 min. When it is soft just scoop out the squash from the outer layer. Add to blender with water and puree until smooth. Pears I did the same as the apples. Chicken and beef I would cook and add water and blend in blender until smooth and again it takes allot of water. Most food you can just cook and puree until smooth spinach green beans pears ECT. I would buy jar liver since it is only recommended once a week. Egg yoke the same thing, hard boil egg and pop the yoke out and discard the white thin it out some. I use the boxed grains rice, wheat, and barley. Cream of wheat you can make the same as you do for yourself. For what is left over of your purred foods put the mixture in ice cube trays freeze and store in tight seal container with like foods together.

Sara - posted on 04/14/2009

My son LOVES my homemade sweet potatoes. He's now old enough to eat them cut into small pieces, but I used to make mashed sweet potatoes. I'd boil a huge pot for the family, pull out most of them to mash with spices for the rest of us, and then use the ones left in the pot to puree for him. I used an immersion (stick) blender and added some of the water from the pot. So easy!

Katie - posted on 04/14/2009

Awesome,I'll check out my local wal-mart!

Thanks for the recipe, it looks so simple! Now i'm excited to start makng it. Like everything else i'm sure i'll get the hang of everything as I go!

Thanks again everyone for all the great pointers!

Joy - posted on 04/14/2009

I got my steamer basket at either Wal Mart http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d...  I've had it for years and I love it.  When you're done, it collapses on itself and is easy to store.

Potatoes, green beans, broccoli (in moderation because it causes gas!), peas, carrotts, pretty much any veggie you want.  For a great raw veggie (I think it's a veggie?) try avacado just mashed up...yummy!

As for the fruits, I always baked them in a little water.  For easy apple sauce, peal about 6 medium apples (I used Granny Smith), core them and cut into wedges.  Sprinkle with a little cinnamon and add water to the pan (enough to go about halfway up the wedges). Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until fork tender.  Save the water!  Cool them about 10 minutes and put them in the food processor.  Puree until desired texture...use the water they baked in if you need to thin them out.  Voila!  Your very own home made applesauce that tastes better than anything you could buy at the store!  For other fruits (like peaches and pears), follow the same basic method.  It works with just about anything.  Then there are fruits that don't require any cooking like mangos...just a good old fork!

Go to your web browser and type in "home made baby food" and you'll get LOTS of recipe sites!

Katie - posted on 04/14/2009

Thanks everyone! I see alot of people used steamer baskets, where did you purcahse them? I've been keeping my eye out for one but I can't seem to find them anywhere?

Also, what fruits & veggies did everyone start off with? I've heard carrots are a big one and bananas too..any others you recommend?

Joy - posted on 04/14/2009

Here are all the items I found essential when I was making my baby food : a food processor or stick mixer (the stick mixer rocks), ice cube trays, a steamer basket and plenty of freezer storage baggies.  Like someone said earlier, you can make almost a month's worth in about half an hour.  What I enjoyed most about making my son's food was the feeling I got when I was done and saw all that food in the freezer....knowing that I had made it and was POSITIVE he was getting the best food possible (i.e. no preservatives, additives, etc).  Then, seeing him gobble it up made me feel good.  When you're first starting out, don't use any seasonings except for herbs, cinnamon and garlic.  My nutritionist said this will help make baby a less picky eater later in life and it's healthier.  Good luck and have fun!

Tara - posted on 04/14/2009

I made my own baby food for a while. I found that the Kidco foodmill worked amazing. It was really good at pureeing food, even meat. I was skeptical, but it does work. and it isn't that expensive. I bought mine at Shopper's drugmard for about $35. It was cheaper there than at the bay or sears. The good thing about making your own food, is that there isn't any additives like there is in jar food. To freeze the food, you can use ice cube trays, then transfer the frozen cubes to ziplco bags. I also used liitle rubber maid containers than can be put into the freezer and microwave when I made meals, like pasta or chickn and rice. Good luck!

Wanda - posted on 04/13/2009

I had a gadget called a baby food grinder when my kids were small.  Don't know if you can still get them.  You can put what ever you have fixed for the family into the grinder and it comes out the top around the edges in it's own "bowl" that you can feed from.  Very convenient to grind/feed out of the same gadget!  (non-electrical; grind by hand).  I also used the ice cube trays to freeze individual portions that can be popped out and warmed up later.

Laurie - posted on 04/13/2009

Don't listen to anyone! Making baby food is so easy.... I have 2 young children and made all my own baby food. I bought a cheap food processor form wal-mart ($34.99) and I'm still using it 4 yrs later. I used my steaming basket and a pot. My trick was that I made one food per day and made about 2-3 months supply (we have a large deep freeze) took me about 30mins a day. Just wash, peel, steam, puree then freeze in ice cube trays. I used breast milk storage bags to stack 6 cubes in then put all the bags into large ziplock freezer bags. Thought double bagging them would keep them longer. Just a thought but it worked well for me. I also breast fed til both my girls were 2 so in the beginning I added breast milk to all my purees for easier digestion. Our local Health Unit also had Baby Food making classes. Good luck! You're doing the very best thing for your baby! You should be proud....

Doris - posted on 04/13/2009

You know you have made the best decision ever. I am mom of 2 wonderful kids one is 12 and one is 6, I always gave them food that I made; you just get any type of veggies and blanch them in water then you blend them all together and you have the perfect food. What I did was freeze them in containers for 2 weeks and that way I had plenty every day. My children are very healthy because of it. You can also do this with fruit. Enjoy and have a great time doing this for your little one.

Sharra - posted on 04/13/2009

I would buy whatever vegies where on special, cook them up, then puree it with a stick blender which can be bought for a low price. i found small container are great for freezing. Also re-using baby food jars are handy, and if food is still hot when lid is screwed on, it will re-seal, which is handy for taking places, and most friends with babies will gladly save their jars for you.

Dawn - posted on 04/13/2009

I have found my baby food mills essential.  They run about $10 at a baby store.  After you get through the initial stages where they are tasting things for the first time and you can give combinations of foods it is especially wonderful.  We just grind up whatever we are eating in the mill and feed...or form it into chunks (add alittle rice cereal if it needs thickening) when you reach the stage where they want to do it themselves with finger food but don't have enough teeth/coordination to chew it all up with no help.  We did a combination of our own and purchasing it--sometimes it's nice to just pop open a jar when you are going out or whatever...but truly, I don't think its any harder to grind it up than buying the baby food at the store.

Emily - posted on 04/13/2009

If you want to freeze the mushy stuff you can put it in an icecube tray and easily pop it out! I had great visions of making my own baby food but my children just basically ate peices of fruit and veggies- no mushing required and then moved on to eating what I ate. I just didn't add salt, sugar, or butter to theirs. They really liked spices and garlic though!

Rachel - posted on 04/13/2009

its really easy, i did it with my youngest and its not that much of a put out..... things like cooking a little extra veg with the sunday dinners and using differet sauces (which u can buy in pouches from the supermarket in baby version) makes for a good variety! pudding ar just as easy as long as u monitor salt.  ask your health visitor she should have lots of advice and info for you! you will definatly need a good blender preferably with different setting like mash etc.... esp as you baby gets older.... just buff up on basic dos and donts (like dont give them honey before one yr old, can contain spores of botulism... etc.....) and salt content.  start really simple too like just carrots and potato one day and potato and brocolli the next incase of allergies! but i wouldnt panic too much that said! and you can buy small pots with lids that are fab to freeze the food in and really convienent to used int he microwave too! (just cheak label lol) sorry tangented lol! hope this helps.... btw sign up to baby websites like cow and gate etc... some have recipes on them!

Jeni - posted on 04/13/2009

Dear Katie, I am a mother of 5 and my last pregnacy had twins! I made my own baby food because of the high prices of jar food. Yes jar food is convienent. But I found making it was just as easy and you can give them more variety of foods. I used a food processor to puree when they were smaller then I could also make chunkier for when they were ready for it. I also made enough for a month or two at a time. One thing to made it easier on you also is that I would use ice cube trays and freeze their food in them. So when u are ready for lunch all you have to do is pop them out and warm them up. Best of luck! It really makes you feel good when you are able to do this for your children. Mine ate things I never thought they would.