One of my favorite things is being able to make my own baby food for Jackson. Commerical baby food is often loaded with preservatives, sugar, and other icky ingredients that I wouldn't want to eat, much less my baby. Ryan and I try to eat as many organic foods as possible and we try to ensure that Jackson eats only organic baby foods too. Making your own baby food is extremely easy (and rewarding)! Here are the steps I follow when making my own:
1. Choose fresh, organic fruits or vegetables. Wash, dry, and cut into small chunks (peel if necessary).
2. Steam the fruit or veggie according to the instructions on your steamer. I generally steam for 30-35 minutes in a stainless steel steamer. Those plastic steamer baggies are tempting and quick but leach potentially harmful chemicals (including BPA!) into your produce.
3. Once steamed, add the fruit or veggie to a food processor (I use a Kitchen Aid one) and puree until smooth.
4. Add breast milk or formula to the puree until it's thin enough for your baby to handle.
5. Once the puree has cooled you can transfer it to a silicone ice cube tray or baby food cubes to be frozen for later use.
6. Once the purees are frozen I like to transfer them to ziploc baggies labeled with the food and the date that they must be used by (usually three months after making the puree).
7. To defrost simply pop a couple of cubes in a BPA free dish (Sassy makes great ones) and microwave for 30-60 seconds. Make sure to stir thoroughly to eliminate any hot spots and test to make sure it's not too warm.
I've made green beans, peas, bananas, apples, pears, zucchini, carrots, and sweet potatoes using this method and Jackson loves all of the food I've served him so far! I think that homemade baby food is more nutritional and flavorful than jarred foods. It also exposes babies to a much wider variety of tastes and textures, which can lead to better eating habits later in life!
2 comments:
Hi!
I'm visiting from new friend Friday! Love your post on making baby food. I am actually a new mom myself of a 15 week old girl, Calais. This is definitely on my list of things I want to do for her. I have to admit it seems very overwhelming! I guess my first step is to get a food processor.
I've enjoyed reading your site so far and I will definitely follow you via google reader!
Cara
I made my own baby food with my first and will also make it for my second baby. I found that taking one day a week to do several different vegetables/fruits worked best for me. Then, you can freeze them separately and make your own combination later when you thaw them to eat (1 cube carrots + 1 cube beans = yum!). Also, you can just rinse out the food processer/steamer/pan and stick the next food in there. Then, you only need to do a big clean up once at the end of the day! :)
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