Make Your Own Baby Food

Posted on Jul 7, 2014 | 0 comments

Making baby food is so easy and is such a healthy alternative to the store bought jars/cans/pouches. With all the recalls, and factory foods these days, you just never know what you are going to get. This was not ok for me when it came time to introduce foods to my baby.

Not only the nasty smells and possible recall at any time, but the preservatives and chemical additives some of them have… there was no way I was putting that into my child.

Even though my time was limited, I figured out how to efficiently make my own baby food. I am going to share with you how to make food for your baby, quickly and easily, and I really hope you try it. The benefits are endless….

What You Will Need To Make Your Own Baby Food

• A medium sauce pan
• A mesh strainer
• Bowl
• Cuisinart CSB-79 Smart Stick 2-Speed 200-watt Immersion Hand Blender with Attachments
• Ice cube trays
• Plastic wrap
• Freezer bags

What You Do To Make Your Own Baby Food

1. Put about an inch of water into a clean sauce pan.
2. Wash the fruit or veg really well.
3. Put the sauce pan on the stove and cook on high.
4. Peel, slice and put into the sauce pan when the water is boiling.
5. Steam it this way until it is soft, try not to oversteam.
6. Put the strainer over the bowl and strain the contents of the sauce pan, reserving the liquid.
7. Reserve a ¼ to a ½ cup of the liquid and save the rest to add to your smoothie for a great boost. Then put the contents of the strainer into the bowl.
8. Combine with the liquid.
9. Puree with Cuisinart CSB-79 Smart Stick 2-Speed 200-watt Immersion Hand Blender with Attachments
10. Add in enough pabulum, rice cereal, to give it some girth. I do this with the blender also.
11. Poor into the ice cube trays. Cover them with the wrap.
12. Freeze overnight.
13. The next day, break them out of the ice cube trays, put into the freezer bags and store until ready to use!

This whole process to make your own baby food should take about 15 – 20 minutes of work, that is it!!

When it is time to serve your own baby food, take out how much your child will eat (I started with 2 cubes and added from there depending on time of day and how hungry they were – listen to your instincts), put the cubes into the small sauce pan and heat on low for only a couple of minutes (I try not to use the microwave, but in a pinch you totally can – just microwave it for a few seconds, until melted and warm), poor into a bowl, TEST it first to make sure it is not too hot or too cold. Then serve your precious some healthy and super yummy food you can feel good about.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises parents not to begin feeding babies any solid food until 4 to 6 months. If you do decide to offer your infant vegetables before 3 months, you’ll want to avoid these vegetables: beets, carrots, green beans, spinach, and squash as they are naturally high in nitrates. Nitrates are a chemical found in water and soil, infants who ingest too much can develop a type of anemia called methemoglobinemia. Nitrates increase with storage time unless frozen. If using any of these vegetables, always prepare and freeze the food as soon as you possibly can after buying it.

What Foods Should You Start to Make Your Own Baby Food With?

Good fruits to start to make your own baby food with include pears, apples, apricots, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, mangoes, peaches, plums, and prunes. Vegetables to try include carrots, asparagus tips, avocados, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and winter squash. Bananas and avocados never need to be cooked, just mashed. The rest should be softened and pureed. Also be sure to check with your pediatrician on what foods they recommend.

Always give a minimum of 4 days in between introducing new food. Meaning for 4 days give only one kind of food. This way, if your child does have an allergy, you will know exactly what to.

What Kind of Produce Is Best To Make Your Own Baby Food?

I urge you to find a local farm or farmers market and shop there. You can not beat fresh and local and seasonal. If you do not have one that works for you, try your best to buy organic produce that is seasonal. Organic and frozen is also ok for some fruits and veg.

Choose grass-fed, free-range meats. You do not want to give all of the hormones and antibiotics and other garbage that come from the ‘franken’ meats.

Choose wild fish only, even if you can only get your hands on it frozen. Farm raised fish just is not the same and does not have all of the benefits as wild caught. Also the farm raised fish get lots of antibiotics – do you want to pass that on to your babies?

Baby will want to eat what you are eating. So as your child grows, do not be afraid to blend whatever you are eating with your Cuisinart CSB-79 Smart Stick 2-Speed 200-watt Immersion Hand Blender with Attachments
and serve it up! Once my kids were food combining, I would grind up whatever my husband and I were eating and feed it to them right at the table. They loved it.

Making your own baby food is not only easy but feels so good. I hope this has helped you to see that!

Let me know how it goes for you, I can’t wait to hear about your make your own baby food adventures!

Cheers and Happy Blending!
Malibu Mama Loves Xx

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