Making Your Own Baby Food, Part 2: How to Do It

In this second part of this post, I'm going to discuss how to make your own baby food, and illustrate how easy it is to do.  In part one, I used an example of an 8 ounce sweet potato or yam.  Let's continue with that.

One of the best ways is to make a good amount and freeze it.  Since baby only eats a few ounces at a time, cooking a whole sweet potato can be wasteful unless you plan to eat the rest (Which as I will mention later, is an option).  So, here's what to do:

1. Boil that sweet potato until soft and then mash it up.
2. Then, if you want to puree it, you can use any blender to do so.  (ATTENTION MOMMIES:  You DO NOT need to invest in a baby food making system like Baby Bullet.  It is an expensive commodity that is totally unnecessary.  You absolutely do not need specially designed equipment to make baby food.  But if you do have a Bullet or a Vitamix or a Ninja, or whatever, great!  Use it.  If you only have a plain old boring blender, no worries. They work just as well.
3. If you do wish to thin out the food a little, you can add a little water when blending.
4. Once you've gotten it to the consistency you desire, pour it into ice cube containers.  Be sure to have clean, even sterilized, ice cube containers that are only used for baby food.  Frozen water tends to leave behind a residue of chemicals and minerals that get separated out during the freezing process.  
5. Once you have frozen your baby food, break out the cubes and toss into a freezer bag.  Label and date your bag of baby food and be sure to use within 3 months.

The nice thing about this method is that each cube is about one ounce each so it will be easy to measure out what you need for each serving.  And it allows you to make a bunch of food only once in awhile so you're not slaving over a blender every time your baby wants to eat.  And you can use fresh or frozen fruits and veggies.

 There is a particular website that I love which lays out the process of making your own baby food and a week by week plan for introducing food to baby.  It's www.babyfood101.com.  When you go there, click on "Weekly Email Course."  As I mentioned above, one option is to cook your sweet potato or other veggie and share it with your baby.  This website gives great ideas on how to do that.  And what better way to encourage family meal time than to include everyone in the same meal!  Also, what better way to encourage healthy eating than to incorporate fruits and veggies into your whole family's meal!

So, for instance in week four on www.babyfood101.com, it discusses introducing carrots and pears, information about organic versus non-organic, storage options, the health benefits of these foods, a baby recipe and an adult recipe, tips, and a shopping list, among other information.  This website lays everything out so simply with such great information.  It has truly become my go-to and I highly recommend it.

Another way to share food with your baby is to make "Banana Ice Cream."  All you do is mash up some bananas (and this is a great way to use up some of the riper ones) and freeze it.  Later, take it out and give to your older children for a great snack but also give some to your baby!  Especially if your baby is teething, this can be a great treat for them because it's nice and cold.  I love this treat and Mariella and Max love it too!

So, I hope after reading these posts you'll not only feel a little less anxious about making your own baby food, you'll see all the great benefits of it!  As always, if you have questions or wish to share ideas, feel free to contact me!