Baby boy has gone through the cereal stage, so now it's time to move onto more exciting things! We are starting with carrots and sweet potatoes this week so I thought I would share with you how I make my homemade baby food. No fancy equipment, just a pan (with a lid) and a food processor.
I love making the food because it has a great texture, is fresh, and much cheaper than buying canned food in the store. I did the math and making your own food will save you at least $60 per month in comparison to buying it.
STEP 1: Wash and skin vegetables.
STEP 2: Cut into equal size pieces (smaller is better so they steam faster.)
STEP 3: Pour vegetables into saucepan. Pour in just enough water to fill the bottom of the pan. Heat on medium-high and place lid on to steam. (1lb of carrots or sweet potatoes take 15-18 minutes)
STEP 4: Once vegetables are tender (when a fork inserted is removed easily), drain.
STEP 5: Pour into food processor. ( I love my mini Kitchenaid processor)
STEP 5: Blend until desired consistency, adding water as needed.
There are many ways to portion this out. You can put it into ice cube trays and once it freezes, place cubes in a large ziplock bag in the freezer to be pulled out as needed. This works if you want to make large batches of each vegetable.
I prefer to only steam what I will need for the week. Sunday is my food making day, so once I make the amount needed, I portion it out into tiny plastic tupperware. I get 10 (2.7oz) containers at the dollar store.
Making baby food should be easy. No need to buy fancy baby puree gadgets or puree cookbooks. Getting ideas for food combinations online is a big help, but just be creative and combine what you think sounds good.
SOME MORE TIPS AND TRICKS:
-You can also use a Magic Bullet or hand blender to puree food
-I have heard that electric steamers also work well instead of the stove top.
-Buy vegetables in bulk when on sale, cut up all at once, and then freeze what you don't need to steam at the moment. Then you can just pull out what you need from the freezer later on.
-Steaming time depends on the texture of each fruit and vegetable. Just test each food with a fork for tenderness and write down how long each item takes so you have a reference next time you make it.
-To save steaming time, you can also purchase some vegetables/fruits in the can (with no added salt or sugar). These are already soft and ready to be pureed.
-Once baby can eat more variety of foods, have fun combining different textures and flavors.
Most of the paediatric dietitians claim that natural is better than anything packed that's why I really take a moment every day to do this for my little tot. I'm really glad she enjoys it.
ReplyDeleteMy son is 10 now and I made all of his foods when he was a baby. I used large ice cube trays to freeze fruit and veg and would then mix and match. A tip you may not have considered is to ditch 'baby rice' and replace it with brown rice. I used to cook that as normal, blend and then freeze in cubes. This would then form a healthy and filling base for a variety of sweet and savoury combos! I also did the same with lentils (fish, lentils and spinach was a big favourite of his). I miss those days - now it is a struggle to get my son to eat fruit at all!
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