Questions re: making your own baby food

I'd like to make my own baby food. How difficult/time consuming is it? Do you only buy organic fruits and vegetables or do you use regular ones? Are there certain foods that you didn't make and used jarred food instead?

I know about wholesomebabyfood.com. Are there any other sites or books that you recommend?

What do you do when you're out with DC? Do you bring jarred food or homemade food? If you use homemade food, do you just defrost it and heat it up before you leave the house?

Do you have any helpful tips on making baby food?

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

It is really quite easy and not time consuming at all. They have an all in one steamer / masher at BBB, but I just steam the veggies and then either put it through a food processsor or use this handheld masher I have. I'll use a little of that same water to get it to the consistency I want. There are ice cube trays at BBB that break apart into individual servings so you can just grab one and go. I keep Earth's Best jarred food in the house for when I am on the go and wont have access to a microwave.

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

It's easy. I spend one day a month cooking alllll day for her. I just use an old fashioned steaming basket and a small food processor and regular ice cube trays. I steam, use the liquid in there, put it in the food processor until it's the right consistency, freeze it in ice cube trays and then put the ice cubes in freezer storage bags.

I have the Graduates bows with the plastic lids so if I go anywhere I throw a few cubes in one of those which usually works out fine.

I buy some organic, some regular, and I even give some Gerber. OSme things I just can't imagine getting so smooth like green beans and she LOVES the Gerber ones.

Good luck-it's fun

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

Good reply's!!! I'll def. have to do the ice tray idea! Very clever!!!

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

I have a kitchenaid food processor with a small bowl insert.... If making apples / peas/ pears... whatever.... clean and peel, put in glass bowl... nuke until bubbling.... drain water, transfer to small food processor bowl and whirl it up with a dash of fresh water until it's the proper consistency. then transfer to ice cube trays and freeze.

they're a bit difficult to pop out of the trays... so I find it best to soak the entire tray in a pan of warm water for 1-2 min and then pop the cubes out and transfer into ziplock bags....

You should check a baby food website to see which foods to avoid. things like carrots shouldn't be fed to a baby prior to 7-8 mo, becuase they're naturally high in nitrates, and baby's can't handle too much of that in their systems early on....

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

I was going to do ice cube trays but decided to use the storage containers that are BPA instead. A lot easier for me. And it fits right in the door of the freezer.

I bought the Beaba Babycook from BBB. I already tried it out and I am having soo much fun

I joined a Fruit & Veggie Farm Share out east so all she will get whatever is in season at that time.

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

It was soooo easy! I would never go back to jarred food after doing this for my son.

We used a small food processor. And Ice cube trays. Thats really all you need supply wise ....and maybe a steam basket.

I loved the Annabelle Karmel books....I used The Top 100 Baby Puree book. And Also Super Foods By Ruth Yaron ( I use this still at 2 , Its a GREAT book IMO!)

Time consuming wise, its not. I would do it about once every 10-18 days. I would pick a few fruits and veggies at a time to do...spend about 2 hours at most steaming, pureeing and then freezing the cubes. Once they were frozen, I put them in Freezer storage Ziploc bags and wrote what they were and when I made them on the outside. I usually let them thaw out in the AM for the days meals, at night for AM or microwaved tthem to thaw. If we were going out, I either supplemented with Jarred food or if I knew ahead of time, took it out and let it thaw while we were in transit to wherever we went.

I only bought Organic if I could ....

HTH!

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

I found that if I did one thing every other week - I was stocked up very well! Then it became once or twice a month that I had to replenish what I had used up.

Between my steamer, blender or hand held and Magic Bullet - I was fine making everything myself for her. I did use the ice cube trays and then bagged in freezer strorage bags. I did use a few baby food websites and one cookbook which helped along with the mommies here on LIF

Good Luck!

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

It was VERY easy and saved me a ton of money. I would make big batches at a time and freeze them. Then just pop all the cubes out into siplock backs and label them with the exp date. Then when it was time to eat...pop out a few cubes, cook them up and serve! I always used organic fruits and vegetables.

Just make sure you allow the food to cool down before you put them in the freezer.

All you need it something to steam the veggies in...a blender, food processor, or one of those hand held things (forgot the name) and some ice cube trays, or buy some that they sell specifically for baby food and you're good to go!

You'll have to play around with the consistency, so don't add TOO much water at first. Better to make it thick and then be able to add more water. If you make it too liquidy, it's not so good.

Make sure you puree peas and string beans in a blender where there are sharper blades to get the skins really blended up.

You can reuse the water you steamed with from most veggies...just not carrots, I believe.

For all that kind of info, check with that website, wholesomefood. And you'll be all SET!

Happy baby food making!

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

Oh and I love the book Mommy Made and Daddy too!

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

I just bought the beaba as well and can't wait to start using it!

Question, for those of you that can't find a certain veggie fresh, like let's say Squash or something like that, can I buy it Organic Frozen at Trader Joe's, is that OK?

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

I use fresh and frozen fruits & veggies and I make them (& store them) the same as the PP.

When out for the day I just plop a few cubes in a lidded bowl and by the time she's ready to eat, the cubes have defrosted. I do keep a jar (Earth's Best) with me just in case she wants more food or doesn't want what I've brought.

What is the deal with carrot water?? I've used it in her purees with no issue

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

Carrot water has nitrates in it. If you look on wholesome baby it tells more about it.

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

I don't freeze anything I use the hand held mill and just either use whatever we are eating or heat up some veggies or fruit for her.

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

I have the Beaba Baby and LOVE it! It's so easy and fun (at least in my opinion). So far we've made apples and pears. I bought a BPA free storage container from BBB to store the food in. Otherwise, I also use ice cube trays and freezer bags. We are trying to buy strictly organic.

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

I only found it a little time consuming if I was making something just for DS. Usually though, we would just make for DS what we were having and add our spices/seasonings after.

We only use organic, but that is a personal choice. I only eat organic myself (at home), so it is not like I was buying extra for DS.

ETA: Oh and we use the Magic Bullet and the food mill to mash the food. We don't really freeze anything b/c I made what we were eating and just took out the right portion for that meal & the next day or so. I always just kept the food in the fridge.

Message edited 4/22/2009 2:23:19 PM.

Re: Questions re: making your own baby food

this, this and this is how i did it hubby loves to cook, made tons of food on the weekend, froze it, and i was set for the week! i plan to do the same with DD#2. when out and about i did take earths best along to make life easier, but DD#1 gat used to the homemade consistency and sometimes rejected the jarred stuff