Baby Food Basics
So you want to start making your own baby food at home? Great!!! I am here to tell you all the tips, tricks, trials, and errors I made along my process of creating nutrient rich food for my little guy! Trust me its the best thing you could ever do for your baby!
******Disclaimer:Now remember, I am not a doctor, nutritionist, or specialist... I just have experience from making my own food for my own child. What worked for me, might not work for you. I worked closely with my child's pediatrician while feeding him my food, and I strongly suggest you do the same with yours! With that being said, here is how I made my own homemade baby food....
When starting your baby off on homemade foods there are a few tips you need to follow.
*First of all start with the stage one foods listed on my site... or here are the two sites that I used during my baby food process:
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/#url
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/
Cooking Basics:
Remeber Raw is the best... but.... lets be honest short of bananas and avocados, there just isn't much you can feed a baby that is raw at this stage. There are only a few ways to cook your fruits and veggies for your little one. The absolute best way is to roast them if you can.
**To Roast Fruits and Veggies: wash them well, cut in half and take out the seeds and stems, leave the skins on, and place them on a baking pan cut side down that has a little bit of water in it (this will keep them from sticking, and sort of steam them in the process). Cook at 375 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. Cool completely. For potatoes and anything that the skins cannot be eaten, then peel them before you puree. Otherwise puree the entire thing.
**To Steam Fruits and Veggies: Place fruits and veggies that have been cut into small pieces into the basket of your steamer. Cook the veggies and fruit until VERY soft. Normally I would cook at full steam for 5 minutes, then turn the stove off and let them sit covered until they cooled. This cooked them perfectly. Puree as normal with some added water or fruit juice if needed.
**To Boil Fruits and Veggies: I don't recommend this for anything but pears and apples. Cut, core, and seed the pears or apples. Dice into small pieces. Cover with just enough water to cover them completely. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and let them sit on the burner for 5 minutes. Puree the fruit (skins too) in the cooking liquid.
**To add liquid to dried fruits like prunes: Place in a sauce pan and cover with water, bring to a boil and shut the heat off. Let sit in the hot water for 5 minutes, puree in the the liquid.
What to strain and use a food mill with:
Anything with the skins still on especially peas.
Anything that has tiny seeds (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries).
Anything stringy like green beans and broccoli stalks.
Its always a good rule of thumb to press the foods through a strainer until your baby has teeth to chew. Just in case they can't tolerate the extra texture. Now to get it THROUGH the strainer you might need to add extra water. That's ok if you do, just thicken with rice cereal.
Possible thickeners:
ONLY use baby cereal. Whatever kind your child likes, use that.
Don't use corn starch, flour, or any other type of thickener until they pass the high allergin stage.
Other possibilities: bananas, prunes, and sweet potatoes.
Once your baby can have milk products, yogurt and cheese also work well.
Storage Basics:
If you have a baby bullet then you will have containers to store your food in. If you don't have one, I suggest using an ice cube tray to freeze your foods into portions. 2 Ice cubes equals one baby bullet serving. Once everything is frozen you can empty the cubes into labled plastic freezer bags. If your baby will eat the foods within a 48 hour time period then you can put them in the small plastic containers you can buy in the store for salad dressings and such. http://www.glad.com/products/food-storage/containers/mini-round/ These are a good size suggestion... 1/2 cup portions.
At this stage, you will feed your baby one to two jars every meal. Foods can stay in the refridgerator for 48 hours. Foods can stay in the freezer for 1 month. Remember though before you freeze ANYTHING, let it cool to room temperature first.
Rule of thumb though, always pour the food into another bowl to feed your baby. Once that baby spoon goes into a dish and touches your baby's mouth, do NOT save that container of food. BACTERIA city!!! When in doubt... throw it out!!!
To warm up food:
Thaw the baby food out in the fridge.
Cook in microwave for 30 seconds, stir and see if it is warm. You want the food room temperature not hot.
I always heated refridgerated food for 30 seconds and frozen food for one minute.
Always take a bite yourself or touch it to your lips to make sure its not too hot.
******Disclaimer:Now remember, I am not a doctor, nutritionist, or specialist... I just have experience from making my own food for my own child. What worked for me, might not work for you. I worked closely with my child's pediatrician while feeding him my food, and I strongly suggest you do the same with yours! With that being said, here is how I made my own homemade baby food....
When starting your baby off on homemade foods there are a few tips you need to follow.
*First of all start with the stage one foods listed on my site... or here are the two sites that I used during my baby food process:
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/#url
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/
Cooking Basics:
Remeber Raw is the best... but.... lets be honest short of bananas and avocados, there just isn't much you can feed a baby that is raw at this stage. There are only a few ways to cook your fruits and veggies for your little one. The absolute best way is to roast them if you can.
**To Roast Fruits and Veggies: wash them well, cut in half and take out the seeds and stems, leave the skins on, and place them on a baking pan cut side down that has a little bit of water in it (this will keep them from sticking, and sort of steam them in the process). Cook at 375 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes. Cool completely. For potatoes and anything that the skins cannot be eaten, then peel them before you puree. Otherwise puree the entire thing.
**To Steam Fruits and Veggies: Place fruits and veggies that have been cut into small pieces into the basket of your steamer. Cook the veggies and fruit until VERY soft. Normally I would cook at full steam for 5 minutes, then turn the stove off and let them sit covered until they cooled. This cooked them perfectly. Puree as normal with some added water or fruit juice if needed.
**To Boil Fruits and Veggies: I don't recommend this for anything but pears and apples. Cut, core, and seed the pears or apples. Dice into small pieces. Cover with just enough water to cover them completely. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and let them sit on the burner for 5 minutes. Puree the fruit (skins too) in the cooking liquid.
**To add liquid to dried fruits like prunes: Place in a sauce pan and cover with water, bring to a boil and shut the heat off. Let sit in the hot water for 5 minutes, puree in the the liquid.
What to strain and use a food mill with:
Anything with the skins still on especially peas.
Anything that has tiny seeds (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries).
Anything stringy like green beans and broccoli stalks.
Its always a good rule of thumb to press the foods through a strainer until your baby has teeth to chew. Just in case they can't tolerate the extra texture. Now to get it THROUGH the strainer you might need to add extra water. That's ok if you do, just thicken with rice cereal.
Possible thickeners:
ONLY use baby cereal. Whatever kind your child likes, use that.
Don't use corn starch, flour, or any other type of thickener until they pass the high allergin stage.
Other possibilities: bananas, prunes, and sweet potatoes.
Once your baby can have milk products, yogurt and cheese also work well.
Storage Basics:
If you have a baby bullet then you will have containers to store your food in. If you don't have one, I suggest using an ice cube tray to freeze your foods into portions. 2 Ice cubes equals one baby bullet serving. Once everything is frozen you can empty the cubes into labled plastic freezer bags. If your baby will eat the foods within a 48 hour time period then you can put them in the small plastic containers you can buy in the store for salad dressings and such. http://www.glad.com/products/food-storage/containers/mini-round/ These are a good size suggestion... 1/2 cup portions.
At this stage, you will feed your baby one to two jars every meal. Foods can stay in the refridgerator for 48 hours. Foods can stay in the freezer for 1 month. Remember though before you freeze ANYTHING, let it cool to room temperature first.
Rule of thumb though, always pour the food into another bowl to feed your baby. Once that baby spoon goes into a dish and touches your baby's mouth, do NOT save that container of food. BACTERIA city!!! When in doubt... throw it out!!!
To warm up food:
Thaw the baby food out in the fridge.
Cook in microwave for 30 seconds, stir and see if it is warm. You want the food room temperature not hot.
I always heated refridgerated food for 30 seconds and frozen food for one minute.
Always take a bite yourself or touch it to your lips to make sure its not too hot.