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Making Your Own Baby Food
You finally arrive at that stage where baby can actually start on solid food. You head over to the grocery store and stock up on all those yummy baby food flavors only to have sticker shock at check out. The good news is there are options – like making your own baby food. And it’s not as difficult as it seems. Michelle LaRowe has a great, easy guide to making your own baby food. (Remember the mom, nanny & writer that we interviewed this past Monday for Mom Monday?)
Here it is:
How To Make Your Own Baby Food:*
- Steam or bake fresh fruits or vegetables until tender.
- Puree cooked fruits or vegetables in a good processor or blender.
- Fill an ice cube tray with pureed food.
- Cover the filled ice cube tray with plastic wrap and freeze.
- Once the puree cubes are frozen, transfer them to a plastic freezer storage bag and label it with the food type and date. Cubes should be used within one month of freezing.
- Thaw and heat as needed. Breast milk, formula, or water can be added to thin the puree before serving. Each cube equals about 1 ounce of baby food.
Do you make your own baby food? What “tricks & tips” work for you?
Share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment & you will be entered to win a copy of A Mom’s Ultimate Book of Lists by Michelle LaRowe!
*Excerpted with permission from A Mom’s Ultimate Book of Lists by Michelle LaRowe, published by Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2010
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Anna,
We think that these easy steps to making your own food is a great start. It’s pretty easy to puree all sorts of fruits & veggies. We are sure your baby will let you know which ones he/she prefers!
Michelle
I tried to make my own, but because I fed my son store bought first (to see if he liked that particular veggie before I made a big batch) he wouldn’t eat the homemade. It’s pretty easy, I bought a kit online that came with ice cube trays with lids, a video and a recipe book!
Anna, start with food you don’t have to “make” like no-cook pureed peas, smashed banana, smashed avocado or silken tofu. I blog easy and healthy tips on http://www.citybaby.posterous.com. Good luck!
City Pixie,
Thanks for your great ideas.
Michelle
Mary,
Sounds like you found a fun little kit for making baby food. Good for you for trying something new.
Michelle
I loved making my own baby food, however, I did keep the canned food on hand at times too.
I didn’t make my own baby food for my daughter but I would love to learn how to for whenever I have another baby.
Lisa,
Good take on a “back up plan.” Thanks for sharing with us.
Michelle
Dana,
Maybe you’ll be the lucky winer. We’ll announce on Friday.
We think Michelle LaRowe’s book is a good start.
Michelle
I love making my own baby food. The best advice I can give is use fresh products. They come out the best. Also, I use baby food jars to freeze my food (I didn’t find that ice cube trays worked all that well at times, especially for the fruits). I fill them leaving a small space at the top for expansion. Then I just take out a few jars at a time for baby. I have made tons of different veggies (including avocado, broccoli, and winter squashes). I love to make fruit, as well: apricots, prunes, peaches, apples, pears. I am thinking of making figs (bought some and just need to figure out the best way to do it).
Brooke,
Sounds like you have had quite a bit of experience with making your own baby food! Let us know how the figs turn out!
Michelle
Thank you to all of you who have left comments. We used random.org to pull a winner for a copy of Michelle LaRowe’s book, A Mom’s Ultimate Book of Lists & it pulled our first commenter – Anna M. This is the first time I’ve seen random.org actually come up with the number one! Congrats Anna. Please email us at Babymatters@kolcraft.com with your address.
Michelle
Thank You so Very Much Im so Very Excited Thank you
Big Hugs
Anna M
I’m from Life Happens During Naptime. Love the travel booster seat!
I made most of my own food for my first and loved knowing he was getting organic and fresh ingredients with no additives.
I don’t technically make my own baby food, but now that my baby is 9 months, I pretty much just mush up anything that is okay for him to eat from my plate and feed it to him while we eat. He loves it and it’s super easy.
This is great thank you so much for sharing..
Great tutorial. I am interested in making my own baby food, and might, seeing how easy it is.
Going to do homemade with kid #2 and going organic as a family. Thanks for the thoughts! =)
I think this is an excellent idea. I like that you can control the ingredients and know what you are feeding your baby.
Thanks everyone for your very helpful comments. We love hearing first-hand from moms about what you like, don’t like & what does or doesn’t work for you! Michelle
Making your own baby food is SO easy! I did it with both of mine – my oldest ate commercial baby food one time because we ended up being away from home longer than planned. With baby #2, I had a travel food grinder that I kept in the diaper bag. Super easy and convenient!
Glynis,
Having a travel food grinder is a great way to make your own baby food even when traveling. Thanks for the tip!
Michelle