Making your own baby food at home is simple. There are a few
rules you should bear in mind when making weaning baby food which we
will discuss in a moment. other than that all the extra items you need
are some food portioners and a blender to blend and divide the food into
portions!
The main benefit of making weaning baby food in your
own kitchen is that you can shop for the freshest ingredients and have
total control over what foods your baby consumes. many Baby weaning
recipes are based around plenty of fruit and vegetables but will also
include protein from chicken, fish or lentils.
The first thing you
may want to try is baby rice mixed with your baby's usual baby milk or
breast milk. It is easily digestible and provides a good dose of
nutrients and vitamins. if this is the first time, try making the
mixture a little thinner to make it easy for your baby to digest.
Once
your baby is comfortable with baby rice, start to introduce different
flavours to the rice by adding a pureed fruit or vegetable. You may find
your baby developing likes and dislikes for certain flavours. This is
an enjoyable part of weaning as your baby is using their tastebuds for
the first time and may be pleasantly surprised but what you're giving
him!
To ensure the best start for your baby, try and make you
source organic food. It may cost a little more but it's worth it to give
your little ones a healthy and nutritious start to life!
We would recommend limiting your baby's intake of sugar by only feeding them one or less sweet foods per day.
If
there is a history of allergies, asthma or eczema in your or your
partner's family, try to avoid milk products (cow's milk, cheeses and
yogurts), any fish including shellfish, citrus fruit and their juices or
eggs, until your baby is around eight months old. We would also
recommend avoiding peanuts or sesame seeds if your family suffers from
such allergies, until up to the age of three years.
You may also
want to consider avoiding foods containing gluten such as wheat, oats
and rye in order to reduce the risk of coeliac disease. This includes
any bredas, pastas or cereals made from these ingredients until eight
months old.
Note: Please do NOT add salt or sugar to your babies
food or to any of the baby weaning recipes found on this site. Your
baby's kidneys cannot process it effectively and may cause damage. There
is plenty of natural salt in the food for now.
Now let's go through some simple recipes to get your started on the road to Homemade Baby Food!
Cream of Strawberry & Banana
This is just a simple and classic combination of strawberries and bananas which are both full of vitamins, goodness and flavour.
This is a good source of:
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin C
- Potassium
- Manganese
Main Ingredients:
- 2 x Ripe Bananas
- 1 x punnet of Fresh Strawberries
- Breastmilk or formula
You will need:
- 1 x Food processor or hand-held blender or a baby Food Mill
- 1 x Ice Cube Tray or Food Portioners
- 1 x Peeler
Method
1)
Prepare your Bananas by peeling and chopping the flesh. Prepare your
strawberries by removing their stalks and chopping roughly.
2) Place everything into your blender of choice and blitz until they are a smooth paste.
3)
Add enough breastmilk or baby milk formula to bring it to a consistency
you are happy with. You may need to do this in batches.
5) Fill up you ice cube tray or portioner evenly with the puree and, when cooled completely, place in the freezer.
6) Once frozen you can empty you portions into a freezer bag so you can use the portioners again.
Pea and Mint Blitz
This
is so easy and delicious! This is basically a pea and mint soup without
using a base stock that would otherwise be full of salt. Peas are
naturally sweet and a good source of Vitamin K. You may use any frozen
peas or petis pois but, please do not be tempted to use tinned peas or
mushy peas as they will be accompanied by extra salt, sugar and
colouring!
A good source of
- Vitamin K
- Manganese
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin C
Ingredients
- 3 x cups of peas
- 20g x Unsalted Butter
- fresh mint or dried mint
- Breastmilk or formula
You will need
- 1 x Large Saucean
- 1 x Food processor or hand-held blender or a baby food mill
- 1 x Ice Cube Tray or baby food portioners
- 1 x Peeler
Method
1) Empty the peas into the saucepan and just cover with boiling water from a kettle.
2) Bring the peas to the boil and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
3) Drain the peas and add to you blender of choice along with the butter and mint.
4) Blend thoroughly while adding enough breastmilk or formula to bring it to a consistency you are happy with.
5) Fill up you ice cube tray or portioner evenly with the puree and, when cooled completely, place in the freezer.
6) Once frozen you can empty you portions into a freezer bag so you can use the portioners again!
To reheat just warm a portion in a saucepan over a gentle heat or in the microwave. Test the temperature on your top lip.
These are just two of my favourite recipes. You can find more baby food recipes at weaningbabyfood.com. Give them a try and I would love to hear about how you get on!
The author of this article is the webmaster of
weaningbabyfood.com which is host to plenty of baby weaning purees, baby
finger foods and baby weaning techniques for you to try.
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