Making Homemade Baby Food
Making homemade baby food is not
difficult. It is economically friendly and healthier than purchasing
commercially prepared food for your baby. Baby food recipes range from
puree to recipes incorporating table food into recipes for baby. It
takes less time than you think to create fresh, healthy baby food.
Making homemade food assures you and your baby no preservatives are used
and baby is only getting nutritious and tasty food.
Things to Consider when Making Homemade Baby Food
Before
making food for your baby, consult with your pediatrician, especially
if this is the first somewhat solid food the baby will be eating. Your
pediatrician will suggest foods to introduce to the baby and what foods
should be eaten at specific ages or signs of maturing. If you choose
fruits, vegetables and meat you like; your pediatrician may suggest
better alternatives for different age groups.
Unless your baby
displays a serious reaction to a certain food the first time they
experience it, offer the baby the same food 4 days in a row. This method
will allow time for a food allergy to manifest and will help determine
the food the baby likes and dislikes. There will be some foods the baby
will refuse to eat because of its taste, texture or smell, or even a
combination of the three. It is not important for a baby to like
everything offered. It is important the baby gets the right food with
the proper nutrients. It is never a good idea to introduce a baby to
more than one new food at a time for allergy discovering purposes.
Preparing
the food ahead of time will be a tremendous time saver. A large
quantity of food can be frozen in individual containers for future use.
For example, the food can be frozen in ice cube trays and then
transferred to another container for continued freezing. That method
gives you baby food in easy to serve portions. The frozen portions will
thaw quickly when set out on the counter or thawed in a microwave or
submerging the container of hot water.
Precautions to take when making Homemade Baby Food
When
preparing homemade baby food, always make sure your hands are clean, as
well as the food preparation surface, pots or pans and cooking
utensils. Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly before preparing the
baby food, and if meat is being prepared, rinse the meat with room
temperature water. Always be sure the baby food containers are clean and
sterilized for baby's protection.
Always put a date on the
homemade baby food container and store it properly. Refrigerate or
freeze the baby food for future use, after preparation. Freeze the baby
food in small quantities and only thaw one portion at a time. Do not
refreeze any leftover baby food. After a feeding session, any food left
in the dish should be discarded.
When serving baby food, make sure
the food is room temperature to slightly warm. If the food is heated in
a microwave, stir the food thoroughly to make sure there are not hot
spots that could potentially burn your baby's mouth.
The Baby Food Process
After
rice based cereal, your baby will most likely move on to pureed fruits,
vegetables and meat. Until you know what your baby will like, buy small
quantities of fruits, vegetables and meat, unless other family members
consume lots of fruits, vegetables and meat. After proper washing cut
the fruit and vegetables in half and either boil, steam or bake them. If
they are baked, place those in a baking dish with enough water to
almost cover the dish contents. Vegetables and fruit can be peeled
before or after cooking.
Small vegetables such as corn, peas and
lima beans do not need to be halved. Bananas can just be mashed and not
cooked at all unless that is your preference. Frozen peas are much
easier to prepare than fresh peas. If preparing meat, make sure all
traces of fat are removed and when cooked, make sure the meat is well
done with no trace of pink.
Bake the fruits and vegetables for
about an hour at 350 degrees (Fahrenheit) or until they are soft. During
the cooking process make sure there is sufficient water in the dish to
avoid burning the fruits and vegetables and add water if necessary. When
the fruits and vegetables are baked, take the dish out of the oven and
let cool. Peel the fruits and vegetables, if not already peeled, after
they have cooled. Cook the meat until there is no pink showing.
Place
the cooled fruit or vegetable in a food processor for pureeing. Add
water to the mixture until the appropriate consistency is reached. If
you add too much water, dry baby cereal can be added to thicken it up.
If a food processor is not available, a hand mixer or a meat grinder
will suffice or in the event a mechanical means is not available, mash
the fruits and vegetables with a fork until there are no lumps present.
That method will be very time consuming.
The food should be very
thin for babies beginning to eat solid food, and as they grow older and
have some solid food eating under their belt, the food can be made a
little thicker. As the baby ages, the fruits and vegetables will just
have to be chopped into small pieces rather than mashed or pureed.
Once
you know what kind of fruits and vegetables your baby likes, you can
mix different flavors together such as bananas and peaches or peas and
squash.
Using Organic Fruits and Vegetables
Organic fruits
and vegetables are grown without the benefit of, or with a limited
amount of, synthetic material, such as pesticides or other chemicals.
Organic food is grown according to regulations and certified and labeled
as organically grown. Food organically grown develops antioxidants to
protect themselves against garden pest and, as a result, develop into a
vegetable or fruit with higher levels of antioxidants. That means the
fruits and vegetables are richer in minerals, vitamins and other pro
health nutrients.
Eating organically is not just for mom and dad,
but baby too. Making organic baby food will assure you your baby is
getting the real deal. Who is to say a jar of baby food marked as
organic is really organic? Organic fruits and vegetables were once only
available in health food stores, or they were home grown. Today, organic
food of every kind is available not only in specialty stores, but the
average, everyday grocery store.
Organic food is prepared the same
way as any other food. They can be steamed, boiled or baked and then
mashed or pureed. As the baby gets older, food can be cut into small,
bit size pieces, making it finger food babies can eat on their own.
The Benefits of Making Homemade Baby Food
If
you have ever read the label of baby food bought at the grocery store,
you will find some ingredients you have never heard of before, and some
you will not be able to pronounce. I like to make my own food. It gives
me the ability to control the ingredients and the quality of the food.
Another
benefit of making baby food is cost. It is far less costly to make baby
food than to buy it by the jars, especially since the ingredients can
be purchased in bulk and in season.
Making homemade baby food will even be less costly if the ingredients are homegrown.
