Do any of you make homemade babay food? I've made some before but don't really remeber how. I'd like to have some recipes/tips. Won't need it for a few months still but just want to be prepared.
I just steamed/blended/froze any veggies and fruits (though some fruits I did raw). No recipes needed. Freezing things in ice cube trays, then putting the frozen cubes in labeled bags, was the easiest storage method for us. That way you could defrost only as much as you want.
I found it easiest to just chop up some of what we were eating....no pre-prep or storage involved. Forced us to eat something healthy and saved a lot of time. You can make extras and store it in the fridge for a couple days or in the freezer. Just get a mini food processor--they are inexpensive. Some of my kids' favs: Apple chunks - perfect finger food - chop up little bits of apple and simmer in a little bit of water until very soft. Can be put in a little chopper and made into easy apple sauce. I used to make a bunch of this and store in the fridge in little baby food jars for taking place. They are great cold! Stew - I made potatoes, carrots, and roast in the crock pot. Use a sharp knife to chop the meat against the grain. The soft food chops up well, adding the crock pot juice to get the consistency needed. When they were wanting finger food, I made this rather thick and rolled into tiny balls. My kids loved stew balls!! Bananas - Just whip up a ripe banana. This doesn't save as well, because it turns brown. Oatmeal - Regular, cooked oatmeal can be further chopped up with some liquid for a smoother consistency. So if you are making it for the whole family, it only takes a few more seconds to make some for baby. If you breastfeed, you can add pumped milk to thin this or any other baby food. Just about any non-stringy food can be chopped up in a little chopper/food processor. For peas, you get a better result if you buy the dry split peas and cook until very soft. You don't have to deal with the outer shells that way. ETA: You can freeze the little glass baby food jars, but you have to leave room at the top for expansion. It is better to do the ice cube tray thing or just get some little plastic containers.
My kids always just ate what we ate. I'd mash it with a fork or run it through the blender but that's it. There's no need for special recipes.
For dinner I would just take a portion of our food and whip it with a mini food processor. For his lunches when he was a baby I would cook fruits or veggies (or a combo of them) and then puree with a stick blender and a small bit of liquid. Then I would keep a portion or two in the fridge and freeze the rest in ice cube trays till frozen, then transfer to a ziplock baggie and label and date it.
I agree with the other posters here... I would just puree fruits and veggies with a little liquid, then freeze in ice cube trays and store in labeled bags. I only did this for nights when we were having something that the baby couldn't eat (like pizza or something). Most nights, we also just blended or pureed what we were having. Works perfectly! Not too much prep needed and you really don't need any special equipment.
I had a small, hand-held food grinder with my youngest. Whatever we had I'd put in there and grind it up. Worked very well for us!
I generally bought it. I made it for my oldest son but then never did again. It should be cheaper thats why i'm planning to do it again.
Definitely. There's really nothing special you have to do. I just made sure I had a little extra of whatever we were eating, mashed and blended it and that was it.
