Infant Baby Food - Saint Joseph, MI

Everyone has great advice so far! This is my third baby that I have made baby food and there are some other tips I can think of:
1--Rather than using the ice cube tray, which can be a little messy, try putting the food in labeled ziplock storage bags and smooth them flat then freezer. When you are ready to use, just run a little warm water over the bag and slide the whole hunk of food or break off a smaller chunk into a glass bowl to reheat in the microwave.
2--It is okay to freeze/store in plastic containers, but do not cook/microwave in plastic because it leaches chemicals into the food. I even use a glass measuring cup for warming up breast milk/formula for the bottle. I don't even use a plastic-tipped spoon.
3--Do not over cook the food as it will lose some of its nutrients, flavor, and color. I would rather undercook it when I am making it and then cook it slightly when I reheat.
4--Use purified water to create the consistency you want.
5--I have never used a grinder, just a small blender (current one is from Costco--it was cheap and all parts go in the dishwasher) and if I am worried about skin or large pieces, I press it through a strainer. I also use a rubber spatula to scrape out the blender, bowl, etc.
6--Plums and other watery fruits will be well, watery. You can add an organic cereal (rice, barley, etc.) to thicken before serving. (Gerber uses tapioca).
7--Plums can be sour, squash can be bland, etc.--but I never add anything to sweeten or alter the flavor! My son loves it pure (I think it is we who think that they want it sweeter, saltier, etc. but I find that not to be the case with babies--unless you start flavoring their food, they never know the difference.)
8--I use only the freshest produce I can find. And organic as much as possible. Some produce is more likely to be dangerous than others as far as organics go (bananas, for instance don't necessarily have to be organic because of their thick skins--peaches, on the other hand are more likely to have contaminates. There is an article I read in the paper about it--you may have to do a little research on that.)
9--Meijer-brand unsweetened organic applesauce in a jar is cheaper than buying organic apples and making it yourself! It's located by the other applesauces.
10-"Cworkbook" is a great guide to making baby food.

Good Luck!

I have been making food for my son since he started on solids, I got a book called "Baby Blender Food" and I got a small baby food blender from Wal-Mart (which was cheap but still works great! (he's over a year old now) and the nice thing is the bottom part is a bowl I can feed him right out of it. For larger batches I use my smoothie maker (just make sure that what you are blending in there is soft/juicy) and I can use the smoothie spout to fill ice cube trays to freeze food if I want to store it for awhile. It has saved me a lot of money and I feel great knowing what my son is eating, I get what's in season at the farmer's markets etc so he gets really fresh food but in the winter I stick to frozen fruits and vegetables as they are usually frozen at their freshest stage. For younger kids if you make something with spinach I'd de-vine the leaves, it's time consuming but then you don't have all those little bits of stem that just don't blend well. Also, I found rice may blend up nice but once stored the rice (even tho it's blended) gets hard, if you have a food processor grind up the rice before you cook it to prevent that. Have fun! I enjoyed seeing my son eat my creations...if you get that book my son LOVED the avocado/mango and there was a vegetable rice pilaf one also that he couldn't get enough of.

Just a word of caution, if you are trying to remove all chemicals from your childs foods, beware of where you get your veggies. Just because you buy from a farmers market doesn't mean that it's healthier than the regulated canned stuff. Also, read up on the requirements to call a food organic, it might not mean what you think.

I would make my baby food about once a week. I would buy fresh carrots, squash, peas, broccoli, and her favorite sweet potatoes. I would cook the squash and sweet potatoes in the oven and the rest in a steamer (to keep in the good stuff!). I found that even a cheap food grinder would work fine..no need to spend a fortune on a "special" baby food one! Once cooked and cooled, puree and add a little water from the steamer to thin to the constancy you want. Here is the IMPORTANT time and money saver...buy some ice cube trays from the dollar store (the bigger ones) and fill each one with the puree. Then freeze, and once frozen simply pop the cubes out and place in a freezer bag. For each meal, pick a couple of cubes out and microwave for about 10-15 seconds until defrosted.
I found I could keep them for about two weeks before they started to get freezer burnt.

I would just puree a meat that we were having for dinner up when she was ready for that. You can do a small roast, turkey and chicken breasts the same way if you want too. I found that a bit much since we usually have a meat for dinner every night anyway.

This is a huge money saver, plus you know exactly what your baby is getting. I found it better then throwing all those glass jars away too! Of course, I would still buy a few jars for when we were out. I had die hard friends that would use a clean baby food jar and put a frozen cube in each one and by the time the baby was ready to eat it would be ready...but I didn't like that idea...especially since there are times when you don't know how long it will be until you are ready to eat!!

Good luck!

Hi L., my son used to love squash and sweet potatoes so I'd buy a bunch, bake them until they were ultra soft (this also sweetens them up, so no added ingredients), then puree them in my food processor and use ice cube trays to make the portions. I threw the cubes into freezer bags and would get out one or two cubes and thaw them.

I tried one of those little food grinders (made for grinding up normal food into baby mush), but it made a huge mess. Just about any soft food can be pureed. I remember even doing corned beef and carrots one night and pureeing them (separately) so that he could taste what we were having.

K.

Here is an excellent web site about how to make your own baby food. http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/pureestore.htm My daughter is 5 months and we started with bannanas the other day, I just used my blender, but I also have a food processor for when she gets a little older and can handle food that is not so liquidy. I also used the ice cube trys and then put them in a freezer bag with what it is and the date on it.

You don't really have to do anything special. You can get a food grinder or just use your blender. Take a little of what you are having for dinner and grind it up.

I don't generally give my kids solid foods until they show LOTS of readiness and by that time they can easily handle small bite sized foods.

i make my daughters food and it is so easy. she likes peas, green beans, zucchini, broccoli, sweet potatoes, avacado, banana, pears, apples, blueberries, etc. i just steam the veggies until they're soft and put them in one of those mini choppers and puree it with the remaining water. its colorful and retains all of the vitamins, i would even eat it myself! the apples, pears, peaches, etc, you can use a slow cooker with a little water or white grape juice for natural sweetness. i freeze everything in ice cube trays and empty them into freezer bags for single serving use. i made enough peas, broccoli and squash for 2 weeks in about 1/2 hour. thats quicker and cheaper than going to the store and buying it, and it tastes like real food. haven't tried meat yet, though. have fun!

L.,
I made my own baby food for my son. I used the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. It was such a good resource. It told you what foods to introduce first ect.
I used a rice and veggie steamer to cook the fruits and vegetables. Than I would put them in a blender with the water that I cooked them in. I would freeze the food in an ice cube tray. Once frozen I would label them in freezer bags.
You can also make your own rice cereal by grinding whole grain rice (in the blender or coffee grinder) Than boiling water (or formula) and cooking the cereal.
I hope this helps.
K.

I've made all of my boys baby food. I used a magic bullet to puree it. Love that thing for this! You can either make it as you go (per meal) Or make a large batch and freeze it in ice cube trays. With my first 2 I used Ice cube trays with my third I made it at each meal. You can even use bagged frozen veggies - but you can't cook puree and then refreeze - those I made up daily. There's a book called "Better Baby Food" Can't remember who writes it. Gives some great tips and recipes but a little over the top on how you MUST feed your baby. Good luck!

Hi L.,

I use the Magic Bullet as someone else mentioned. It's great. I buy USDA certified Organic foods. I started with Bananas and Avocado - you can just smash these w/ a fork, then add either water, breast milk or formula to get it to the consistancy your baby likes. Then did Sweet Potatoes, bake, then smash or blend the same way as above. Don't add salt, pepper, butter or other condiments to babies food! :)

I introduced Peter to solids at 6 months. By 8 1/2 months he eats alot of the same things we do. His meals now consist of me spoon feeding him something first and then I have a bowl that suctions to his high chair tray that I give him something to self feed with. Sometimes green beans, small pieces of chicken, peas, small pieces of basically any small veggie. Most of them don't make it to his mouth and many that do don't make it down... he chews and spits alot.. .but he's learning.

Feel free to email me if you have more specific questions too. :) ____@____.com

I made my own baby food as well and its alot cheaper and helthier. There is a chopper that i believe you can find at Target, I know that Babies R Us has it. It is to make baby food. I think it was about $35.00. Otherwise I bought a mini chopper that you use for onions, and things and it was about $8, and worked great. I think Wal-mart is where i got mine. Also I bought ice cube trays and froze the food, then just take it out a few hours before you need it. I wish you all the best.

hello! I have always made my daughters baby food and I believe she has benefited greatly. For me, the trick is always to steam the food first if youre doing fruits and vegetables that are hard, and then stick them in the blender or food processor and add water to the desired consistency. its actually quite easy and you can freeze left overs. for older meals i highly highly recommend the book simply natural baby food by cathe olson. it is the only cook book i have ever needed to use with my daughter - simple, very healthy recipes. and all the recipes are broken down by age group so you know whats appropriate for your childs age. good luck!! you'll do great!

I have pureed cooked veggies, beans, brown rice, etc. I just use a regular old blender and put the extras into a ice cube tray. After the ice cube tray has been frozen, it is easy to separate the food into single servings.

L. try myfreshbaby.com they can help you with much of what you are asking on here.