Homemade Baby Food - Snow Hill,NC

I used a little hand crank thing that my mom gave me, it was the same one that she used when I was little. It was about 6 inches tall and tube like, the bottom and top were flanged out about 2 inches on each side and there was a handle with a crank on it that would mash the food. I found one at Meijer a couple years ago for my friend who was having a baby and she loved hers. I used to just mash up whatever we were eating that night for dinner and would feed my daughter that- like home made chicken and noodles mash very well! Also a food processor would work but I used the crank style one more because it was easier to clean. When my daughter was younger I would just use single food items- steamed carrots, peas, apples, bananas etc.

I did it for both the cost savings & the health benefits (fresher, more appealing, more nutritious food).

You probably already have the equipment you need: ziploc bags for storing the food frozen; ice cube trays to pour & freeze the purees; basic cooking pots & stirring utensils for cooking; and a blender or food processor.

I used 2 websites, mostly, for recipes:
www.wholesomebabyfood.com
www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com

What I did find confusing is that the sources (including the various books) different on what foods should and shouldn't be introduced at various times..... But I think I spent a lot more time worrying about that than was really necessary!

Most foods you can simmer until soft (or I baked in the oven, with a little water), then scoop into the blender & blend, adding a little of the cooking water if needed in order to get it blend up.

If you have a picky baby, you might need to run the puree through a fine strainer to get out any lumps.

Really easy--for 30 min of work, I could make 2 or 3 kinds of food, with enough made for a month.

If you already have a food processor that's all you need. The website www.wholesomebabyfood.com is a great resource, like I see others have mentioned. All you need to do is decide what you are making and then cook it by boiling, steaming, baking...all depends on you. Boiling is good in the beginning because then you can reserve the water to add to your purée as needed. I also invested in a lot of ice cube trays with lids. I would cook and purée large batches of foods and then pour I to the ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, I would pop them out and store in freezer bags. It made it so much easier to have a variety of food on hand. I would spend one day cooking a variety of foods and then be done for a week or two. As your baby gets older, you can just purée up whatever you are having for dinner! So easy! I did it for both of my children. Plus, you can control the consistency of their food. I have heard so many moms complain that they were having trouble moving from stage 1 to stage 2 or 3 foods. I never had that problem. If something was too thick or chunky, I could fix it. Also, I definitely saved money and I did it for their health. My oldest son had a dairy and soy sensitivity. Try finding baby food beyond stage 1 without either soy or dairy. Impossible! Good luck and happy cooking. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Update.
I wanted to also mention that I tried to give both of my boys jarred food from time to time when I was low on my food and they hated it. No flavor I guess but they would both refuse it.

Yup..me to. But I didn't do it for my own child (wish I had)..she is 16 now. But I do home childcare and about 5 years ago, a parent asked if I was willing to do organic. I said sure if I can do a similar cost (she was willing to pay the difference if needed). She just wanted to get thru baby food that way and wait to see after that. Organic baby food was costly then..more so than now and harder to find even, unless you went to a specialty type of grocery store.

So I looked at buying organic foods..just fruits and veggies, nothing fancy. I had a processor I never used..pulled it out and became addicted ot the baby food thing.

Now I exclusively do baby food. Not sure why you need a recipe or web site? I had to get a new processor and wanted something small and compact, easy to clean that I could use for other family things (smoothies, malts, etc). I got a $25 Bella Cucina Rocket Blender at Target a few weeks ago and started making baby food for my 2 daycare babies who are starting foods (6 mos and 7 mos).

For me its as simple as taking the fruit from the fruit bowl or what the older kids are tired of by weeks end. Blending it up..adding only water if its needed (some need it..veggies usually)..freezing in the cube trays and the next day popping out to labeled freezer baggies. I don't do just organic any longer, and will use canned and frozen as well. I just did an 80 cent can of Green Giant sweet peas..with a little water to make it blend well. It made 12 cubes..1 ounce each. 80 cents.

So far (in the last month maybe?)...I have blueberries, strawberries, pears, peaches, bananas...green beans, sweet potatoes and peas. Watching for a good price on squash..and will do some carrots on Friday after the older kids have for lunch. I ought to be set for quite a while! I do a little each week, then am good to go for a while..usually just using leftovers or whats about to spoil. Sometimes just 6 cubes of one...sometimes 2 trays. All depends on whats there. But nothing goes to waste and my blender is small and goes into a deep drawer when its cleaned.

For my USDA Food Program..with my daycare..baby food can not have anything other than the fruit or veg and water...no rice or tapioca, etc..no fillers. And many beyond stage one have them in there. No combo "meals". So its a no brainer for me. Not sure why everyone doesn't do this!

I used a mini food processor thing that I bought for less that $15. I also like wand blendars alot! With a wand blendar, you can blend the food right in the pot so there is far less cleanup than with a traditional food processor. Yes, it's cheaper too.
veggies that puree best=sweet potatoes, winter squash, califlower, carrots, beets, avocadoes

fruits=bananas (just mash with a fork), pears, peaches, apples, canaloupe (puree raw when very ripe), apricots,

H.,
I did it for all three...because I was too cheap to pay the $$ for the Baby food. (Note, I did start my first on the baby food b/c I thought it would be too hard. AND I did keep a few jars on hand for long distance traveling - it just packed and traveled easier in my opinion)

I just used a blender or a small food chopper and my normal old pots to cook the foods in. I also used the plastic ice cube trays to freeze the food in once it was made...once the foods were frozen in the cubes I just dumped the cubes into large ziplock bags that were labeled with what they were and the date they were made. I would try to make about a weeks worth of food at a time.

The only baby foods I bought for a bit longer were the baby food meat sticks...just for the texture and the fact they were easier for the kids to "chew" with only a few teeth.

Once I realized how easy it was, I was amazed. I would recommend anyone to do it.

Best of luck to you!

T.

I do an easy version of making baby food. Rather than steam, bake, or boil, I buy the frozen packs of vegetables in the steam bags and just pop them in the microwave and puree them with my Bullet knock-off style blender. I also buy canned pears and peaches that are canned in their own juices without any added sweetener, again just throw them in the blender and voila! Doing this saves time and money when veggies and fruits are out of season. I also freeze the pureed food in muffin cups rather than ice cube trays. each muffin cup holds about 1/4 cup of food which is a perfect serving size. It only takes me about 20-30 minutes to make a bunch of food this way since I don't have to take the time to clean and peel and then cook everything. I do bake sweet potatoes since I haven't found any packages without sweeteners.

Holly, I saw advertised The Baby Bullet advertised on the TV. It looked great. In fact, I might have tried making my own if they'd had this when my kids were little. Here's the link:

http://www.babybullet.com/index.php

See what you think.
Dawn

Lol. 3 other moms already told you this... but http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ is definitely the site to use. I did it for a while, and it DEFINITELY saved money... but my DD seems to prefer the store bought food. (I can't get the texture right when I make it... probably because I only have a cheap processor that won't puree it fine enough...)

I started making my son his baby food because it really wasn't that hard to do and trust me I'm far from a cooking expert! I stay away from the kitchen as much as possible. Also for the health benefits. A mom sent me this website and it was very helpful

www.wholesomebabyfood.com

hope it helps! :)

I don't really think you need any special equiptment to get you started. I started doing it with my first for the health benefits, but I really enjoyed doing it. For the second (due in a few weeks so this isn't for like 7 months) but I will also be doing it for the cost savings. Basically you can use part of whatever you are having for dinner that night. With my first I was working full time so every Sunday evening, after she went to bed, I would cook and freeze enough for her for the week, so that she could have it at daycare and enough at home also.
I love the website www.wholesomebabyfood.com. It gives time lines, suggestions, recipies, etc. I used it constantly with my daughter and will be going back to it in a few months. I did buy a couple of puree recipe books off of ebay but they were really a waste of money, it was all the same information that is on that website.
I started making the food using the Magic Bullet. I had had one for a few years, but after about a month and a half of baby food making it crapped out on me. I don't think the motor is made to handle a high amount of use. I went to target and got a cheep (I think Oyster brand) food processor and it works wonderfully. It is also super easy to clean!
My daughter was also allergic to carrots as an infant (she has already outgrown it) but almost all combinations of jar food have some carrots in there somewhere, so it would have been challenging for us to buy jar food if we wanted to.
PM me if you have any more specific questions that I can answer but I really enjoyed knowing everything that was going into my daughter. Not that she never had a jar of baby food (I got a little lazy occasionally) but I think that exposing them to actual flavors of food is soo beneficial. I know that all toddlers are picky, but my 2 year old eats foods that I won't touch! She has such a wide variety of likes and I think it is because she has been tasing "real" food from the begining, not the watered down stuff in the jar.

**So after posting I read the other post and it is exactly the same as mine...oh well a consensus! Sorry to be redundant.

I made my sons babyfood. I did it to save money, because its healthy and because he got way more variety! You can use a food processor. It's SO easy. I def recommend www.wholesomebabyfood.com also. It was a huge help for me!