Infant Making Baby Food

My daughter is 10 months old and I've been using Baby Fresh since she was 6 months old. The website is http://freshbaby.com/ and it's really easy! Seriously only takes 30 minutes a week and the recipes are very easy to follow.

The book, Super Baby Food is the best! It helped me know when to introduce certain foods and had lots of great tips. I made all my own organic baby food with my son eating kale every morning for breakfast!
Have fun with it!

Everything I needed to learn was in the book, Super Baby Food. Fat paperback Here is what I found at htt://www.Amazon.com


Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron (Paperback - Jun 1998)

Buy new: $19.95 $12.97 Used & new from $8.75

This book taught me everything & I also learned which foods work best for making & freezing in batches. The other foods I would buy at the store.

I bought one set of the fancy tupperwarelike little food storage containers but found that just making the food in the ice cube trays was much easier. Then I popped them out,put them in a freezer baggie & put that baggie inside one more freezer bag. I would label the inner baggie with the date I made it.

Easy to pull out one squash cube, one avocado cube and one other food cube to thaw for his lunch & or dinner. Easy.

THere is a book out there Called something like Super Baby Super Foods, the author uses whole foods and is a big supporter of this. I will try to nail down the title. I had the book but lost it in a fire. Try AMazon. com and search.

Hi, we were given the best baby food book called 'baby and toddler meal planner' by Annabel Karmel. Full of great recipes, ideas for weaning and introducing foods, amounts to be feeding and how much milk to still include in diets etc. Very easy, lets you know what you can freeze as well. Enjoy!
D.

Hi new mama. I have an 11 month old who is a very good eater. I've made most all of his baby food (of course now he's on table food). I recommend First Meals - lots of good recipes and breaks everything down month by month of what they can have. Very easy recipes. Good luck!

I also have Super Baby Food and Feed Me I'm , used them somewhat too. I started my son on solids when he was 6 months and I highly recommend waiting until then. Plus the diapers get stinky when you move to solids so I wouldn't rush it by starting early!

Super Baby Food is the name of the book. Nutrition and recipies

i just bought the "deceptively delicious" cookbook by jessica seinfeld, and she is very detailed on how to puree all your veg./fruits. then you cannalso use it for making food as he/she starts eating solids.

just peel and steam and mush. don't add anything.

YOur pediatrician will probably give you a list of foods and ages (no citrus, corn, strawberries, meat, egg, yogurt, ect right now.) If he/she doesn't you should look it up in a book or online. My sister fed everthing to her daughter because her pediatrician said if they make it in a babyfood jar she can eat it. That is not a good idea!

I bought fresh frozen veggies and cooked and pureed them (one at a time, do not mix and only introduce one new food every three of four days because if there is an allegic reaction you won't know which food she was allergic to.)

I also bought fresh fruit and cooked it and pureed it. I mixed baby cereal at seven months into the food to give it more texture and by eight and a half months I was just putting our dinner (minus spices) into the blender- veggies and rice or pasta, spagetti, lasagna. Just enough to grind it up but not puree it. She is ten months now and eats regular food not in the blender.

S., mom, to four girls- the first ate commercial baby food and the next three have had mommy made food and it's so much cheaper!

Hi R.,

I feel like an idiot - all I ever did was puree fresh veggies/fruits and put nothing in them and didn't mix them, froze them in small portions (I think I did ice cubes trays too). My poor girl had a very bland diet. Oh well. She's two, nearly three, now, but she loves fresh brocolli and tomatos. She started around 5 months. Pureeing veggies and fruit is so easy, cheaper and better for your baby.

If I have another baby, I'll have to check out these cookbooks.
Take care,

M.

The Martha Stewart website used to have a section about making baby food and recipe cards that could be printed and given as a baby shower gift. But otherwise it is just regular foods prepared with no salt or spices or other flavoring then pureed with a little water to give it the thickness you need. Hope that helps.

I'll jump on the Super Baby Foods bandwagon. I really liked the book. The only thing that I would change would be introduction to cow's milk yogurt. She recommends introducing it at 6mos. I would change it to be goat milk yogurt and delay the intro to 12mos. Goat's milk is much easier for our bellies to digest than cow's milk. DH and I drink cow milk, but both of my kids have reactions to cow's milk products. If there are any allergies in your family, I would hesitate to just mash up what you're eating for your dd.
Also, IMO, don't intro foods at 4mos or 6 mos or whatever just b/c your pedi tells you to do so. The general consensus is 'middle of the first year'. Your baby needs to be sitting on her own really well first. She also needs to exhibit a desire for food or something other than breastmilk/formula. DD was 8.5 mos before she wanted any food. She sat on her own at 4mos, but was content to play with toys, spoons, etc until after 8mos. DS was 7mos old when he started on 'solids'. I have friends on other boards that intro'd food as soon as their babies were sitting and didn't understand why the they kept spitting the food out. You know your baby better than your pedi. Listen to and go with your insticts.
Sorry for being so long.
HTH
K. H, mama to
Catherine, 4yrs
Samuel, 1yr

Hi R.,

Forgive, me this isn't really the answer you were asking for, but I just want to save you some trouble.

The easiest thing is simply to mash your own food. (Assuming you eat whole foods yourself). We just started giving my son a little of everything we ate, as long as it wasn't too spicy of course, and he liked the different textures you get when you don't actually food process (chicken can be torn into fine threads, for example). Potatoes can be easily mashed with a fork, etc. I found that more practical than constantly washing the food processor (though we did use it as few times) and making separate meals for him. If you're worried about salt in your baby's food, you can always make it bland and then add salt to yours.
Now my boy's almost three and eats a bit of everything (though his likes and dislikes go in phases), and he likes a little pepper ground on his portion!

Just a suggestion.

G.

Feed Me I'm Yours by Vicki Lansky
and
America's Complete Source- Better Baby Food by Daina Kalnins and Joanne Saab

Both can be found used on Amazon (and probably new too)

There isn't much to baby food other than pureed food with out salt or other additives. I would take cooked carrots or other foods and put them in the food processor. I would then put it in ice cube trays for freezing to keep them fresh for the week since there were't any preservatives and canning wasn't an option. I would put the cubes in baggies and put the baggies in hot water on the stove to heat them up. Worked great for me.

R., I think you would love the book, Super Baby Food, by Ruth Yaron. She has lots of recipes, tips on how to select good fruits and veggies (I needed that!), different methods, etc. I found it very possible to do, even with a very busy schedule. She is pretty earthy so take it as deep or as shallow as you want to go. Me personally, I'm not interested in making my own environmentally friendly house cleaning products, but I'm not knocking anyone who does. Hope this helps!!
H.

I had a baby food mill - small hand grinder that came in a case.
Much better than trying to use a blender or food processor because it is made for small amounts and left a little texture that could be thinned with a liquid of choice if necessary.
And cooked healthy, wholesome organics for the my dh and I - leaving out potential problem ingredients like some spices, salt, etc. Then ground small portions for the babes. THis worked better than specifically making food for just the baby. At least for me.
I still froze winning meals in ice cube trays to thaw and use for later meals.

But some books that I used as guidelines and liked were Organic Baby and Toddler Cookbook by Lizzie Vann, Healthy Yummies for Young Tummies by Ann Schrader, Dr. Sears baby book food recommendations and Dr. Sears Family Nutrition book.

Good luck, and enjoy!

I did this many years back. I took frozen veggies and cooked them in water until they were very tender and put them in the blender with some of the cooked water. After a good blending, I strained them and put them in glass baby food jars and froze them. The jars were from the baby fruit that I had. The jars will reseal. I started with carrots and then sweet potatoes and then peas and corn. The pediatrician said he usually started babies with green veggies but since I started with the yellow we just reversed it. Add a bit of water to the veggies so that they are not a firm paste texture -- you will get to know what you want as the child grows. A cookbook is not necessary just use common sense. Fresh vegetables are cooked the same way. When your child gets older, you can cook meats in the same way with a little bit of celery, onions for flavor using the broth the smooth out the meat. If you need any additonal help, email me off list. S.

Super Baby Food, Has been my favorite. It has recipes from homemade rice cereal to toddler snacks and even recipes for the whole family. It is VERY extensive, an excellent resource.

First Meals by Annabel Karmel is excellent to start out with.

I agree with the Super Baby Foods book-and actually you can start introducing foods at 4 months, which is what my pedi recommends. Yours may tell you differently-follow his/her advice. With my last I waited until just before his 6 month visit.

Ruth Yarron wrote a book called Super Baby Food. It's awesome. Tells you what can be introduced when and how to store it. Plus some extras for tots...

Congrats on your new baby!
S.
www.naturalfamily.biz

Hi R.,

First, congrats on your new little girl. Second, I applaud you and your desire to keep your baby food in YOUR control. I have a 8 month old little girl and I have always made her food. I have not yet bought one jar of food. She has been eating solids since she was 4.5 months old.
I don't have a cook book but I have found a wonderful website that has been very helpful for me. The website is http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ and it is filled with not only baby food recipes (all organized by the age of the child) but it also has wonderful information about allergies, tips and Q and A. I think you will find this site very useful.

Also, I wanted to recommend a wonderful blender/food processor. I am sure you have seen the info commercial about "the magic bullet". I used to make fun of these commercials until I received one for Xmas this year. I absolutely love it. It saves time with preparation and clean up. Plus, you can steam you veggies right in the same container that you puree your foods in.

Good luck.

S.

i am an OLD mom and my "boys" are 27 and 30. i never bought a jar of baby food, they ate whatever we ate and i either mashed it up or put it in a blender with a little broth. they were also breast fed and didn't get started on solids until they were six months old and then only introduce=ing one food group at a time. yougart, soft cheeses applesauce some of their favorites

R.,

My name is G. and I too love to prepare fresh, organic foods for my boys.

There is a wonderful cookbook out (First Meals), by: Annabel Karmel. this is a good starting point for you. Later, checkout (Deceptively Delicious), By: Jessica Seinfeld. her book is exceptional for the toddler years.

I hope these referrals help you begin a healthy life for your new little one.

Thanks,
G.

I have been making my 9 month old's food since he started solids. I rely on the cereals from a box and the pre-made juices. I make vegetables and fruits which I freeze in those individualized serving cups that someone else mentioned. Then I pop them out and keep them in labeled ziplock bags.

At first I used "Top 100 Baby Purees". As I started researching some of the foods that doctors recommend at different ages, I realized that she was not always following those recommendations in her book. (The book is laid out by recipes by age.) Perhaps she is following British standards. Also, I found some of her cooking times did not leave food soft enough for my liking.

I have started relying on the following website more: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ - It recommends foods by baby's age as well as how to prepare them. It is conservative on when babies should start eating certain foods which has made me more comfortable.

Now that my son is eating 4 oz of fruits/vegetables at a time and the fact that I don't make poultry or beef myself, I mix 2 oz of homemade food with 2 oz of jarred food. This is convenient in daily preparation as well because I keep the jarred food in the refrigerator and when I mix it with the microwaved homemade food, the temperature of the mixed food almost always comes out with no need to cool down further.

Best of luck to you!

I use wholesomebabyfood.com. i make my own baby food to and they have a lot of helpful information. They also recommend to start solids at 6 months instead of 4. and from experience, i highly recommend that as well. one thing that kindof a pain though is veggies like green beans have to be pushed thru a strainer after you process to remove the tough skin. The web site tells what is best to start first and have menues to follow. it's awesome. Congratulations on your sweet little girl. and congratulations on making her more healthy foods. There aren't many like you out there. Keep up the good work! Good luck!

I'm a grandma, but if you can find an old Feingold Diet book from the 70's, it is chock full of just what you want. I used it with great results. The best idea for an infant going to solids for the first time, though, is fresh produce without seasoning. Make certain to wash, wash, wash prior to cooking. Put it through a food processor or blender and strain as necessary. After you find out what works and what doesn't work for your baby's palate, start processing some of the food you have with your own dinner. I also froze the food in flexible ice-cube trays then popped it out, stored in air-tight for those times when I needed to take food along for one of my three. I put it in a tupperware type container to travel and it thawed by the time we needed it. That was before microwaves, though :-) Good luck with baby!

Super Baby Foods" is one--and there are others on Amazon dot COM--just put in the search "super baby foods" and the page returns all sorts of home made baby food books!
Good luck!

This is a great thing to do. I have been doing it for 25 years and am still doing it for my 10 month old. You don't need a cook book. Just steam fresh fruit and / or vegetables then process them thru the food processor. I freeze the "baby food" in ice trays.Then pop it out of the ice tray and put in a freeer gallon bag labeled with food type and date. Use NO seasonings as these can upset baby's tummy. I do put a little tiny bit of salt on it after they are 9 months old, nothing else. I usually cook baked potatos, process with skins on (there are a lot of vitamins in the peel), also apples, carrots,squash, zuchinni, green beans, spinach, mustard and turnip greens (with the turnips). I use anything organic or fresh. My grown kids and my babies will eat anything you put in front of them. I even cook fresh corn on the cob and remove it from the cob before processing. Just cook what ever you can find that is organic or fresh from your garden. They will learn to eat healthy and well. It will be a life long habbit. I use no canned goods for family cooking or for the babies. If you have any questions lmk>

Super Baby Food and Feeding the Whole Family are both really good resources.
Good luck! R.

SBF Rocks (super baby food) AND there used to be a site where you could chat with folks who use it for tips, etc...go to www.ezboard.com and type in super baby food... I think that is where I found it.
Here is a site about the book: http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/be_on_hgtv/article/0,1783,HGTV_3...

Hi, I was 30 when I had my first baby as well! Food was a very important issue to me. Now I have had 3 babies and I still use this book. It is called Super Baby Food. It is fabulous! It provides in depth info on how to make your own baby food but also gives the nutritional info behind it. It was like taking a basic nutirtion course -for me who had never had one! I would have to say that you could go over board with the info so if you keep that in mind I think you will find this to be so helpful. I breastfed all my babies for over a year and did not start solids until 7 months. I know some doctors want to start food around 4 months, but if you read the research (read read read - you will see) and have a supportive doctor your baby will really be great. I cant tell you what a wonderful resource this book has been. I give it to all my friends having babies. Good luck!

I use an amazing book. Its called Wholesome meals for Babies and Toddlers. You can get it at amazon.com for about $7. Its amazng. It has great recipies for ages 6 months to 3 years. ISBN #: 1-40546-845-9.

It's easy and has some great tips and ALOT of good information.

Good Luck.

I made all of my little girl's baby food from fresh fruits, veggies and such. She still eats very little processed foods (17 months old). I would recommend the "super baby food" book. It's a good resource on how to cook and store the food you make.

Super Baby Foods is good. It has all the foods listed and how to prepare them. The woman's a little over the top, but the food preperation info is pretty good.

Yeah you've got a couple months to go. Making baby food was really easy and you can control the quality of the food much better. Organic produce is still cheaper than organic baby food. Plus it's fun!

Hi, I just wanted to third wholesomebabyfoods.com. It's free and has a ton of information. I made most of my daughter's food and it was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.
One other suggestion, if you don't want to make applesauce just buy the natural applesauce in the regular section of the store (not baby section). It's less than two dollars for a huge jar. I added it to a lot of the foods I made for my baby.

SUPER BABY FOOD by Ruth Yaron.

In my opinion, it is the best, and soooo easy to follow and lots of recipies and tips for each month!

can order from superbabyfood.com, or in any bookstore.

Have fun!