I was wondering the best way to make homeade baby food. Has anyone used and of the electric food grinders? I have tried a regular blender and a food processor and it doesn't seem to work.
Have you added some liquid in the blender when trying to puree the food? A blender is the perfect tool for pureeing foods for baby.
hey melanie-
i always used a food processor or a food mill. make sure the food is super soft & cooled to get a really smooth puree.
hope that helps!
elizabeth
I made all of mine with my blender and adding water, juice or milk will help. I also used a mini food chopper whiched worked well as well.
Fav. Foods
Avocado and Banana
Sweet potatoes and carrots
mac n cheese (whole wheat cooked macaroni, shredded cheddar cheese, milk)
Hope this helps
Hi- I tried making homemade baby food for my son, and I had good success with a blender-he just didn't like it. You have to cook the food REALLY well. Pulsing the blender seemed to help, and you have to add water or low sodium chicken broth to thin it out.
I've never tried the food grinders, but we have an attachment to our Kitchenaid mixer we've used for other things. That would probably work well, though it's a mess to clean up.
My son only has 1 tooth and he would rather gum food cubes than eat the jarred baby food. I'm getting ready to box what I have left up to go to our church food pantry. I'm tired of trying to get him to eat it, plus it's taking up precious room in my pantry!
Good luck!
Just an fyi... there is a very good book called "First Meals" by Annabel Karmel which has some wonderful recipes for infants up to toddlers. All of the recipes give instruction on the best way to "puree" the foods. I've made some for my daughter and she's liked all that I made.
Good luck!
Denise
Brentwood, TN
Hi Melanie - although it has been awhile for me, I used my Cuisinart for most of the work. I also used my Kitchenaid blender for some smaller jobs. You might find this website helpful...
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com....it goes through all the tools you can use and is very informative. HTH!! Good luck :)
Melanie
Good for you for wanting to make your son homemade baby food! That's a lot of work and takes a lot of dedication when you work full-time - I remember, even thought it's been a few years.
I would also recommend the Annabel Karmel book - it's great! And also Ruth Yaron's "Super Baby Food." Lots of good ideas not only for food but toys, cleaning products, etc. I still use both of them and my son is now 5 years.
the only thing i can really tell you is to boil the food first. it softens the food and makes it easier to blend. then you just add what you think he'd like in it. i hope this works for you.
I agree with the others, just add a little more liquids. If it is too watery after you defrost, then add cereal.
I've always steamed the fruits & veggies and used a blender and a lot of patience. A friend recommended the book "SuperBaby Food" about 6 years ago and I've been using the author's process every since. The author is a little extreme in her recommendations, but taken with a grain of salt, the advice is helpful.
I uesed to make my own food for my son who is now 2. I used a blender and it worked very well. First you have to cook or boil whatever it is you are making. Then to blend it, start by pouring a little water in the blender first and then add the food little by little, making sure that you put it by smaller chunks to make it easier on your blender. It won't blend well if you don't have enough liquid to blend with the food. I used ice cube trays and spooned the food into the trays and then covered them and froze them. When they were frozen I popped them out and put them in freezer bags and labeled them. It was very easy for whoever was caring for my son - I could say 2 cubes of carrots and 2 cubes of green beans for a serving and then we would microwave the frozen cubes at meal time. It sounds like a lot of work, but really it goes fast once you get into the groove. I felt that it was very worth my effort. As your baby gets older, you can puree the food less to make it more textured to help transition into more solid real food. I hope this helps - let me know if you need more info! Don't give up...
Heather
I use the Braun Multiquick® Deluxe Hand Blender- its about 29 bucks at Bed Bath and Beyond and one can use one of thsoe 20% off coupons they keep sending out.
Here is the link to it http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=11433685
I always end up using only one of the attachments though - its really nice and all the removable parts are dishwasher safe
I always used the food processor and just added a little water to make the consistency a little more runny. Good things to make: Apples, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots (all cooked). One tip...buy some of those plastic ice cube trays. Spray w/ Pam & put the food in them. Freeze. About 2 cubes is a good serving size for a 7-9 month old, and that way it doesn't go bad. Even babies get tired of the same thing every meal. Good luck!
Hi Melanie,
I make a lot of baby food for my son who is almost 1. My sister got me a baby food processor that I use and it's great. She got it at Burlington Coat Factory's Baby Depot. I've seen them other places, too. Honestly, you can also use the Magic Bullet and it works really well! Get a good cookbook and you'll be fine. Good luck!
I made all of my daughter's baby food for the first year or so. I found recipes online & just made them up as I went. I used a food processor for everything I did at my own home & used a blender once when I was visiting some family. I never had any trouble with either one. You just have to make sure that you cook the vegetables & fruit to the right consistency & not overcook or undercook. I steamed everything I made. Let it cool, put it through the processor & amended the consistency as needed with juice, breast milk, water, cereal or whatever. And then once completely cooled I transfered it all to ice cube trays. That way you have the perfect individual serving. It worked out really well for us. I hope it helps!
Hello. I make some types of baby food using a Vita-Mix blender. I steam sweet potatoes for about 6-7min, or until soft and just blend the heck out of it. I do the same w/butternut squash. Pretty much any veggie you are trying to use just steam it until it is soft and blast it on high. Add water as you are blending so its not too thin. Peaches and bananas I have found to be good w/out adding water. I hope this helps!
I made quite a bit of homemade baby food for my youngest daughter. Mostly just fruits and vegetables. For carrots, sweet potatoes, and spinach, I just cooked them for a really long time until they were mushy and then mashed with a fork or put in a food processor. I tried to reserve as much of the water as I could since I know the boiling leeches out some of the important stuff. Once she got used to the textures, I gradually left it a little lumpier.
With fruits, I didn't do much of anything...just made sure to pick especially ripe fruit. Bananas I either froze and put in one of those mesh baby feeder things, or just mashed with a fork. She never had any problem with it being a little lumpy.
She also loved/loves watermelon, very very ripe melon, plums. I didn't do much prep work with those either...just mashed it up with a fork or cut it into razor thin pieces so there was no chance of choking.
I think that giving her regular food smushed up has made her into the little "foodie" that she is. Her older sister only eats about five things, but this one will be eating sushi for lunch at school while the rest of the kids are eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!
I am a mom of twin 3yr old boys and I made my own babyfood. I Used my Braun hand held chopper to puree the veggies. Then I freezed them in ice cube trays. At meal time I just got one cube and thawed it. It was so easy and saved money. I also found a way to save money when buying store bought babyfood. I skipped the first stages and went to the second stage single veggies. The only difference was there was more food and it was cheaper. Scoop out your serving into a bowl and put the rest in the fridge for the next meal.
I am a 32 year old mom of a 7 month old baby girl who is in daycare. I don't have any personal experience (at home) with the grinders, but her daycare uses them and then runs food through the blender after the grinder. She has just cut her first tooth and has already been eating meats at daycare that are prepared this way. All of the daycare ladies tell me that she absolutely loves the food and has no trouble eating any of it, even with no real teeth yet.