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Homemade Baby Food Recipes: Prunes

Homemade Baby Food Recipes: Prunes

My daughter, even at almost seventeen months old, is still a fan of pureed baby food. She eats non-pureed foods and loves feeding herself Cheerios and Goldfish crackers, but much of her nutrition still comes from the homemade baby food that I have prepared for her. Not only is making your own baby food cheaper, but homemade baby food is often healthier and more full of taste than store-bought varieties. My daughter largely refuses commercial baby food.

One of the baby foods that I make sure to keep in my freezer is prunes. The dried fruit is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium and is a good source of dietary fiber and vitamin K. Prunes are also great for getting tiny tummies moving. When my daughter gets even the slightest bit constipated, I know that a serving of prunes will get her body moving right quick.

Sunsweet Prunes Prunes in a Saucepan

To make your own homemade prune baby food, start with a container of prunes. My husband most recently bought me the Sunsweet brand because our local grocery store was having a sale, but any prunes will work. Some stores even sell organic prunes if organic is important to you.

Prunes and Water in a Saucepan Cooking the Prunes

Once you buy the dried fruit, making prune baby food is super easy. Dump the prunes into a saucepan and cover with water. I personally use distilled water when making baby food for my daughter to avoid any excessive minerals in our tap water, but tap water would work fine too. Boil the prune and water mixture over low heat until most of the water boils down into a prune juice syrup. Remove the cooked prunes from the heat.

Transferring the Prunes to the Baby Food Processor Pureed Prune Baby Food

After you cook the prunes, allow the mixture to cool slightly. Then transfer the cooked prunes to a baby food processor or a blender. Add as much additional water as needed to make blending easier. After the cooked prunes are pureed, transfer the blended prune baby food into small containers or an ice cube tray. Freeze the baby food for later use. If you opt to use ice cube trays, you can then move the frozen cubes into another container or bag for easier storage. When my daughter is ready to eat some prunes, I either zap the frozen baby food in the microwave for about 20 seconds or let the prune cubes thaw in the refrigerator over night.

Prune Baby Food Cubes

Do you make your own baby food?

Image Credits

Homemade Baby Food Recipes: Prunes © 2013 Heather Johnson
Sunsweet Prunes © 2013 Heather Johnson
Prunes in a Saucepan © 2013 Heather Johnson
Prunes and Water in a Saucepan © 2013 Heather Johnson
Cooking the Prunes © 2013 Heather Johnson
Transferring the Prunes to the Baby Food Processor © 2013 Heather Johnson
Pureed Prune Baby Food © 2013 Heather Johnson
Prune Baby Food Cubes © 2013 Heather Johnson

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