For the most part, my daughter eats homemade baby food. She also gets a few bites of whatever I am eating, especially when my husband and I take her out for mommy-daddy-daughter dates, but the rest of the time she eats fruits and veggies that I have prepared for her. Making my own baby food is so much easier and much healthier than using commercial baby foods (when we moved on to bottle formula, I remember I was so shocked to learn how many ingredients there are in US formula that are actually banned in European baby formula brands, so I’m not surprised I’ve chosen to make baby food myself). In fact, I have an entire freezer shelf devoted just to the foods that I have prepared and frozen for my daughter.
To make my own baby food, I invested in a baby food processor. As one of our gifts for our baby shower, an aunt bought us the food processor that I wanted. I then went out a bought the accompanying freezer tray set. However, the freezer tray set is more for my convenience than a necessity, although I do use the freezer containers for more than just freezing the baby food.
To make a batch of homemade baby food, I begin by cleaning and cooking the fruit or vegetable. I scrub off the food in the sink with regular tap water. I peel and cut the food as necessary. Then I cook the food in the microwave with a little bit of distilled water. I use distilled water for cooking to avoid giving my daughter too much fluoride. Harder fruits and veggies like sweet potatoes and squash need about ten minutes in the microwave. Softer fruits and vegetables like bananas need only about five.
After cooking and allowing the food to cool, I place the softened fruit or veggie in my baby food processor. I use the water used for cooking as well instead of adding more so that I retain the nutrients that leached into the water. I then blend the food until soft and mashed.
Sometimes I give my daughter freshly mashed baby food. However, for the most part, I freeze the batches that I make. Most of the time, I put the mashed food in ice cube trays for freezing. However, sometimes I do use my baby food freezer containers.
After the homemade baby food is frozen in the ice cube trays, I pop the cubes out and into labeled freezer bags. I then store the bags of frozen baby food cubes in my deep freezer. I have an entire shelf devoted to just baby food for my daughter.
When my daughter is ready to eat, I simply take out a few cubes of baby food to thaw. I use either little reusable BPA-free plastic containers with lids or I use the freezer containers to hold the thawing baby food in the refrigerator. The freezer containers are great for taking the food out with us when we go out to dinner. Sometimes I will also microwave the baby food cubes for a few seconds to speed up the thawing process. After the food is thawed, my daughter gobbles her dinner right up. Bon appetit!
Do you make your own baby food?
Image Credits
Baby Food Processor 2012 Heather Johnson
Making Baby Food in a Baby Food Processor 2012 Heather Johnson
Frozen Baby Food Corn in Ice Cube Tray 2012 Heather Johnson
Homemade Spinach Baby Food 2012 Heather Johnson
Frozen Baby Food in Freezer Containers 2012 Heather Johnson
Frozen Cubes of Baby Food 2012 Heather Johnson
Freezer Stash of Baby Food 2012 Heather Johnson
Thawing the Frozen Baby Food 2012 Heather Johnson
Thawed Cube of Frozen Baby Food 2012 Heather Johnson
