It sounds really complicated but really Homemade Baby Food is just fancy words for softened (steamed, baked, mashed), blended food frozen into small portions. It’s easy and it’s inexpensive. For Christmas, Precious got this wonderful Baby Bjorn bib that my friend recommended. It’s made from a stiff silicon-ish material so the food catching lip doesn’t collapse. Also, the neck is adjustable so it will fit for a while. Perfect for Precious’ reintroduction to solid foods. (We started on rice cereal at 4 months old but neither of us was really ready yet. Now, at 6 months she’s ready. And I am, too.)
She also got some great Oxo Tot baby food freezing containers for Christmas. Oxo is my all-time favorite kitchen gadget brand. This Oxo Tot freezer tray pretty much just looks like any old ice cube tray but it has a lid—a pretty green lid—with a special function. It’s curved at the ends so you can dump just one ice cube out at a time. Smart, huh? It makes 1 oz. portions. Perfect for introducing new foods. Once the cubes are all frozen, I’ve been popping them into freezer bags so I can label and date them.
The Oxo Tot baby blocks six pack tray and 2 oz. containers are handy for taking larger portions on the go. I haven’t seen these in action yet but the first batch of pureed carrots is freezing right now. So far I have made avocado, carrots and bananas for Precious. Next on my list are sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli, apples and pears. I’m curious to hear from you: What were the first foods you fed your kids? What foods were their favorites? Did you make baby food at home, blend up whatever you were eating or buy baby food pre-made?
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What a beautiful girl! My kids were all a bit later in starting solids (no interest earlier), so with my third we actually skipped purees altogether. His first meal that we actually consumed (not the first he was offered) was roast chicken, sweet potato wedges, and asparagus. Those are still favorites of his at 18 months. Other great first foods that my kids loved were avocado and hard cooked egg yolk. Have fun!
I bought the pre-made stuff. I needed the convenience in my life, and I don’t like to cook at all anyway. I had/still have a picky eater, but when she was younger, I remember one of her favorites being mango. I will warn you about prunes, though. I mistakenly thought they could be added into our fruit rotation but learned my lesson after only one meal. I gave her a whole jar, and then she proceeded to have explosions in her pants!! Save prunes for the days she seems to be a bit backed up, and even then, I would just start with only a few bites.
PS. Your kid just keeps getting cuter and cuter!!!
I make my daughter’s food and it is great fun. Avocado is a perfect first food and a superfood. Winter squash like butternut is a good “orange” vegetable to put into rotation with the sweet potatoes. My daughter loves brussel sprouts, broccoli, zucchini and swiss chard too. For fruit, apple, pear and bananas are good winter staples. When she gets a little older you can try kiwi and mango which are also delish mixed with apples or bananas.
I’ve been told that homemade carrots should be avoided because of high nitrate concentrations, unless you’re using organic and the baby is older.
Have you checked out weelicious, she has some good recipes and ideas for baby food.
I don’t believe in purees, so I do baby led weaning.
So much less hassle as well, because they eat whatever we eat (within reason of course!). The first few months I gave them finger foods as well as mashed veg, but I always made sure it was lumpy so that they were exposed to different textures from the beginning.
I made homemade baby food for my kiddos as well, but usually use the jar variety when we are out. It seems to be more convenient.
Here’s what I do: http://www.mywalkwitheden.com/2010/09/elkins-family-frugal-finds-friday_17.html
i made my own babyfood (most of the time) for my little girl who is now 4. I found it to be relatively simple, just requiring an hour or two to make enough food for the week. I cheated a bit and would just steam the poo (cook for a really long time) frozen peas and green beans and then just puree and freeze in ice cube trays. My girl loved just about anything I made. I think we started with sweet potatoes and I introduced lots of veggies before starting on fruit. We would alternate orange and green foods when introducing them. I think there is something about making your own carrots to puree. IF I remember correctly you just can’t use the water that you steamed them in to dilute the puree…use formula or broth or something I guess. I know I made my own carrots….just read up on it. Funny how quickly you forget these things! 🙂 Once she got older I would often just puree whatever we ate (pasta, soups, etc.) It’s sort of fun to try new things with them. Good luck!
PS> Precious really is precious; so happy for you and your husband. Your story and honesty really touched. me. Take care.
I loved making baby food and toddler food is just as fun but a bit more complicated. I started steaming veggies (the usual plus brussel sprouts, bok choy and dark greens). Then after she got the hang of eating I started roasting and grilling the veggies, I found they had more flavor that way. Then within a month i was adding cooked onion, garlic or smoked paprika. Now my toddler needs “spice” or something in her food plain chicken just does not cut it.