Making your own baby food?

[cupcakechef]

My little one is finally starting on solid foods - exciting times in our household right now! I really want to get into making my own stuff rather than getting the pre-made stuff from the supermarket - from both a cost perspective and knowing exactly what's being added in!

Wondering if any of you made your own baby foods, and any sort of flavor combinations your little ones liked. Anything they didn't?

 

[Morning Glory]

I used to do this a lot. Generally they prefer sweeter foods (I don't mean sweetened by adding sugar) such as bananas, peaches, carrots, parsnips, sweet potato etc. You can simply cook the vegetables as normal and puree using a mouli or stick blender. Both avocado and bananas are useful as you don't need to cook them - just mash or puree. You can add breast milk or formula milk to adjust consistency of pureed food. Cereals are also good if you puree them but obviously only the natural cereals like oats, rice etc. obviously not packet breakfast cereals which have salt or sugar added.

 

[DancingLady]

When I was a baby I loved all squashes and sweet potatoes, so much so my nose turned yellow from eating so much yellow and orange food. Making baby food is very easy, it just has to be cooked soft enough that no teeth are required and mashed up in the blender so it is easy to just swallow. I think you can make baby food out of all healthy foods by just cooking it and mashing it up and maybe adding more liquid if it is to thick by itself.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

My mother used to just keep it fairly simple (my sister was born when I was 14, my brother when I was 17).

• Mashed potato with peas, carrots, some meat and a little gravy avoiding various baby can't have this... Consistency as needed, chunks or not as needed.
• Mashed cauliflower with various veg, meat, gravy
• Mashed ... With a little fish, suitable white sauce... Peas or beans
• Apple puree with cooked sultanas (no other sugar added)
• Pear puree with cooked/softened date pieces (no other sugar added)
• Mashed banana with cooking apples (cooked)

Etc. All were made from the remnants of 'our' meals, but the relevant allergens kept out (my brother had issues with all sorts) and pureed, then small chunks added as required to introduced solids etc. My sister managed this far faster than my brother did!

The only limit was your imagination. She also looked at what was available shop bought for ideas and then made her own variations, never ever adding salt or sugar.

 

[Amanda]

I made baby food for all 3 of my kids. I started out with easy things like bananas (how hard is it to mash up one of those?) and eventually moved to vegetables, pastas, etc. I found that the easiest way to store for quick future meals was to prepare a batch of baby food using the food processor or blender, and then to fill ice cube trays and freeze. When frozen, I popped them out of the trays and placed the frozen cubes in a freezer bag. I then just had to defrost a cube or 2 to have healthy homemade food for baby!

 

[cupcakechef]

My mother used to just keep it fairly simple (my sister was born when I was 14, my brother when I was 17).

• Mashed potato with peas, carrots, some meat and a little gravy avoiding various baby can't have this... Consistency as needed, chunks or not as needed.
• Mashed cauliflower with various veg, meat, gravy
• Mashed ... With a little fish, suitable white sauce... Peas or beans
• Apple puree with cooked sultanas (no other sugar added)
• Pear puree with cooked/softened date pieces (no other sugar added)
• Mashed banana with cooking apples (cooked)

Etc. All were made from the remnants of 'our' meals, but the relevant allergens kept out (my brother had issues with all sorts) and pureed, then small chunks added as required to introduced solids etc. My sister managed this far faster than my brother did!

The only limit was your imagination. She also looked at what was available shop bought for ideas and then made her own variations, never ever adding salt or sugar.

Lots of good combination options there! We tried store bought pear puree the other day and it was a giant hit so I'm definitely going to be making some pear puree myself.

Hadn't even thought of meat yet (I'm such a newbie at motherhood that sometimes I feel clueless!) but that's some great information.

 

[Berties]

Simmered squash ,sweet potato,parsnip,Swede,carrots,Eric then purree In a food processer
We would add cooked fresh meat and purree it as they got going,they had liver ,pheasant ,chicken to name a few ,also would add cabbage and spinach as they moved on,we would purree different fruits to pudding,great use for bruised fruits and veg not at there best
Now they eat most things

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Lots of good combination options there! We tried store bought pear puree the other day and it was a giant hit so I'm definitely going to be making some pear puree myself.

Hadn't even thought of meat yet (I'm such a newbie at motherhood that sometimes I feel clueless!) but that's some great information.

your child will grow up eating whatever you get it used to now. So if you enjoy curry, start adding that in. If you want chili in there, start adding some in, in very small amounts and getting your child used to it. Other herbs and spices can be added as needed. Don't keep it plain. So apple can have cinnamon and there is no reason as to why your child can have cinnamon. How do children in countries where the cuisine is typically way 'hotter' chilli wise get used to chilies? They start young, so don't exclude what you would want your child to grow up eating.

 

[Dianemwj]

When I was a baby I loved all squashes and sweet potatoes, so much so my nose turned yellow from eating so much yellow and orange food. Making baby food is very easy, it just has to be cooked soft enough that no teeth are required and mashed up in the blender so it is easy to just swallow. I think you can make baby food out of all healthy foods by just cooking it and mashing it up and maybe adding more liquid if it is to thick by itself.

Goodness, until I read your post, I forgot that when my daughter was a baby, she would only eat mashed carrots or sweet potatoes. I took her to the pediatrician (the same one who treated me as a child) because she was turning orange. I thought she was jaundiced. Dr. Donna told me to cut back on the orange food. Thanks for the memory. It's funny the things one forgets.

 

[cupcakechef]

your child will grow up eating whatever you get it used to now. So if you enjoy curry, start adding that in. If you want chili in there, start adding some in, in very small amounts and getting your child used to it. Other herbs and spices can be added as needed. Don't keep it plain. So apple can have cinnamon and there is no reason as to why your child can have cinnamon. How do children in countries where the cuisine is typically way 'hotter' chilli wise get used to chilies? They start young, so don't exclude what you would want your child to grow up eating.

That's really good advice...and honestly I hadn't even thought of that. I think I'll start with the cinnamon and apples or cinnamon and pears. We do love curries and stuff like that, spicy food is a favorite here - and I guess food is only 'weird' or overwhelming if you haven't grown up with it, right?

Thank you for the tips...it's given me some food for thought (if you pardon the pun!) about how to progress with this new side of things!

 

[clairebeautiful]

My 4th (and final) baby is currently 11 months. We've used both store bought food and homemade baby food for all our babies. Store bought food is convenient, mainly. It is never a better value, and certainly not tastier than what we can do at home.

I agree with many tips above. We simply blend leftovers many times, and our baby eats exactly what we eat. Right now I have a freezer full of the inside of a chicken pot pie - chicken and tons of veggies, and added spices. I know many people say baby food should be bland and not to add spices, but I don't tend to worry about it much. I try to limit sugary foods (like breakfast cereals, etc.) and ironically, most of the store bought toddler foods (finger foods in bags) have tons of sugar.

There are several foods that actually sort of naturally lend themselves to being or becoming baby food very easily:

• baked sweet potatoes = instant baby food
• pre-cut sweet potatoes and/or butternut squash = boil and cool; baby can pick up and eat and it is mushy enough to get through without teeth
• applesauce w/no sugar added
• muffins (I add oatmeal and lots of veggies)
• pancakes (same as the muffins)

I do NOT do the freezing in ice trays thing. (Pinterest made that popular and it makes ZERO sense to me.) It is so much more work than it is worth. You might find that out as you try to pour somewhat thick baby food into tiny little spaces without a mess. Hah. I just use the take and toss containers with lids. Each one is about a serving, and they are wide mouth, so it is easy to pour and freeze those, then pop them out and serve them defrosted or slightly warm.

 

[Mille_08]

I did mine. I used to feed my baby with a variety of mashed food. Started out with porridge with minimal seasoning and chicken noodle soup. For snacks I usually mash apples or banana. For dinner its sweet potato boiled, mashed and lightly seasoned. The key is variety so your baby will get acquainted to different tastes and textures. Good luck!