Making your own baby food is a great way to introduce your child to solids and it is not only a very nutritious option, but it can be fun too.
Listed below are ten ways to make your own baby food: –
1. Equipment
The first thing you need to do when preparing to make your own baby food is to purchase a food processor, blender, or food mill if you haven’t already.
2. Produce
Purchase produce when it is on sale and buy in bulk. This will give you plenty to store up and freeze or can for later.
3. Steam
Try to steam fruits and vegetables to preserve more of their nutrients rather than boil them as boiling removes some of the vitamins and minerals. Steamed foods can either be blended or mashed with a fork.
4. Freeze
Once you have pureed your baby’s food you can freeze it in many different ways. Use glass containers designed for baby food, plastic food storage bags, or my favorite use an ice cube tray to freeze individual servings and then place them in a plastic bag.
5. Leftovers
You can feed your baby just about anything that the rest of the family eats by putting it into a food processor and making gourmet baby food combinations. Think chicken and carrots or pork and rice.
6. Avoid Salt
Stay away from seasoning your homemade baby food with salt or preservatives. Their newly developing taste buds do not need any additional flavorings, however, most herbs that you are putting into your family meals are ok.
7. Solids
As your baby gets older, you can increase the chunkiness of the foods by blending less. This will help them to ease into solid foods by exposing them to different textures.
8. Bulk
You will be more likely to continue making your own baby food if you do it in large batches rather than each meal at a time. When you come home from the store, prepare batches of your product right away or make one family sized meal to blend down for your baby all at once to store for later. This is more convenient than getting the food processor out at every meal.
9. Label
Be sure to label your stored baby food with the date prepared so you can ensure the freshest food. Rotate the food in your freezer so that the oldest food is used up prior to the newest to ensure no spoiling occurs.
10. Don’t Give Up
Just like jarred baby food, it may take a few or even up to a dozen times of your baby trying it before they know if they like it or not. Just because Junior refuses it the first time doesn’t mean you have to throw out the rest.
By making your own baby food, you can control what your baby is eating and will not be left wondering what was in it. Experiment with different foods as well as combinations of foods to get your child exposed to a variety of flavors.
