Homemade Baby Food

Making your own baby food will ensure that
what your child is eating is fresh, nutritious and
free of additives. By making your own baby
foods, you'll be saving money, up to 50%. And
to top it off, it's easy; making baby food at
home is probably a lot less time−consuming
than you may have thought.
In order to make your own baby foods, you'll
need something to cook in. A steamer basket
is cheap and by cooking fruits and vegetables
in it, you'll be sure of keeping the nutrients in
the food, instead of in the cooking water.
To puree your foods, you can use a fork, a
food mill or blender. A blender quickly purees
almost anything into the finest consistency.
When your baby first starts on solids, you'll be
pureeing things to a very fine consistency and,
as baby gets a little older, you will make foods
a little coarser.
You may wish to buy a food mill which comes
in large and small sizes. It is very handy and
inexpensive. The food mill strains most cooked
foods to a very smooth consistency, although
meats can be a problem as they will have a
coarser texture.
As babies are susceptible to digestive upsets,
you'll want to take note of the following tips
concerning the handling of foods:

− always work with clean hands.
− always use clean utensils.
− prepare foods immediately upon removing
them from the refrigerator.
− freeze immediately after cooking any foods
you want to store.

You can prepare large amounts of foods at
once and freeze them. Take your prepared
foods and plop by spoonfuls onto a baking
sheet. Freeze the plops right away and then
take them off the sheet when they are frozen
and put them into plastic bags. Label and date.
You can also freeze the food in plastic "pop
out" ice cube trays. Small tupperware jars with
lids serve the same purpose and stack easily.
Frozen baby foods can be stored for up to two
months.
When you take frozen foods out for baby,
warm the food in a cup placed in a saucepan
of boiling water with a lid on.
Cereals are typically the first foods given to a
baby because they contain lots of iron. You
can buy the commercial baby cereals, or
prepare your own, by running oatmeal through
your blender, for instance.
Fruits are generally given next. Except for raw,
mashed banana, you will need to cook all
other fruits till they are soft. Try making your
own applesauce and pearsauce; don't add any
sugar, as these fruits are sweet enough on
their own. You can also peel peaches, plums
and apricots and boil or steam them.
Use fresh vegetables whenever possible in
order to provide the best nutrition and flavor for
your baby. Frozen vegetables are better to use
than canned. Steaming vegetables is the best
method of preparation. Carrots and sweet
potato are two popular choices to begin with.
Yogurt, mashed cottage cheese, mashed
pumpkin, baked potato, avocado and tofu
(oriental soy bean curd) are all popular with
babies. One good idea is to blend together
cottage cheese, banana and fresh orange
juice − delicious!
Meats should be added slowly. They can be
boiled or broiled, then put in the blender with a
little milk and perhaps banana or cream of rice
to get the right consistency. Chicken is
generally the first meat baby is introduced to
and usually goes down fairly well.
There is no rush to start your baby on solid
foods. Milk is his most important food. Your
doctor's recommendations and your own
intuition will help you to know when to begin
introducing solods to your baby's diet. Always
remember to be patient with your baby and
allow at least a few days between newly added
foods to make sure baby doesn't suffer any
reactions.