It all started with the baby food…
My mother-in-law gave me a Baby Bullet to make homemade baby food for my baby shower. She knew I liked to cook and I thought the gift was creative. I had not given any thought at all to baby food at that point…I was 7 months pregnant and had never even changed a diaper, let alone fed a baby. I was convinced I would not be able to keep this child alive until she was old enough to eat baby food.
This gift got me thinking…I had just assumed I would buy the jars of baby food that most everyone buys. Why would a company make anything that was less than healthy for our babies? How long ago were those pureed fruits and vegetables grown? Why do they not expire for 4 years? I don’t want to eat a 4 year old banana. Not only that, one jar of baby food costs about $0.50 and I can buy a pound of bananas for $0.47!
Then came the research…
Gerber and Heinz replace real food with water and thickening agents in most of their food for children over the age of six months. So not only are you paying much more for jarred baby food, it is diluted! These products are nutritionally inferior to the real thing!
Low and behold Lola survived being a newborn and we were told to start solids when she turned six months old. I made every drop of baby food that she ever ate! It was extremely easy, super affordable, and it ensured that everything Lola ate was fresh and healthy.
When babies first begin to eat solid food it is more about learning to eat and swallow solids, and less about them getting it all in their mouths! More will end up on them and you than in their bellies. At this point it is not necessary to make foods in big batches and freeze. However, frozen homemade baby food will last for six months in the freezer.
A month or so in to eating solid food, I started to make it in big batches and freezing it. You will want to give your baby one food only per week to make sure they do not have any food allergies. Bananas, avocados, and sweet potatoes are great foods to begin with. After we tried pretty much all fruits and vegetables I started to mix them together to give her more selection.
The best cooking method for the vegetables is to steam them. The vegetables retain more nutrients when they are steamed versus boiled or microwaved. Most fruits do not need to be cooked unless they are not a soft fruit. I cooked apples, pears, and peaches. Bananas, mangos, berries, melons, and kiwis do not need to be cooked.
I would visit my local farmers market once every two weeks and stock up on vegetables and fruits. In the winter I bought local frozen fruits and vegetables that I found at the grocery store.
First I laid out all of the fruits and vegetables on the kitchen counter. I peeled anything that needed to be peeled and diced everything up. It is much more efficient to do one task at a time. Wash it all first, peel everything next, then dice it all up.
Next step is to steam the fruits and veggies. At the beginning I cooked each vegetable separately. Once I started to serve Lola mixed fruits and veggies, I would steam those together. For example, I cooked broccoli, sweet potatoes, and carrots all together and then blended them up together. Presto…mixed vegetables.
Blending the ingredients is next. Like I said, I had a Baby Bullet but it was a gift. It is absolutely not necessary to purchase one. A blender or food processor works great too. Blend each batch of steamed vegetables until smooth. Add a little of the cooking water if you need more liquid. This water has nutrients from the vegetables in it.
The easiest way to store it all was to pour the purees into ice cube trays. Once they were frozen, I would pop the cubes of food out and bag them in labeled sandwich baggies. Then put them back in the freezer. Each night before bed I would pull out what the baby would eat the next day and thaw it in the refrigerator. She ate fruits cold and I would put the bag of vegetables in a pot of simmering water on the stove to warm them. Microwaving can zap the nutrients in the food and also create hot pockets of food that can burn your little ones mouth.
Homemade baby food is really the best way to go. It is easy, cheap, and the healthiest option for your baby. This whole process began a new way of life for my family too. Now I read the label of every food product I buy. If I can’t pronounce an ingredient or don’t know what one is I do not buy it. You would be surprised to know what is in some of the food we eat, especially food marketed to kids.
Baby, Get Real!
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