You know you're looking at something tasty when the baby food on your computer screen looks more delicious than the sad peanut butter and pickle sandwich you had for lunch. Although tasty in it's own right, it doesn't hold a candle to these quick, easy, and delicious homemade baby foods. We'll show you how after the jump.
Though we try to keep most of the food happenings over at The Kitchn, we often get questions regarding homemade baby food. We love design and decor, but we also want what's best for our kids. So here we are.
Gabi over at Honest Fare hits the nail on the head when it comes to simple dishes that are packed with flavor and likewise, nutrition. It was only a matter of time before we saw her creations turn to baby food and Cole Marshall (who you've seen here in all stages of pregnancy) and daughter Tessa (remember her room tour?) were there to lend a hand.
Together they cooked up a months worth of food, in 6 different flavors — in just under 3 hours. There's something quite comforting about knowing when you're feeding your child peas and carrots, that it's not only all they're consuming, but all they're tasting as well.
Doing it all by hand is a great way not only cut your food bill, but promote openness to new foods and tastes. Check out the full play-by-play tutorial over at Honest Fare. Don't worry if you've never done it before, Gabi makes it easy as 1, 2, 3!
(via: Pacing The Panic Room)
(Images: Gabrielle for Honest Fare)
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I made all the infant food for my daughter in much the same way as this site describes, and for all the same reasons. People I've talked to seemed to feel like making your own baby food is some sort of extreme act for people with tons of time on their hands, but that's just not true at all. As described here, one weekend afternoon in the kitchen was enough to prepare a month of meals so healthy and flavorful that I was always happy to finish my daughter's leftovers, if there were any! I tried a few varieties of high end organic jarred baby food, and found them all to be rather gross--certainly not something I'd eat voluntarily.
I also don't understand why more people don't make their own. It's cheaper, tastes better and you know what is going into it! I would make my kids the most amazing meals when they were babies- it was so easy to do. I knew that if I enjoyed the taste of it, they would too. I once fed my son some jarred food when we flew to Ohio...and he wouldn't eat it. I kept on trying, and then I tasted it. GROSS! It tasted all metallic and watered down. I learned my lesson that day.
I made all my own too and I found this book invaluable
Feed Me!: The Fresh Daisy Cookbook for Babies and Toddlers
I highly recommend it to new moms, not only does it have recipes but how and when to introduce various foods and how to introduce food so that it is easy to spot an allergy. My son was allergic to carrots - which seems to be in all pre-made baby food but using the system in the book we pin pointed the problem food almost immediately.
I also made my own babyfood, and like others, could not believe how easy it was. We were able to buy all local and organic foods and still save money over buying the jarred stuff. I was amazed when when we made green beans and they were actually a bright green - not that weird olive color of the jarred foods.
Yeah, I got some funny reactions from others when I mentioned making my own baby food. I guess it seems like it would be a huge amount of work until you actually try it.
Incidentally, our favorite kids' cookbook (all ages, including baby food) is First Meals by Annabel Karmel (she has other good books, too!)
While I still use some jarred food, I have started making my own as well, mainly to offset the cost of jarred food, to reduce trips to the store, and to give my little guy some variety. (I'm convinced his cute yellow nose is due to the ever present carrot and sweet potato that is the base of almost all of the mixed #2 and #3 food out there.) I spend about an hour on Sunday while the baby is napping to steam, bake, puree and chop stuff. Whatever I make is used in various combinations (or added to jarred food) throughout the week along with super easy to prepare grains like quinoa, semolina, oats, etc., and creamy dairy like mascarpone, plain yogurt, melted cheese, etc. When I don't have fresh fruit or veggies or I want to make something out of season, I'll use frozen. When I make a big batch, I freeze half in baby food trays or use my cookie dough scooper and freeze the balls on a sheet. Once frozen, all go into labeled ziplocs for later use (up to 3 months). My favorite baby food book has been "Cooking for Baby" by Lisa Barnes. It has really basic, easy prep recipes you can riff off of and the pictures are beautiful. http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Baby-Wholesome-Homemade-Delicious/dp/1416599185.
I have cooked exclusively from scratch for both our children from the beginning, and have used several books for inspiration.
Our doctor (mother to 3 herself) recommends this book to all her patients:
http://www.amazon.com/Feeding-Your-Baby-Healthiest-Foods/dp/1550051091
There is now research that suggests babies shouldn't be given purées, which rather dovetails with my experience with my son (he hated them, and hates them still as a 3 year old):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6762795.stm
I tried many cookbooks for babies and kids for inspiration -- for example, Anabel Karmel, although well-balanced and healthy, never clicked with my kids, and I really dislike making the "cute" food she advocates, especially if they don't want to eat it after all that work! Feeding Baby by the Splichals is okay, but lots of work, and they don't always take to the food...
The most useful books for making meals kids like are:
http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Naturally-delicious-recipes-kitchen/dp/1904760309/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263979401&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/Apples-Jam-Colorful-Tessa-Kiros/dp/0740769715/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263979466&sr=1-1
(and Falling Cloudberries)
As well as Nigella's How To Eat, which has a short section in the back on feeding children. They love her food period, as we make many of the suggested meals in that book (which is saying a lot, because my son, sadly, is very picky!).
She doesn't mention how to use the frozen portions - would you lets them defrost before warming them and feeding to baby or would you blitz them in the microwave and them wait for them to cool down before feeding baby - either way seems to involve waiting - any thoughts?
Violetsrose, I would take frozen food to daycare and store it in the fridge, where the teachers would heat it in the microwave for a few seconds. If I was feeding my kid at home, I defrosted in the microwave. But, if you are traveling, you can put a container of food in your bag in the morning and it will be at room temp by lunchtime.
I did both and will probably do it again. I had great luck steaming my own sweet potatoes, peas, etc. But it was actually more economical for me to buy organic applesauce than make my own from organic apples. Same for prunes too. And my child did not like my green beans but would happily eat the jarred. I feel that staying flexible has allowed me to travel a lot, as well as stay sane on a day to day basis.
I always try to make healthy meals and just grind up my own baby food in a food mill. The one I love best is by kidco. I own three. One is in the diaper bag and two are in rotation at the house. I have used these for all four of my kids, and I am always surprised when someone (at a restaurant or at a dinner party) has never seen one!
Defrosting actually isn't too time consuming. I usually just microwave one or two cubes in a bowl for 10-20 seconds or until mushy. Be sure to stir it to even out the heat and then test with your finger or take a bite. If it is too hot and you don't want to wait a few mintues, you can transfer it to a larger bowl or a plate and spread it out in a thin layer so there is more surface exposed to cool faster. Or you could add something cool to the defrosted item to even out the temp. Since I usually freeze single ingredients that are pureed or chopped, I almost always add something to it to complete the meal anyway, like applesauce, yogurt, left-over chicken, cooked veggies, cold pasta, marinara sauce, broth, or puree I kept unfrozen. If you plan ahead, you could defrost the next day's food in a container in the fridge before you go to bed. Be sure to put the cubes in a single layer though or it will take longer to defrost them all in the fridge.
My son ate pureed food for about 3 months total. We started him on homemade veggies/fruits at about 5.5 months and by 8 months old he had four teeth, which is enough to chew bites of table food.
For that short amount of time, it was DEFINITELY WORTH IT to just puree whatever we happened to have in the fridge... my son ate fresh beets, delicata squash, purple potato, yellow bell pepper puree... try finding any of those in a jar!
Homemade baby food is so easy and quick. And it actually tastes like food.
mschatelaine, I'm familiar with the baby led weaning method described in the BBC article you posted, but I don't think it's right for everyone. My daughter had breastmilk exclusively until she was 6 months old, at which point we started introducing some solid foods (although she continued to get the majority of her nutrition from nursing). She had plenty of teeth by 6 months (she got teeth early), but she would still gag and wretch and end up crying and coughing when I offered her solid foods (like soft banana or rice, etc.) at that age. I know the baby led weaning people say that some gagging is normal and safe, but I didn't see the point in making all her mealtimes miserable. She loved the (thick, not watery) purees I made for her at 6 months, and moved gradually over the course of a few months to eating more solid foods--she let us know when she was ready. I've talked to some people whose babies did great going straight to solid foods at 6 months, but it wasn't for us.
My son is three and a half months and will start rice cereal in about two weeks (he's already teething, too). I plan to go ahead and start pureeing vegetables now so I'll have them on hand in the next few months.