Making your own baby food generally only takes about an hour a week, depending on how much you make. It is very cheap to make your own baby food as one piece of fruit or vegetable goes a long way. You can also get a wider variety by experimenting with mixing different fruits or vegetables together. Making food for your baby allows you the peace of mind of knowing everything that goes in to your baby's food.
Test for food allergies the same way with any homemade baby food as you would store bought foods. Do not feed your baby more than one new food at a time and wait 3-4 days before feeding him another new food.
Make sure everything you use preparing baby's food is completely clean, from the utensils to the pots and pans. Use a blender or food processor to puree baby foods. Cool food properly before storing. Store baby foods properly. When feeding baby, do not store uneaten food from which you have been feeding baby from. Most homemade baby foods can be stored for one month in the freezer. Never refrigerate homemade baby foods for longer than 24 hours. Freeze baby food in ice trays covered with wax paper. Baby food can then be easily removed and packaged individually in freezer bags.
All fruits and vegetables listed are stage 1, 4-6 months, but can be used past stage 1. Breastmilk, formula, or water can be added to thin the consistency of any of the prepared foods, adding oatmeal or cereal makes them thicker.
Avocados
Avocados make a great starter food for baby because they do not need to be cooked prior to preparation. They can also be easily mashed with a spoon or fork, eliminating the need of the blender or food processor.
Apples
Apples can be baked or boiled. Save juices when boiled to add while being pureed to achieve desired consistency. Peel, core, and cut up apples prior to preparing.
Bananas
Bananas do not need to be cooked prior to preparation. Bananas are soft enough to be mashed with a fork or spoon, eliminating the need of the blender or food processor.
Pears
Peel and remove seeds prior to preparing. You can either puree or mash pears. If you need to soften pears, the easiest way is to steam them.
Prunes aka Dried Plums
Prepare plums by boiling or baking cleaned fruit, then remove the skin and puree. You can prepare dried prunes by first soaking them in water until soft, then puree.
Green Beans, Carrots, and Peas
Steam or boil green beans, carrots, and peas and puree to desired consistency, adding water left over from boiling or steaming. If you use fresh peas make sure you remove the peas from the pod.
Sweet Potatoes and Squash
Sweet Potatoes and squash are easiest served if they are baked first. After baking, remove the meat from the skin and mash to desired consistency, adding breastmilk, formula, or water as needed.
Experiment by mixing different fruits and vegetables, again after you've tried each one individually for food allergies. Browse the baby food aisle at the grocery store to get ideas.
Ileona Lay - I grew up in Great Falls, Montana and lived there for 24 years. I recently relocated from the beautiful Emerald Coast to the suburbs of ...
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