Like all new Mommies, I had a lot of ideas of things I wanted to do once my son was born. And I quickly learned that I needed to amend my ideas to suit my son and our new lifestyle. However, making my son’s baby food is one of those items on the list that stayed. I had several reasons for choosing to do this: I wanted to know what was in his food, I wanted to use organics as much as possible, and I wanted to save money! I’ve also found it to be fun. I’ve recently had some requests on how I make Chi’s food and what he’s eating, so the rest of the post will have all that!
The beauty of making your own baby food is that you can buy fruits and vegetables in bulk and make enough food to last several weeks. For example, I just purchased the following gala apples, peaches, pears, sweet potatoes and cantaloupe ($15). This dollar amount will get you about 20-30 jars of baby food (depending on where you buy them and what brands). For $15, I now have approximately 70 “jars” of baby food.
What I Use:
I purchased the First Years Baby Pro food processor (with steamer and puree attachments). This is great for any food that doesn’t have a tough skin.
(I just used it so please ignore the splatters)
For food with skins (like peas and green beans), I use the baby food/puree option on my Oster blender.
I also purchased 6 ice cube trays (I found mine in the dollar bin at Target) and Press and Seal wrap. The ice cubes are approximately 1 ounce.
Fruit cubes on top, Veggie cubes on bottom
The Process: I prefer steaming all of Malachi’s fruits and veggies because the good nutrients are maintained versus cooking on the stove. If I can’t steam something, I’ll use the microwave (for potatoes, sweet potatoes, acorn squash and butternut squash). Once the puree is poured into the ice cube trays and frozen, remove cubes and place into FREEZER bags with the date and the type of food.
For most fruits with thin skins (apples, etc.): peel, chop into small cubes, steam until soft, puree until smooth, pour into ice cube trays and freeze
For fruits with thick skins (bananas and avocados): remove peel or skin, (pit the avocado), mash with a fork, puree, pour into ice cube trays and freeze
For squash or potatoes: wrap loosely with cling wrap, microwave 6-8 minutes until soft, remove flesh, puree, pour into ice cube trays and freeze
For most other vegetables: chop into small pieces, steam 8-12 minutes (until soft), puree, pour into ice cube trays and freeze.
***Note: I added a bit of formula or breast milk to the purees to thin them out when Malachi was younger until the puree was at the consistency I desired.
Foods I Introduced to Malachi:
***Generally, it is important to introduce a single new food for four consecutive days. This will allow you to note if there are any allergic or adverse reactions.
Five Months: Bananas
Six Months: Bananas, Avocados, Sweet Potatoes, Apples
Seven Months: Bananas, Avocados, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Pears, Green Beans, Peas, Butternut Squash, Acorn Squash
Eight Months: Bananas, Avocados, Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Pears, Green Beans, Peas, Butternut Squash, Acorn Squash, Broccoli, Blueberries, Watermelon, Russet Potatoes, Zucchini, Carrots
Nine Months: (I’ll be adding Cantaloupe, Cauliflower, Spinach, and Chicken this month).
Chi is also eating the following snacks: Gerber Puffs, elbow pasta, cut up grapes and bananas
***A great resource for a daily feeding schedule can be found at www.wholesomebabyfood.com. I use this as a general guideline, but feed Malachi more or less as he demands. As it stands now, Malachi gets three solid food meals a day plus an extra fruit and snacks.
***A great recipe book for baby and toddler food is The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet by Karen Knight. This book provides month-by-month recipes, new food introductions by month, tips and allergy information.
