Jayden will be 6 months old in less than two weeks (eeeeek!).....
So, to those of you who have done it, HELP!!
Please give me all the advice you have.
Is a special baby food machine that steams and purees worth buying?
Or should I stick with a regular steamer and our food processor?
If I use the food processor, is a food mill necessary?
Is it okay to make everything in big batches and freeze? Or do some things not freeze well? How long can purees stay in the freezer?
How do you heat up your frozen purees?
Any other advice that you have? Random things you learned from doing it yourself?
Thank you so much in advance for your help!!!
I think when it comes to making baby food, less is really more. Sure you can go to a shop and buy the fancy things for making food but you don't really have to.
ReplyDeleteYou can use a fork and mash up a ripe banana, mix in your baby's milk if needed. Roast cubed sweet potatoes in the oven with a bit of olive oil and then mash together, use a food processor if you already have one. Overall just have fun with it.It is really not that long of a time when you have to make 'baby food' so have fun with it. Make a smoothie in the blender and share it with your baby.
We used ice cube trays to freeze food and then put them in a Ziploc. I'd pull out a puck or two (or three!) and let them defrost. Sometimes I'd put them in a little container to take out with me and by the time we needed them, they were room temp and ready to go.
I use just a steamer and food processor (a pot with water instead of the steamer for fruit). I don't use anything else. When food processing, it's sometimes necessary to add a little formula or water to thin it down.
ReplyDeleteI batch freeze, though as she gets older, she eats a lot more and I need to freeze less (or at least go through it more quickly.
To reheat, I pop two ice cubes of food in the microwave for 20 seconds and then stir it up. It works well for us.
I have no advice on this subject as my Bradley is only 4 months old, but, I just have to say how CUTE your little man is!! 6 months already? I can't believe it. He is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI use a steamer and a food processor. E didn't like things to have a lot of texture to them in the beginning. So I couldn't just mash up a banana. I had to blend it (at first we had a blender, but now we have a mini food processor). I usually cook 1 time a week and make lots! I freeze everything in ice cube trays and them put them in zip lock bags to avoid freezer burn. Most things will freeze just fine. Some things will freeze fine, but be just a slightly different texture when thawed. Some things I don't bother freezing (bananas, blueberries, mangos) because they are so easy to make. Although you can freeze them (think fruit popcicle bars). I bought this fantastic book that is really great: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cooking-for-baby-cookbook/.
ReplyDeleteIt tells you everything you need to know. I also love this website: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/. Have fun!
E loves home made, and even refuses to eat certain brands of jars of baby food. Earth's best is the only jars that he likes. It's conveinent to have a few around for those days when you need food NOW or when you are going out. Or taking him to a sitter. Or vacation.
Two words. Baby Bullet
ReplyDeleteI make all of Addisons food and I actually did a post on it when I first started making her food. Here is a link to it
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stoneyville.net/2010/09/baby-food-making.html
I don't think the baby food maker is worth it. Buy a food processor and a steamer basket. I don't have a food mill and mine turned out great. Bananas are a big NO for freezing once mashed but everything else freezes great. We used icecubes but as they get bigger I just used some of those gerber contaniners and they worked great too. I would make big batches and then take out like 2 days worth of food and keep it in the fridge, it will thaw overnight and then just set it on the counter to warm or put it in a hot bath of water. I'm not gonna lie I also nuke it in the micro for 8 to 10 seconds and then mix it really well to make sure it is not hot anywhere. We also would transfer from trays to ziploc bags with the name on the front since stuff looks similar when pureed. I add formula or water to get the right consistancy and then if it is to runny (as they get older) I would mix in some oatmeal to make it thicker right before eating. At first it can be a little annoying since they have to try each thing individually to watch for allergies but once you can mix food together it get so much easier! You can just steam a bunch of stuff and mix flavors and add seasoning. Also look at the food combos they have at the stores to get ideas for when you can mix the flavors. Oh and bananas can freeze if mixed with other things just not by themselves.
thanks for posting these questions. i am going to try to make my baby's food when he is old enough.
ReplyDeletei love jayden's baby legs. so cute.
Nothing to say but WHERE DID YOU GET THAT ONESIE!?!
ReplyDeleteI want it!
I have eventually made it to my computer!
ReplyDeleteMy little boy refused to eat anything that was pre-prepared, so I cooked everything at home.
I had no fancy tools, just a trusty hand blender (which I found so much better than a big food processors, as you can can blend small portions), a sieve (which sometimes got used instead of a blender) and then my ordinary cooking utensils.
Babies have a preference for sweet tastes, so it is easier to start weaning on sweet soft fruits. I used anything that was on offer. Sometimes I had to cook some fruits as they were harder, but be careful not to get anything that is too tart. I gradually introduced sweet veg, like sweet potatoes, carrots, peas and parsnips.
Their preferences do change quite quickly, so I then mixed other veg with ones that had been used before. I didn't introduce a lot of flavours at the same time, so I could see if there was anything that wasn't liked or caused messy nappies etc
Another tip is to mix a little of Jayden's milk into the food as this is a taste that he will recognise.
In terms of freezing, I did cook big batches and frezze in a normal (sterilised) ice cube tray. Once frozen I used little bags to store the cubes in. I didn't make the batches too big as I found that some things didn't like to be frozen more than a couple of months, especially blended meals. Also, it meant that I could try a new taste as stock was running low. I used the last of the known taste with the start of the new one, if that makes sense!
Very soon, I was using the food that I cooked for us. I never add sugar or salt to our food anyway. Oh, but I found that my son loved herbs and quite strong flavours. His favourite meal now is a chicken curry! He must get that from his Daddy because I can't eat anything spicy, but it is worth a try.
My tip would be to just experiment. I loved cooking and trying new things with my son!
Good luck xx
I bought the onesie from PETA a couple years ago while we were waiting. :)
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