Baby Food Making Tips and Tricks

ramfan05

As requested on the random thread...a baby food thread I think there have been others, so I'll try to find them and link back to them, too. 

So go ahead and share your tips and tricks, recipes you've used, or ask questions! I'm sure there are a lot of mamas here who have had baby food making success and could be very helpful!

C12H22O11

I never got hardcore with making my own baby food, but DS would love this:

BM (or cow milk/formula) plus a little cream of wheat or baby cereal plus fruit/veg of choice (bananas, pears, plums work really well). Microwave until the fruit is soft and cereal has absorbed liquid. Squash everything together with a fork. Make sure to let cool!

boogerbearoriginal

Mamosey said:

We're not quite there yet, but I have a random question about baby food. On the printout form the 4 mo pedi appointment it says that if we are doing homemade purees not to do carrots or turnips until 6 months.  Has anyone else heard this? 

Nitrates: https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/nitratearticle.htm#.U6sk17HstW8

ETA - I wouldn't get too excited about it and go ahead with the carrots but that's just me. There's certainly no harm in waiting until 6m either.

ramfan05

@blscholl1645: you steam the carrots then blend then add bm/formula and freeze? Do you know how long its good for frozen? Microwave to de thaw? Sorry I kind of just attacked you with puree questions 

So, to answer your question, I peeled and chopped the carrots, boiled them in a little water just long enough to make the tender, and then pureed them in the food processor in the water they cooked in. I never added formula to DS's baby food, and haven't with DD's either. Honestly, she is eating such a tiny amount right now (mostly practicing eating while we are eating dinner - she loves to eat with us!) so basically all of her food is still formula.

You could definitely steam whatever you were making and just add a little bit of water (or bm or formula) to it as you puree it until you get in the consistency you want. For now, I'm pureeing the heck out of it, but as she gets bigger, I'll leave it chunkier until she is just eating small chunks of whatever we are eating.

With DS, I usually would use up whatever I made for him within about a month. According to FoodSafety.gov you can store it for up to a month. Wholesome Baby Food says 1-3 months. The book I'm using, Baby Love, also says up to 3 months in the freezer. Honestly, if I still had food left after a month, I used it. 

For reheating, I would usually try to take cubes out of the freezer in the morning and put them in bowls in the fridge. Then I would heat them in the microwave before serving. If I forgot to take them out, I'd just microwave the frozen cubes until they were warm enough.

HTH!

ramfan05

Booger+Bear said:

Mamosey said:

We're not quite there yet, but I have a random question about baby food. On the printout form the 4 mo pedi appointment it says that if we are doing homemade purees not to do carrots or turnips until 6 months.  Has anyone else heard this? 

Nitrates: https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/nitratearticle.htm#.U6sk17HstW8

ETA - I wouldn't get too excited about it and go ahead with the carrots but that's just me. There's certainly no harm in waiting until 6m either.

I agree with @Booger+Bear. I just made carrots and am planning to use them. The pedi just told us to go ahead with baby food and didn't specify any restrictions. I also remember carrots being one of the first foods we did with DS.

ramfan05

clb2196 said:

We're probably doing BLW, but either way we need a steamer. What does everyone use? We were thinking about getting a rice cooker and some have a steamer built in, but lots have bad reviews. Metal or bamboo one over a pot on the sink? Microwave steam bags?

@clb2196, I sometimes use the steamer in our rice cooker. I also have a big pot for the stove that came with a metal steamer basket, so I use that pretty often, too. 

FTR, I probably won't do actual purees all that long. With DS, we started with purees for a bit, then I started making them chunkier, then he was just eating soft chunks of whatever we were eating for dinner. For now, though, DD is having fun "eating" at the table at night with her big brother  

ETA tag

boogerbearoriginal

@mamosey - fwiw the article was meant to NOT freak you out lol. Carrots are actually a really popular first food because they are a sweeter tasting vegetable.  I think you're good

ramfan05

Mamosey said:

Booger+Bear said:

@mamosey - fwiw the article was meant to NOT freak you out lol. Carrots are actually a really popular first food because they are a sweeter tasting vegetable.  I think you're good

I got that.  I guess my sarcasm didn't come through. Being a FTM I feel like everything is supposed to freak me out. ha but it doesn't.

Good for you for not getting freaked out about everything @Mamosey! You've got this!

boogerbearoriginal

golfergirl08 said:

I am planning on avocado being first as well @bluedot818. I also still need to look at my Baby Bullet cookbook. We are using a Beaba, which steams and then processes the food. I can't wait to use it.

I heard somewhere around here that mild fish is a good introductory food... anyone care to elaborate on that?

Seafood is very nutritious, especially the fats and of course, protein.  Canada has actually come out with revised food introduction guidelines which stress starting with nutrient rich foods like meats ahead of grains. 

ETA - Also fish tends to be very soft as opposed to a hunk of steak so it's easy for baby to eat. My LO1 used to love salmon, he has since gotten weird about eating, well, a lot of things.

hopefuldog

Can we talk about storage? If you freeze them in ice cube trays (literally?), how long do you leave them in the trays? Seems like they should have some sort of lid/seal? I still have 2 months before I plan on introducing good at 6 months old, but am trying to figure out how it will work/what I will need to buy.

ramfan05

@bluedot818, we are just doing once a day for now. I picked dinnertime just because it is easiest for us. I am getting ready to go back to work next week, so it will be a time when we are all together, and she honestly is so happy when she's sitting in her high chair with us at the table. She eats such a tiny amount right now which is another reason I'm glad I'm making her food. I'd be wasting so much if I was opening a whole jar of baby food!

Since I mentioned that we are doing food at dinnertime, I should also add that when introducing new foods, it's best to do it earlier in the day so you can watch for any kind of reaction LO might have. It's much easier to do this during the day than it is once you've put LO to bed for the night Since I'll be back at work, I'll only be introducing new foods on Saturday mornings so I can keep an eye on her over the weekend. If she does well with it, I'll add it to the rotation for the week.

boogerbearoriginal

hopeful0328 said:

Can we talk about storage? If you freeze them in ice cube trays (literally?), how long do you leave them in the trays? Seems like they should have some sort of lid/seal? I still have 2 months before I plan on introducing good at 6 months old, but am trying to figure out how it will work/what I will need to buy.

They sell trays with lids, but what we do is freeze and then pop the cubes out into freezer bags for storage with date/food labeled on the outside.

ramfan05

hopeful0328 said:

Can we talk about storage? If you freeze them in ice cube trays (literally?), how long do you leave them in the trays? Seems like they should have some sort of lid/seal? I still have 2 months before I plan on introducing good at 6 months old, but am trying to figure out how it will work/what I will need to buy.

@hopeful0328, I freeze them in the ice cube tray usually overnight, then pop them out and put them into labeled freezer ziploc bags the next day  

ramfan05

golfergirl08 said:

I am planning on avocado being first as well @bluedot818. I also still need to look at my Baby Bullet cookbook. We are using a Beaba, which steams and then processes the food. I can't wait to use it.

I heard somewhere around here that mild fish is a good introductory food... anyone care to elaborate on that?

I will definitely be doing fish and soft meats in a few months when she can handle chunkier food!

ramfan05

As @dreamingbabies said, it's very important to remember to date your food in the freezer when you label it so you know how long you can use it!

ramfan05

@RosiePeare, we will do butternut squash for sure. You could probably do zucchini, too.

The cookbook I have also has recipes for cauliflower, and mixtures of different greens like spinach, broccoli, and asparagus. Those say to use them with older babies though because the recipe calls for milk instead of water. I never actually tried those recipes with DS because by then he was just eating soft chunks of veggies. 

ETA: www.wholesomebabyfood.com also mentions doing green beans and acorn squash  

ramfan05

@blscholl1645, the cook book I have actually has recipes for fish that tell you to puree it after cooking! I won't though. By that point, I will just be giving DD small, soft chunks of fish or other soft meat, along with fruits or veggies.

MamaHollywood27

Just an FYI I started all my LOs in avacodo, apples and asparagus... The avacodo CAN cause fairly hard stool, I usually mixed in a lil prune as well. It's really up to you and your baby may not react like my 5 did (my neice and the baby I used to sit for got hard also) but its is such a nutritious food to start with and they still love it to this day

MamaHollywood27

TyrannosaurusLex said:

I did not know that @MamaHollywood27‌, thanks!

Does anyone have any experience with introducing meat as a first food? I'd like to follow the health canada guidelines which suggest iron rich meat and meat alternatives as baby's first foods, but all I can think of is ground beef.
Fish isn't very iron rich, is it?

My personal experience is the babies didnt like just purée meat alone- I mixed in a lil apple or carrot - but did much better once they could pick it up them selfs and eat...

Eta: meat ground up is very grainy for some reason.

ramfan05

@TyrannosaurusLex‌ I agree with @MamaHollywood27‌ that the texture of pureed meat is a little weird. that said, DS loved pureed chicken, but we didn't introduce it until later so not sure as a first food. I'd definitely ask the pedi for advice on that one.

ramfan05

@TyrannosaurusLex‌ I think slow cooked meat would be good. DS still prefers slow cooked meat and he is almost 4! It's so much easier to chew!

inluv4life2

Psa for homemade baby food-
If you use formula to thin the purée, make sure to follow the formula feeding guidelines. For example,
You can't make a huge batch of sweet potatoes w formula and freeze for later since formula has to be used in a short time frame (I forgot the actual rule).

I made probably 60 cubes of food for dd w formula and had to toss it all out. Talk about ugly cry! Use water instead if you don't have BM.

inluv4life2

TyrannosaurusLex said:

Do lentils have lots of iron? Veggie people, are you out there? Lol

Yes.

NadWil

**SPAM**

breadpudding

NadWil said:

Hello moms,

For my university class I am doing a survey on baby food and what you are looking for when buying food. It would be a huge help if some of you could spare 5 minutes to complete our short survey! Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Here is the link: https://eSurv.org?s=LILMOF_dd651ff5

Thank you so much!!

Nadine

SPAM? @ObiMomKenobi‌