making your own baby food?

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I am personally still 3 months away from this, but someone gave me an Amazon gift card and I think I'll use it to buy some books. I have pretty much evey single "baby's first year" that's out there, so I'm thinking of a baby food related book.

I've read Super Baby Food and it is really...a lot....

Someone gave me Cooking for Your Baby, which is pretty good but just plain purees.

What resources/books are y'all using? Or are you just going to puree some food?

(Why do I want to buy a book for everything??????) 

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And here is a tip I found  on a blog I read.  She listed her biggest regrets of how she did things w/ her son....  Good to know.

I regret letting him eat processed junk food. My thinking on that was that moderation is fine and he eats very healthy so it will be fine. WRONG. He took one bite of a cheesy puff and is hooked. Now he only wants to eat junk food and not his meals. 

Raquellyo

I don't have time to read! 

But I'm interested in seeing the comments on this -- I wasn't originally planning on making my own baby food, but lately I think my mind is changing.

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Raquellyo:

I don't have time to read! 

But I'm interested in seeing the comments on this -- I wasn't originally planning on making my own baby food, but lately I think my mind is changing.

I'm going to buy some Earth's Best organic food to keep in the house for sure.  I always have grand plans of doing things like this then only have time to do them halfway! 

A friend just sent me the cookbook above, some little ice cube trays and other supplies, so I'll give it a shot.

alliejoe

I haven't read it myself, but several people have recommended Tyler Florence's cookbook. 

link

smilingjb

Too funny I was starting to research this today.  I was looking at the baby breeza that steams and purees, but it is spendy. 

I just got 2 cases of Earth's Best food for $7 from amazon to have on hand and took advantage of the sale.

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Think I'm going to get that Tyler Florence book!

I'm going to steam on my stove and puree w/ my Cuisinart. SMALL kitchen, no room for more gear, but the Breez and that other thing from Williams-Sonoma look cool.

jazzyag

I really like: food adventures: introducing your child to flavors from around the world by Elisabeth Luard and Frances Boswell.

This isn't really a first foods only cookbook, but it does have some puree recipes in the beginning.  It also has a bunch of snippets about how babies are introduced to foods all over the globe.  All the recipes are kid friendly.

I probably won't do too many purees, as I'm planning to do baby let solids (aka baby led weaning) for the most part.

theaustins05

My friend (who I admire beyond belief) has a 14 month old baby girl she EBFs and we recently talked about her eating habits: As far as foods go, we first started giving her tastes of real food when she was about ?5 months old. She didn't start eating real food "meals" until she was around 7 months old. So basically I nursed her the same amount of times (6-8) a day until she was 7 months old and I didn't replace any of her feedings with real foods. Any real food that she got was more of a snack. At 8 months she got 1-2 real food meals a day and I nursed her around 5-6 times a day. At 9 months she got at least 2 real food meals and 4-5 nursings. At 10 months she ate 3 meals a day with us and I nursed her 3-4 times a day. Now that she is one, She eats 3 meals a day with us and 1 or 2 snacks plus 2-3 nursings and at least one sippy cup of milk. When she was 5-8 months old the foods that she ate were mostly pureed or mashed fruits and veggies. I didn't buy any packaged baby food for her. I didn't buy baby cereal for her either. I know alot of doctors reccommend giving baby cereal around 4-6 months but it not very nutritionally dense and really pretty gross. If I wouldn't want to eat it, why would I want to feed it to my baby lol. Since you are breastfeeding, Madison will still be getting almost all of her calories and nutrients from you anyways. Most fruits are easier for babys little tummys to digest as well. ? Some of Julia's favorite mushy and smooth foods for 5-8 months: -banana, mash with a fork -applesauce, make your own or buy pre made -avacado, mash with a fork -sweet potatoes (mixed with broccoli or green beans), steam the veggies and put in a blender or food processer adding water or cooking liquid to desired consistency -peas, steam and mash -pears and mango, steam and mash -soup and beef stew, make it for you and then put some in the blender for madison! Julia absolutely loved pureed beef stew! -oatmeal, put regular oats in a blender or food processer and blend until its all in itty bitty pieces. To cook, boil 1 cup of water and add 1/4 cup of itty bitty oats and cook for 7 minutes just how you would cook regular oatmeal. I never gave her oatmeal plain, I always did half oatmeal, half pureed fruit. - I also recommend this book https://www.amazon.com/Organically-Raised-Conscious-Cooking-Toddlers/dp/B004NSVEC8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312475090&sr=1-1 I have it and I absolutely love it! Tons of recipes and good ideas and advise!

tokenhoser

I'm just using https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/

I'd buy something for me to read rather than a book that says "throw it in the blender".  Or even a cookbook for me rather than Owen. He won't care, but DH and I like food.

Lisa Frank

Wholesomebabyfood.com

And don't buy the Beaba, either. Do you have a Magic Bullet? I use that to puree it and it works beautifully. 

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Lisa Frank:

Wholesomebabyfood.com

And don't buy the Beaba, either. Do you have a Magic Bullet? I use that to puree it and it works beautifully. 

I do! And I'll use those websites y'all listed rather than buy another book.  Amazon credits just burn a hole in my pocket, though.

riverbed

A friend gave me Organically Raised, and I like it. It's simple to start with and I plan to read some more books when we get a little closer to solids- probably in a couple of months.

theaustins05

L&K508:

A friend gave me Organically Raised, and I like it. It's simple to start with and I plan to read some more books when we get a little closer to solids- probably in a couple of months.

That's the book my friend recommended to me

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theaustins05:

L&K508:

A friend gave me Organically Raised, and I like it. It's simple to start with and I plan to read some more books when we get a little closer to solids- probably in a couple of months.

That's the book my friend recommended to me

Haven't read it, but we're definitely doing organics for LO.  I don't necessarily do organics for DH and I.

Related to that stomach infection I had....my doctor said it's rare but he is seeing it a ton more in the past couple of years.  He's convinced the rise is related to all the added hormones and other stuff in our food.  And he's definitely not an organic/granola type of doctor, which is why I found it interesting he noted that observation.

Plus, did y'all read (I read this years ago) that hormones added to meat and dairy are likely what make little girls nowdays develop a lot faster (breasts, womanly body fat, start periods earlier, etc) than when we were kids?

JUSTBEYOURSELF

tyler florence book all my friends are using and love.

I will find the link my friend has of recipes she has made. 

stargzr77

Lisa Frank:

Wholesomebabyfood.com

And don't buy the Beaba, either. Do you have a Magic Bullet? I use that to puree it and it works beautifully. 

 I also used www.wholesomebabyfood.com  for my dd and also www.weelicious.com for older baby/toddler foods. I have a beaba only because it was a gift from my mom when I had my dd.  A food processor works just fine for bigger batches. It really is easy and we made all organic fruits/veggies for my dd. I liked knowing exactly what was in her first foods. We will do the same for ds.

588loves551

pook:

Plus, did y'all read (I read this years ago) that hormones added to meat and dairy are likely what make little girls nowdays develop a lot faster (breasts, womanly body fat, start periods earlier, etc) than when we were kids?

Yes- isn't that crazy? 

I snagged a bunch of info/recipes off of Wholesomebabyfood.com and will talk to the pedi about it when we go for our 4 month appt.  I don't do organic for DH and I either, but would love to for LO.  And, like you, I always have good intentions to do these grand projects but then end up doing it half-a$$ed because I'm on to the next big thing! LOL

I do have a magic bullet but someone posted the other day that the Kalorik (steams, purees, etc) machine was on clearance at TJ Maxx ($29 from $99), so I bought one the other day. 

AnneShirleyBlythe

I didn't like the book Super Baby Food AT ALL. I bought it, read it, never really used it at all. Websites like Weelicious, Smitten Kitchen Baby, and Wholesomebabyfood were all far more useful. 

kristennd

I received the Tyler Florence book as a gift. Hadn't heard of it before that. I like how the multi-ingredient purees can also be incorporated into adult meals. Some of the combinations sound delicious. 

AnneShirleyBlythe

Oh and I just have to say this as someone who has a toddler. 

Jarred baby food smells and tastes disgusting. After you start making your own, you can/will realize that. We tried every brand. The only one even remotely edible IMO was the Sprout brand (Tyler Florence's brand) that was just coming out as Jack was getting out of purees. I would recommend using jarred/packet green beans though, those are tough as purees. Getting it smooth is really hard. Pureeing the crap out of it and then trying to skim out the skins leaves you with very little food.  

Lisa102304

I made food for R, and will for A also. Bananas and avocados were easy (rolled them in crushed cheerios tohelp her grab them). I steamed fresh veggies in steamerbags or only steamer, then used a plain food processor to pur?e. Added frozen BM to add liquid. It is really simple! This time, I am going to do some BLW, but not totally.

Lisa Frank

Weelicious. "Like" her on Facebook. Amazing ideas!

And Lisa, I love that Cherrio idea!

eawebster

So, I'm totally bookmarking this thread with all of your suggestions. And I may be completely missing the boa by a mile, but why would that lady pur?e cheesy puffs and give them to an infant? This has me baffled...

AnneShirleyBlythe

Lisa Frank:

Weelicious. "Like" her on Facebook. Amazing ideas!

And Lisa, I love that Cherrio idea!

 

Ditto, I am stealing the cheerio idea for sure!  

Lisa102304

Yay, glad I could help! It was messy, but helped her a lot! I used it with sweet potato chunks also.

AnneShirleyBlythe

eawebster:

So, I'm totally bookmarking this thread with all of your suggestions. And I may be completely missing the boa by a mile, but why would that lady pur?e cheesy puffs and give them to an infant? This has me baffled...

She didn't. The kid took a bite of a cheese puff. They are really easy for babies to eat because they break down easily.  

riverbed

pook:

theaustins05:

L&K508:

A friend gave me Organically Raised, and I like it. It's simple to start with and I plan to read some more books when we get a little closer to solids- probably in a couple of months.

That's the book my friend recommended to me

Haven't read it, but we're definitely doing organics for LO.  I don't necessarily do organics for DH and I.

Related to that stomach infection I had....my doctor said it's rare but he is seeing it a ton more in the past couple of years.  He's convinced the rise is related to all the added hormones and other stuff in our food.  And he's definitely not an organic/granola type of doctor, which is why I found it interesting he noted that observation.

Plus, did y'all read (I read this years ago) that hormones added to meat and dairy are likely what make little girls nowdays develop a lot faster (breasts, womanly body fat, start periods earlier, etc) than when we were kids?

I have heard that, and I have also heard a dr say that about conditions such as what you were diagnosed with- they thought my sis may have had it as well. I just can't imagine that all the added things can be good for us. DH and I also aren't all organic, but we are getting better. I am hoping my strong desire to give LO what I think is best will push us to finally change to truly eating better ourselves- all the time not just some of the time.

tokenhoser

Lisa Frank:

Weelicious. "Like" her on Facebook. Amazing ideas!

Great. Now I need to make Mac N Cheese in my ricecooker.

Thanks!

kacelle

pook:

theaustins05:

L&K508:

A friend gave me Organically Raised, and I like it. It's simple to start with and I plan to read some more books when we get a little closer to solids- probably in a couple of months.

That's the book my friend recommended to me

Haven't read it, but we're definitely doing organics for LO.  I don't necessarily do organics for DH and I.

Related to that stomach infection I had....my doctor said it's rare but he is seeing it a ton more in the past couple of years.  He's convinced the rise is related to all the added hormones and other stuff in our food.  And he's definitely not an organic/granola type of doctor, which is why I found it interesting he noted that observation.

Plus, did y'all read (I read this years ago) that hormones added to meat and dairy are likely what make little girls nowdays develop a lot faster (breasts, womanly body fat, start periods earlier, etc) than when we were kids?

DH and I have started trying to eat organic "real food" (100daysofrealfood.com) lately.  We are both used to eating really unhealthily; mandatory college meal plans don't really help us out much.  Our goal is to have totally made over our eating habits by the time DD starts solids so that we're setting a positive example for her.  

I remember hearing the facts about hormone additives causing early puberty in girls on a field trip to a dairy farm years ago.  We've discussed this in child development classes since then, and it's scary!  I definitely want to avoid super-processed foods and buy organic for DD's sake.  We plan to try BLW, but I'll probably use my new Cuisinart immersion blender to do some purees as well.  

EJensify

No books here, just a list of annoyingly easy baby food recipes that were passed to me when DD was born.

We eat only organic local grown produce and Ari will be no different. All of our baby food recipes (including grain cereals) are on my blog  

 

https://jensensplusone.blogspot.com/p/baby-food-recipe.html

iris427

My daughter never ate store-bought baby food.  We didn't use any books and we didn't do purees.  We just gave her whatever was around.  We started by mashing up soft foods like avocado or banana or letting her nom on fruit in a mesh feeder.  From there we moved on to mashing up pieces of what we were eating for dinner and feeding them to her.  So we didn't really make different things specially for her; we wanted to integrate her into what the rest of the family was eating.

ToBeMrsC6907

I just made batches of stuff on the weekend, and extra of whatever veggies and fruits we ate.  I never froze any, just kept it refrigerated.  I would just steam and puree in the food pro (used a little BM to thin out as needed), and as DS got older and could handle more texture I would just mash by hand.

je2161

Maybe it's just me, but making baby food sounds like such a fun activity to me. I will wait until about 6 months to start, but I am sooo looking forward to hitting up my farmer's market for healthy fruits & veggies and preparing them for her!

EJensify

je2161:

Maybe it's just me, but making baby food sounds like such a fun activity to me. I will wait until about 6 months to start, but I am sooo looking forward to hitting up my farmer's market for healthy fruits & veggies and preparing them for her!

It is fun, and if you're into organization and freezing like I am...it's funtastic.