Making baby food ?

financialdiva · May 2013

I am thinking about making DS2's baby food when he starts solids and was wondering if I should buy something special to make the baby food with? I was looking at the Beaba Baby food maker b/c it sounds like it would make things more simple, but is it worth the price? Also, it didn't get great reviews on Amazon. How did you make your baby food? What did you use to make it? Any tips and tricks you want to share?

meganandchase · May 2013

I made food for DS. We had a little food processor and just used it. It was mostly one ingredient things like carrots or sweet potatoes. After about a month of it, I started buying food for him at the store. It was not worth it to me. I have never made baby food for DD. I know a lot of people like making baby food, and I hope you do to.

financialdiva · May 2013

Thanks megan! I am really wondering if I should just get a food processor instead.

My thought process was just pureeing the veggie we are eating for dinner that day and other foods here and there. I would definitely not be opossed to buying some of his food either, just thought I could try making some of it as well.

ccam · May 2013

I love making food for DS! I would just take a few hours out on a Sunday and make a whole mess of it and freeze it. I received the Baby Bullet as a gift. I actually really like it because it's small and compact and all of the pieces can just be thrown in the dishwasher, which is nice. I also liked the storage trays and containers that it comes with. But by no means do you need a specific baby food maker. A food processor would work just fine. But it's also not terribly expensive.

I also bought a bunch of ice cube trays with covers to freeze the food. I pop the cubes out and put them into freezer bags. It's so easy and then you can start to mix things and come up with different combinations and add spices. I also suggest roasting a lot of the food, it brings out a lot of the natural flavors. I roasted butternut squash, acorn squash, sweet potato, carrots, even peaches!

jefk · May 2013

I'd just get the food processor. I use mine all the time, and when the time comes to make baby food, I already have it. I love to cook, and I plan on making as much of the baby's food as I can.

snicksnack · May 2013

I was given a beba with dd and used it all the time. The only issue I have is having to descale it is a pain and the plastic is now starting to crack but it is almost four years old. I am using it with ds but I only use the food process part so a food processor will work great if you are going to buy something. I just steam everything on stove or microwave and throw it in the processer. Also by nine months he was mostly eating whole food. Right now the only thing I really pure are green beans, due the texture he does not do as well biting them and avocado and banana because it works well as a spread. I also make humus.

FemShep · May 2013

Depending on the recipe, we used a food mill or hand blender. They worked great, and it seemed silly to buy special equipment for such a short amount of time when the stuff we already had was just fine.

shannm · May 2013

I made all my DSs food. I had the babycook. It was a gift. I did use it but it was not necessary. And I preferred to make things in large quantities that the babycook wouldn't do. I found my multipot with dual steamer inserts and my immersion blender were the best tools.

This last time around, we went with mostly jarred food and only used the beaba once.

I am selling all of my baby stuff and if you are interested in my beaba, send me a PM.

Pips09 · May 2013

I bought steamer baskets and got a bullet blender (not a baby version, just a regular one). I could have easily used a regular blender as well. I don't think you need a special baby food maker. I made her food for the first few months, and I'm really glad that I did, but we did eventually switch to store bought, when she was eating more than I felt like I had time to make.

Virgo17 · May 2013

I'm sure you could use something you have on hand, a food processor or blender would work just fine.

I started out with high hopes of homemade baby food, but the convenience of store-bought has made it easier to go that route.

DaisyJanie · May 2013

We have a large food processor, and this immersion blender, which has a small food processor attachement: https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CSB-77-Blender-Chopper-Attachments/dp/B0006G3JRO?ie=UTF8&tag=libraryextension-20&camp=211189&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B0006G3JRO

I used those two for making most of his food. I thought the specialty baby food makers looked pretty cool, but since I already had these and use them for other cooking, it made sense to just stick with them. We also have a vegetable steamer, so sometimes I'd steam a big batch of carrots or whatever, and then blend them up.

thedash · May 2013

My MIL had given us a magic bullet that we only used once or twice before DS was born. It ended up being perfect for baby food. A good size and I could throw all the parts in the dishwasher. I agree with PP's suggestion to roast things rather than steam for better flavor. And I also froze them in ice cube trays then dumped the cubes into labeled gallon size freezer bags.

A friend gave me the Tyler Florence cookbook Start Fresh and I loved it!

sadie+w · May 2013

I just used my regular blender. I bought a couple of the silicone baby food trays with lids, but you could also use ice cube trays.

I wasn't going to do homemade food, but a friend convinced me to give it a try and I'm glad I did because it is so easy! In addition to pured, DS also loves feeding himself from the mesh feeder. So for example, when I make a batch of sweet potatoes, I will leave some unpureed, and cube them instead. GL!

groovygrl · May 2013

I'm probably the odd man out but I liked the baby beaba...I liked that I could steam & blend in the same thing and only had to wash that little thing out. However, it does not make really large quantities so you do have to use something bigger for that.Is it worth the price? eh, probably not. I found it ample size for making foood for 2 babies though and I made 100% of their purees and all their first chunkier foods, etc up to age 1. I think I only used a larger steamer/processor a few times when I was doing carrots. Weelicious is a great site for both purees and for baby led weaning and more advanced type foods when they're able. You can definitely use other regular household appliances for the same purpose, just bigger & more to clean.

What I probably loved more than the baby beaba appliance was their silicon trays w/ lids for freezing. I know a lot of ppl use ice cube trays but I loved that the beaba trays were the size of a jar of food and since I was cooking for 2 babies, it was nice to have more in one 'cube'. Also as they got older & I introduced chunkier things, I could also freeze a serving of it in those trays since they're bigger and just take out to defrost in a bowl in the fridge in the morning & it was ready to go when I got home (or to take to daycare). In fact, I still use them to freeze things like leftover chicken broth or tomato paste or whatever where I would like to freeze something in a bigger quantity than an ice cube size and then pop into a bag in the freezer for future use.

Mustardseed2007 · May 2013

I loved making my DSs baby food.

the processor choice is something I actually had issues with:

First, we just had a magic bullet that I had never really used so I started using that. But this silicone ring that is a part of the blender came off while I was making the food and shredded into some pears I was making. Prior to that it had worked very well but obviously you can't have parts breaking off.

I thought this happened b/c the bullet was very old, so I bought the baby bullet. I still think that is the cutest baby food maker out there, but the same thing happened - the silicone ring came off and was shredded into the food.

So then I got the kidco food mill. I wish it was a little bigger htan it is, but I had good results with that until he started on reall food.

cedenton · May 2013

I don't make much of DS' food. The first time I tried w/ butternut squash he was still on stage 1 and I used my stick blender with the container attachment and I guess it wasn't smooth enough for him and he wouldn't eat it. I mixed it with water.

Yesterday I tried again with a sweet potato because he's got hand foot mouth and is refusing most bottles. I wanted to mix formula with the sweet potatoes. He ate it no problem (especially once I mixed some fruit in, too).

Bottom line: My stick blender works fine now, but not so much in the early days because it didn't get smooth enough. Either that or he prefers it mixed with formula rather than just water, though he'll eat the store bought stuff just fine.

bearthebear · May 2013

I would NOT recommend the Beaba. Mine broke with less than three months of use. I found it extremely frustrating to use. It's not worth it!!!

I now am using my MIL's food processor, and it's a zillion times easier.

KathrynMD · May 2013

I only did baby food for a month or so - but I used my blender and food processor. You can probably use a mini chopper/food processor.

Look into Baby Led Weaning too - super easy and not as messy!

gingerfamily · May 2013

I've been doing it for about 4 months. I just use a food processor I already had. It's super easy and take about an hour a week and I'm done for 3 weeks. I use the frozen veggies more than fresh b/c it's easier and cheaper. I can steam them right in their bags in the microwave. 3 weeks of baby food veggies cost me $9.00. I can't even buy 1 weeks worth of baby food veggies for that price.

christinak22 · May 2013

Do it! I didn't with DD, but then did with DS and I'm still annoyed with myself that I wasted all that money on baby food for her. I have a really good, huge food processor. I would just steam a whole bag of carrots or pound of green beans, two sweet potatoes, or whatever, then put them in the food processor and add water or breastmilk if they needed to be thinned (most things do). The trick is to leave it running for a few minutes to make it really creamy. Then when LO is ready for texture, just blend it less. I even made meat and mixed things this way--so easy!

I put it in regular ice cube trays, cover it with saran wrap, then put it in labeled ziplocs when it was frozen. The night before, I would just put cubes in little bowls with lids in the fridge and they'd be ready for dinner. I think I started with two cubes when he started, but he soon was eating four cubes with some cereal when he got the hang of it.

If you have a blender or processor, at least try it. It saves so much money and it's not difficult if you have the right tool.

melody921 · May 2013

Not worth it, IMO. I steam and use a hand blender to puree. A food processor would work just as well. I think the machines meant only to make baby food are a little silly since they're not big enough to do double duty on anything else.

jcath · May 2013

I used the blender for big batches and my minichopper for small batches. We moved from puree's to mashes pretty quickly.

Mrs_Lady · May 2013

my sister got us the baby bullet when we tried carrots though we got from jar of food from the store because of nitrate risk

I love the baby bullet on Sunday i make all his food and it really doesnt take a whole lot of time- cost savings too since im only working one day a week

catsinawindow · May 2013

I wouldn't buy anything special. Making DS's baby food I just used a food processor. When I discovered the immersion blender (best kitchen gadget ever, btw) I thought to myself "Why didn't I have this when I was making baby food? I could have blended in the same pot I cooked in and only made one pot to clean!"

So, I'd just get an immersion blender.

amandadawson · May 2013

I do more of a combination between BLW and purees. My baby loves to play with food while she's eating. You should also try some different veggies and fruits and see what your baby likes. I first find it hard to tell which solids were recommended for her and which to avoid, but I found this website https://goodmomming.com/ and it kind of solved my problem.It's my solids-bible.

Making baby food ?

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