Some stupid food questions......

JBDamonM · October 2013

Soooo, starting this weekend we will be expanding LO's food palate past rice cereal and oatmeal

And I have some stupid questions on it.....

For those of you that have made your own baby food, how did you keep it from going brown (avacado's banannas etc) if you made it in advance? In other words I'm going to need to send one serving to daycare each day and am not sure how to conquer this?

Additionally I am debating buying the baby bullet but is it really necessary? Can't I just do it by hand and/or with a blender?

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Also love to know what foods your LO really enjoyed in the beginning! Thanks in advance

PennyLane26 · October 2013

I just mash and serve a banana or avocado fresh - so maybe send 1/2 to daycare and have them mash it and spoon feed it there? I save the other half in the fridge.

Also, I have a baby bullet and think it is a huge waste. I prefer to use this food mill and my immersion blender - so fast and no washing tiny pieces and parts.

We do a modified BLW approach so we do a little puree. I make big batches and freeze in ice cube trays, then transfer to ziplock bags. So far I've made sweet potato, butternut squash, peas, applesauce and blueberries. I usually mix the fruit with whole fat plain greek yogurt.

ELF4321 · October 2013

I was never able to keep mashed banana and avocado from browning, even by adding lemon juice, which I read as one solution. It was always still brown even if I froze it immediately, so I gave up and only served those fresh. I just used a regular blender, I didn't buy anything special.

ccam · October 2013

I received the Baby Bullet as a gift that I couldn't return and ended up loving it. But no, you don't need something special. An immersion blender or food processor would work. It was just nice to have something small that could all go in the dishwasher and the little containers were useful, too. I think they were each 2oz.

I always did avocado and banana fresh. I could never seem to keep it from browning. The only way I sent banana was if I made it the morning of daycare and mixed it in with oatmeal. But for the most part, I only used avocado at home.

Avocado was first for us, but then we added pears, green beans, sweet potato, butternut & acorn squash and apples. DS will eat anything, but green beans weren't his favorite. The texture was weird when it defrosted.

JBDamonM · October 2013

ccam said:

I received the Baby Bullet as a gift that I couldn't return and ended up loving it. But no, you don't need something special. An immersion blender or food processor would work. It was just nice to have something small that could all go in the dishwasher and the little containers were useful, too. I think they were each 2oz.

I always did avocado and banana fresh. I could never seem to keep it from browning. The only way I sent banana was if I made it the morning of daycare and mixed it in with oatmeal. But for the most part, I only used avocado at home.

Avocado was first for us, but then we added pears, green beans, sweet potato, butternut & acorn squash and apples. DS will eat anything, but green beans weren't his favorite. The texture was weird when it defrosted.

And I can just throw this all in the food processor correct? (I know, STUPID question!)

Dstevens429 · October 2013

We love our baby bullet but I if I didn't receive it as a gift I prpobably would have just went with a food processor. Avocado and Banana we serve fresh also. I usually buy it in advance and let it sit for 2 days before mashing it. Avocado gets really soft as it ripens so when I realized this i wasn't even adding in breast milk or water to thin itafter mashing. We use lemon juice to stop avocado from browning (fresh). I never froze it so I am not sure if lemon would work. Good Luck I love making baby food on my days off. I did cave and buy peas and green beans by Gerber though because the thought of mashing those made my stomach queezy lol.

JBDamonM · October 2013

Dstevens429 said:

We love our baby bullet but I if I didn't receive it as a gift I prpobably would have just went with a food processor. Avocado and Banana we serve fresh also. I usually buy it in advance and let it sit for 2 days before mashing it. Avocado gets really soft as it ripens so when I realized this i wasn't even adding in breast milk or water to thin itafter mashing. We use lemon juice to stop avocado from browning (fresh). I never froze it so I am not sure if lemon would work. Good Luck I love making baby food on my days off. I did cave and buy peas and green beans by Gerber though because the thought of mashing those made my stomach queezy lol.

I am planning on buying green beans from Gerber as well. I just feel like they would be grainy when pureed?

ccam · October 2013

@JBDamonM Yes, you could boil it until soft (or I actually liked to roast what I can - it tastes better and keeps more nutrients) and then just throw it in the baby bullet or food processor. Some things you might need to add a little water to get the right consistency. Then I pour it into ice cube trays, freeze, pop them out and store in freezer bags. I would take what I need out at night, put it in the fridge and it's ready for daycare the next morning.

JBDamonM · October 2013

Thanks @ccam!

I don't know why I feel so confused by this! What do you roast? Just veggies? Squash, sweet potatoes etc?

ccam · October 2013

@JBDamonM Haha, it is confusing at first!! I would throw the sweet potato, squash, carrots... stuff like that in the oven instead of boiling, even peaches I put in the oven. It all just tastes better. Obviously, things like green beans you have to boil. Just make sure everything is soft before blending that way it comes out really smooth.

This was like my baby food bible when we were doing purees...

https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/

ETA: Actually we didn't boil, we steamed, now that I think about it.

pb_bride · October 2013

I used my food processor to puree m's food at the beginning. I didn't see any reason to buy another piece of equipment! I steam or roast veggies - sweet potato, butternut squash, cauliflower, carrots, then int the FP. I make each food on it's own, then put in ice cube trays to freeze. I also puree some fruits but I never bothered to steam them, I just puree them raw as is, such as cantaloupe and pineapple. For soft, ripe fruits, I didn't bother pureeing at all. I just cut it up, then fork mash, and feed it to m (eg, mangoes, pears, banana etc).

JBDamonM · October 2013

Thanks @pb_bride and @ccam....@ccam - I actually have that site bookmarked from the last time you suggested it to someone else!

I actually can't wait to start this this weekend

Dragonfly1226 · October 2013

I never mashed avocado or banana ahead of time. For other purées I would make a big batch and then freeze servings in ice cube trays. (Each cube is about an ounce.) I got a Beaba baby food maker as a gift when DS was born and liked it a lot. I will also use it to make food for K&A in a couple of months. I don't think it is essential but it is handy to be able to steam the food and purée it right there.

I also love the Wholesome Baby food website. It has some great recipes for finger foods too. Have fun and GL!

iguana33 · October 2013

If you have a trader joes near by, they have some great finds. The have butternut squash that is pre peeled and cubed. Roasted mashed sweet potatoes come in these frozen chunks, and you just pop a couple in the microwave for 45 seconds. No added ingredients. Applesauce has also been a nobrainer. Frozen peas are as good as fresh. Just need to cook and blend. Yogurt is quick and easy to send along to daycare. I bought a big thing of whole milk yogurt to mix with fruit. But I also caved and started buying individual yobaby and she loves it, and it's organic and all natural. I want to give fresh food, but am also a little lazy.

JBDamonM · October 2013

iguana33 said:

If you have a trader joes near by, they have some great finds. The have butternut squash that is pre peeled and cubed. Roasted mashed sweet potatoes come in these frozen chunks, and you just pop a couple in the microwave for 45 seconds. No added ingredients. Applesauce has also been a nobrainer. Frozen peas are as good as fresh. Just need to cook and blend. Yogurt is quick and easy to send along to daycare. I bought a big thing of whole milk yogurt to mix with fruit. But I also caved and started buying individual yobaby and she loves it, and it's organic and all natural. I want to give fresh food, but am also a little lazy.

I hear that!!! Part lazy and part lack of time = I know there will be pre made food in the mix!

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