Making baby food

BTBergstrom · July 2014

Well since we are quickly approaching baby food I wanted to find out more about making my own. STMs what do I really need are there any good books I should check out. Is it terribly time consuming??

mfarmer0811 · July 2014

I'm very interested in this as well!!

LittlePigeon · July 2014

No advice, but also interested! I have a vegetable garden that I am freezing vegetables from to use this winter when LO is old enough.

jbelle · July 2014

The farthest I've made it in my planning is to use plain foods on the recommended list (I think it's been posted a few times?) and use a baby food mill.

https://www.amazon.com/Kidalog-Baby-Food-Mill-Grinder/dp/B003LDIJM4/ref=pd_sbs_ba_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=10H2RQKDHWDZK0VPKF70

I'd love to know what other moms have done! Especially those sending their kids to daycare.

kelley72 · July 2014

Ok can't help you with any book recommendations. All I did/ might do is squish up fresh fruits... it is very simple. Freeze small one serving amounts in freeze proof baggies. Cooked veggies with no added salt/sugar, etc same thing. I typically found mine loved baked sweet potatoe, just squished up with a little bm or formula added to thin it some. Avocados were loved by all, and of course squished up bananas. I do it very simply and not on a large scale. For travel commercially prepared is easier

ProudMommy030614 · July 2014

I just pick stuff out of my garden or buy it from the farmers market, than Cook it (boil, bake, or steam) and mash it up. Depending on what it is I add breastmilk. I put it into a container and freeze.

BTBergstrom · July 2014

Is there max time things can be frozen for?? What do you freeze in?

kelley72 · July 2014

@BTBergstrom I don't prepare in bulk, but anything good for a 6month old if there aren't any issues will need to be thicker/chunkier within a few months so I wouldn't make more than would be eaten within a month. I freeze in ziplock freezer bags, I wash them and reuse.

YankeePeach08 · July 2014

I prepared a bunch and froze in bulk last weekend. Froze in ice cubes trays then poppedth out into a ziplock bag.

kelley72 · July 2014

wow, beautiful work @YankeePeach08 ! Of course you do have two x the feedings of most of us!

YankeePeach08 · July 2014

Thanks! Not sure how to get rid of the pic of my CDs hahaha.
I think I have 10-15 gallon size ziplock bags into freezer!
Peas
Carrots
Sweet potatoes
Butternut squash
Peaches (of course

)
Cantaloupe
Strawberries
Pears
Mango

Even when they are ready for finger foods I still toss a few cubes of purée into recipes. I'll make things like sweet potato pancakes. Or use things like squash as a coating to pasta instead of spaghetti sauce.

lazyreader · July 2014

I've started experimenting with mashing up various fruits and veggies (we got a Ninja because I'm lazy like that). I mashed it then put it in fold and close baggies. then put those in freezer quart bags (by month) then put that in a gallon bag.

thats so if I make some for month 7+ or 8+ I can separate them.

I've read that freezing should be used in less than 2 months. But who knows.

*also - if I mashed it but didn't strain it, i used milk. if I strained it through a sieve I skipped the milk and will add that later if I need to.

TradeMama · July 2014

I strongly recommend "wholesome baby food guide". It's on amazon.

BerryBaguette · July 2014

YankeePeach08 said:
Not sure how to get rid of the pic of my CDs hahaha.

Haha, I thought 'wow, she has the purées all color-coded in PUL bags!'
But really, good job with your prep work!

Aliki · July 2014

STM here, and no advice on books to get, but I'm a big believer that my kids eat what we eat-- so when DD1 was ready for solids, what I'd do was prepare our meal, and then take appropriate food items from our meal and smush it up for her to eat.

For example, if we were having steak with a baked sweet potato and sauteed green beans, when prepping the food for cooking, I'd reserve 3 - 5 stalks of green beans, steam it instead, and then mash it in my food processor with some breastmilk. I'd cut off two cubes of my baked sweet potato, and do the same.

As she got older and could chew better, I just did deconstructed meals for her. For example, if we had lasagna, she would get plain lasagna noodles sliced into strips, some cubed mozzarella, and some fresh grape tomatoes cut in half. I'd use the same ingredients for her meal that I was using to prepare mine and MH, and it doesn't take any extra time to prep her food separately.

Thus I never made special meals for LO, nor did I have to freeze in bulk, or any of that extra prep. When I cooked for me and MH, I'd just "siphon off" some of our food and feed it to her.

She's 4 now, and she's a great eater! No special meals for her, she eats what the adults are eating.

kelley72 · July 2014

Yes, @Aliki that is similar to what I have done too. It is so much easier once they are 8+mns and have are actually consuming food as opposed to tasting/learning to swallow etc!

Srs08856 · July 2014

I love this idea, thank you.

pepperedmoth · July 2014

@aliki that is EXACTLY what we plan to do! Whatever we're eating, he will get a little.

kimberpoo · July 2014

No advice here as I'm a FTM, but I did get the Baby Brezza and it seems like it will be an awesome machine! steamer and smasher all in one. I also got a bunch of those small plastic cube tupperwares to freeze food in, but I don't think I'll do tooooo much freezing. or maybe I will. Idk. I also agree with pp's that as lo gets older he will get some of what we're eating, but to start I'll be making him his own mushy food. I'm so excited to feed him real food in a few months!

Stowne101 · July 2014

I'm already feeding my DS sweet potatoes. Simple. Microwave potatoes, throw in food processor, adding water to consistency wanted, freeze in ice cube trays, wait 24 hours, pop out and put in ziplock bag and label

SurpriseAt39 · July 2014

I'm going the BLW route again, like I did with DS1. Buuuut, I made all of DD's purées.
All I did was boil/steam everything and mash it. Then freeze in ice cube trays. Add breast milk or water when serving to get consistency required.

You can add seasoning, but I'd avoid salt. Also, if you're adding water during mashing, I believe carrots should not be mashed with their cooking water**.

I never made her stuff super smooth, there was always a bit of lumpiness. And it got lumpier quickly.

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