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| Mr. C. enjoying his spinach and quinoa... |
The best thing about making your baby's food, to me, is the cost. WAY cheaper! Secondly, I truly do love giving my kids wholesome food where I know every ingredient. Not that I think Gerber is bad for kids (at least not the baby purées....don't get me started on their "microwave meals" for toddlers...) but since making my own baby food turned out to be so easy and had at least a couple of advantages, why not?
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| Cooking |
Today, I boiled (separately) carrots, broccoli, and apples (would have steamed the veg except I don't have a steamer insert...take note, husband!), sautéed spinach, poached pork, and made quinoa using chicken broth. I used the food processor to purée everything (except for the apples, which I used the food mill for), adding water or cooking liquid and olive oil when necessary, and voilà, I had a ton of baby food. I mixed the pork and some creamy carrots together and froze those in my ice cube trays. I'll freeze the rest in the same way, then when it's mealtime I just pull two to three cubes out and defrost them quickly in the microwave for my cutie. (Depending on what it is, I might mix in some yogurt or water or even rice cereal.) For dinner today Mr. C had a mixture of quinoa (which I did not purée) and spinach with a little applesauce for dinner, which he LOVED. Surprise! I love it when they still eat everything....
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| All the
purées |
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| Going into the ice cube trays |
There is a fantastic site that has great information on making baby food all the way from 4-6 months until toddlerhood that I love to reference...it's www.wholesomebabyfood.com. Check it out and let me know what you think.
And you can also let me know if you think I'm crazy or if you like my ideas...and share some ideas of your own, please!!
Alanna, I've been making baby food here in Freetown in a similar manner. 1) The commercial baby food available here is terrible looking AND tasting; and 2) we avoid sugar like the plague, and it's pretty hard to find store bought stuff w/o sugar here.
ReplyDeleteSomething that's made it super-easy is a steamer I picked up at Goodwill for $6. I can steam more foods at once, and it's a "set it and forget it" type of machine, instead of having to keep an eye on vegetables on the stove to avoid over cooking.
I love the sound of your steamer! Does it have a setting for different types of food, or a sensor?
DeleteI can't believe they're still putting sugar in baby food but I really shouldn't be surprised. Living in Mexico we are so lucky to have access to do much that I (ignorantly) did not consider that this is a necessity for some foreign service folks around the world.
Thanks for your comments!
Mr. C is starting to eat a lot more solids and trying out meats now...I had a little bit of ground beef and a couple of tomatoes that were not going to last much longer, so I just sautéed the beef in a little olive oil, tossed in the diced tomatoes and a little bit of shredded cheese. He LOVED it!
ReplyDeleteTwo words: Hand blender. We made pretty much all of Asa's baby food (we couldn't have afforded to feed the kid otherwise), and most of Toby's. Asa LOVED "baby dal" -- lentils cooked with cumin, onion, and garlic, mashed, then mixed with plain yogurt. In kindergarten, he *still* listed dal as his favorite food (I now spice it more heavily).
ReplyDeleteAmen! I've often wondered to myself if there was life before I had my immersion blender! Although I've never used it for baby food. I wonder why not! It certainly cuts down on dirty dishes. That processor is such a pain to clean. At any rate, TOO CUTE that your son liked dal so much....way to go, Mom!
DeleteThanks for your comment! Will have to try out "baby dal" on Mr. C....