"Homemade" Baby Food

Kids don't come cheap, but there are plenty of ways to lessen the financial hit of having children. One of the easiest is to make your own baby food.  You don't have to be a good cook to make your own baby food, you really don't even need a recipe. It doesn't take any longer than you would spend sorting coupons and standing in the baby food aisle of the grocery store.  And adding in a couple extra sweet potatoes, avocadoes, or bananas to your weekly shopping trip has a minimal impact on your budget.  So let's get started.

Most pediatricians recommend babies start solids around six months of age. Rice cereal is the traditional first food, but it doesn't have to be, especially if baby is already six months old.  I think rice cereal is good to practice on, but after the first few feedings, I prefer mixing it with fruits or vegetables. Other good first foods that are simple to prepare include sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, apples, pears, bananas, green beans, avocadoes....and the list goes on. I don't make baby food from produce that is expensive or out of season - like peaches in January.  You can also use frozen fruits or vegetables to make your purees. Remember to wait 4-5 days in between new foods to check for any reactions.

Preparation is simple. If it has a peel, take it off, cut into small pieces, and steam with a little bit of water - a steamer basket is perfect for this. Once the food is soft, puree it in the blender, adding as much of the cook water as necessary to reach your desired consistency. Avocadoes and bananas don't need to be cooked; just peel and mash, adding liquid if you need to.

Storage is also simple. I have these baby food containers from One Step Ahead, and they are nice, but you don't need anything special. The simplest thing to do is to pour your puree into clean ice cube trays and stick them in the freezer. Once they are frozen, pop them out and store them in a large ziploc bag. Then you can pull out as many as you need at a time.

Once your baby is used to single food purees, you can start combining foods. I really like this website - it has a lot of ideas on food combinations and recipes. The recipe posted below was one of Lauren's favorites.

Please, please don't feed your baby bananas from a jar. Have you ever tasted those? They taste weird. Save yourself some money and your baby that weird jarred banana taste, grab a banana from the bunch and mash it up.


Hearty Chicken Mash

2 oz (1/4 c) cooked, boneless skinless chicken, diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 oz (1/4 c) grated cheddar
1/2 t chopped chives

Boil or steam the sweet potato and carrot until tender. Drain, add the cheese and mix until cheese has melted. Add the chicken, then mash or puree as necessary. Top with the chives.