Baby Food Makin'

I actually meant to write this post like a month ago- whoops! I wanted to go over my baby food making technique. I've been mostly following wholesomebabyfood.com. In the end I mostly make Nora's food because it's fun, and it probably has saved some money. The food is also really easy to make for the most part. I thought I would quickly type up how I cook some of Nora's favorite foods by level of difficulty.

Bananas (Easier)

Bananas are the easiest thing. All I do is slice them up, put them on a saran-wrap covered plate or cookie tray (not touching), put another piece of saran wrap on top, and then stick them in the freezer. 24 hours later, I move the frozen pieces to a freezer bag. There is some slight browning but it's really not too bad. To serve, I heat up 2-3 pieces for 30 seconds in the microwave- they are super easy to mash with a fork after that.

Avocado (Easier)

Cut in half, scoop out pit, then scoop out each half. Slice, then either serve freshly mashed or to store: follow the saran-wrap/freezer procedure for the bananas. You can use a little squirt of lemon to keep from browning, but I haven't because citrus can be troublesome for a young baby's tummy. The pieces get very little brown on them if you make sure the saran wrap is touching all the sides of each piece. I serve the same way I described in the banana section- though lately, Nora is enjoying finger foods more and she likes to suck on the frozen slice of avocado.

Green Beans or Peas (Easier)

These are easy because I can get frozen bags of them- just make sure there's no added ingredients (like salt). Then I just cook them according to the directions on the bag, throw them in the food processor, and make sure they really get pureed. I put the puree into my ice cube tray, freeze for 24 hours, then move to a freezer bag. Nora will currently eat 2-3 cubes at a time (mixed with carrots is a favorite).

Pears (easier)

If the pear is ripe and soft, you can just peel the pear, cut into chucks (discard core), and puree in the food processor (no cooking necessary); then freeze in cubes. If the pear isn't quite ripe, you can quickly steam them in about an inch of water in a saucepan on the stove, then follow the same instructions.

Pumpkin (easier)

Buy canned pumpkin (make sure it's plain pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling). Serve fresh from can, or freeze in ice cube trays.

*****************************************

Apples (Harder)

These involve slightly more time because you first have cut them into chunks (discarding the core) and then cook. Then there are two ways I have cooked them. (1) Remove peel first, then cut into chunks. Put in a saucepan over medium heat with about an inch of water until the water boils, then reduce heat and steam until soft. Put in food processor and blend. Freeze in ice cube trays as noted above.

OR (2) Bake apple chunks (with peel ON) at 400F for about 30 minutes, with about an inch of water in the bottom of the pan. If your baby is older than 7-8 months with no known allergies to dairy or other tummy problems, you can add a little butter and cinnamon to the top. When soft, you can put them into the food processor (I actually left the peels on, but you can discard the peel at this time if you want), then freeze in cubes. Or you can cut the apple up into very small pieces to serve as finger food.

Butternut or Acorn Squash (Harder)

Cut the squash in half (I like acorn the best because I hate trying to cut through butternut squash). Scoop out the seeds and discard. Put the halfs face/flesh down in a baking pan with about an inch of water in the bottom of the pan. Bake at 400F for 40 minutes until squash is very soft. Scoop out of rind into food processor and puree (though not much pureeing will be necessary). Freeze in cubes, save in freezer bag.

Sweet potatoes (Harder)

These actually aren't that much harder than the squash, but the peel is kind of annoying and they take longer to bake. Basically, you just bake them in the oven with peels on (stab with a fork a couple of times before hand, wrap in tinfoil, place in oven) at 400F for 45-60 minutes. Once they are very soft, the peels should easily come off after cooling (I've found that some peels are easier than others). You can also boil or steam the potatoes, but I've never tried it.


********************************************

I should mention- I buy pureed carrots, because there are some issues with nitrates from carrots that I don't want to deal with.

Also, while I've had fun making these basic purees, as Nora is now graduating to chunkier (and meatier) foods, I don't have it in me to create fancy combinations of purees (like apple chicken rice or something like that), so I'll probably start buying more Stage 3 baby foods to go with her favorite purees that I still make. Plus we've been using dinner time to give her finger foods- puffs, plain spaghetti, chicken or ground turkey (in very tiny pieces), baked apple chunks, steamed green beans, etc. Still, I found it pretty easy and fun to make these purees for the last 2 months, so I hope I can help someone else out there enjoy it too!