I've been taking pictures here and there and filing away basic hints for making homemade babyfood. I know several of my friends are interested in a tutorial, so I thought I'd post it here. I make all of Hannah's food. My reasoning is strictly financial, but we have found enormous benefits additionally. Here is the basic argument for making your own baby food:
- You control what goes into the food - quality, quantity, and extras
- There are no preservatives (something we found out after the fact that Hannah is very sensitive to!)
- It is VERY cost-effective
- It's easy
- The purees taste just like the real thing, so the transition to table food is much easier
- The possibilities of food combinations are endless!
Okay, here are the tools I use most frequently.
1) Steamer - We got this one from WalMart on sale for $20. It has honestly been the best investment that I've ever made in an appliance. I almost use it once a day! I'd highly recommend this one because every part is dishwasher safe - awesome.
2) Ice Cube Trays - I go through these quickly. I'm about to invest in all silicone because I find the plastic ones break very easily with how frequently they're used around here.
3) Freezer Bags - I buy quart and gallon-sized
4) Food Processor - This one is the Cuisinart Mini Prep - cheap, high-quality, and all dishwasher safe
5) Pastry Blender - I rarely use the food processor at this point in Hannah's development. I typically mash everything with either this pastry blender or my mix n' chop (see #7).
6) Fine Mesh Strainer - After pureeing things like peas, green beans, corn, or anything that's stringy or has a skin to it, you'll want to press it through a fine or medium mesh strainer to achieve a more desirable consistency for your baby at first.
7) Pampered Chef Mix n' Chop - This has become my favorite all-purpose kitchen tool. It is safe for non-stick pans, so I can use it to chop up ground beef or turkey, it is very sturdy so I can use it to mash fairly firm things, and it was a very good buy at $9.50. Lucky for you, I'm hosting a Pampered Chef catalog show now through January 30th. Let me know if you're interested in buying one of these or anything else!
8) Steamer basket - I have only used this a couple of times, but I got it for $1 in Target's dollar section. It's worth it if you don't want to buy the countertop steamer or if you want to steam multiple things at once.
3 comments:
Hey...just a little tip...this may be old news to you and you might post this later, but you shouldn't make your own baby cereal. I mean, I make all my own food too, and b/c of that I made BabyM's rice and oatmeal and mixed cereal. The baby cereal here has sugar as the second ingredient and so I thought I was being responsible. Well, the added iron in baby cereals is so important in months 4-6 of baby's life and afterward, too. Iron rich foods don't get introduced until later and not in sufficient quantities. This is at least important for breastfed babies. I don't know if that really applies to babies that are on iron fortified formula. You would know better about that!
Obviously we are beyond the baby food stage with Lucas, but I am interested in trying this for our next baby. I can't remember...is it better to steam or can you boil the veggies to make them softer? Or, does boiling cause the nutrional value to "boil" away? I know microwaves destroy a lot of the nutrients, but I asn't sure if it was the same for boiling.
Generally, I've heard that steaming is better than boiling b/c the nutrients go into the water. So, whenever I boiled veggies, I would use the "boiling water" to help with the texture when pureeing them.
Alicia, I've got 6 silicone trays you're welcome to use while you're still building your collection if you like b/c I know they can be pricey! I am not making baby food at this point in time... :)
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