Sasha is a great help in the kitchen. Here she is reorganizing my tupperware cupboard.I thought I would dedicate a post to the topic of homemade baby food. Specifically how I go about it. There are lots of ways to do it, and there are even some fancy shmancy gadgets out there for baby food too (I prefer to use just simple ice cube trays, a blender or food processor, and some freezer ziploc bags). There are a few books and good websites dedicated to the topic. Those that know me know that I tend to overstudy everything, so I spent months pouring over every homemade baby food book and website I could get my hands on before I finally decided how I was going to go about it.
I like to buy a fruit or vegetable during it's peak season. Sure you might find peaches in the store any time of the year, but they taste like crap if you buy them 'off season'. Also, when it comes to babyfood, I prefer to choose organic food. I know that in some cases, organic food can be a sham, but when it comes to my baby I'll take that risk. I want to put as little pesticides in my little girl as I can.
I waited until Sasha was 6 months before I gave her any foods other than breastmilk.
The first two months she ate, I gave her steamed purees. That means all fruits and vegetables were steamed before I pureed them. After she hit about 8 months of age, I started to give her raw fruit purees. Some nutrients are lost in the steaming process but I understand that the steamed purees are easier to digest and less likely to upset a young baby's immature digestive and immune system.
So like, say for example the pears I made for Sasha. I peeled and cored them then cut them into cubes. I put them in my steamer for 5 minutes. I put them in my cuisinart food processor and pureed them until they were competely smooth.
I put the babyfood puree into an ice cube tray. That portions the food out nicely. I freeze the food in the ice cube tray for about 2-3 hours or until it is solid. I try not to let it sit in the freezer unprotected for more than a few hours. I immediately take the food out of the ice cube tray as soon as it is frozen enough to pop out and hold its shape and transfer it into ziploc freezer bags. Not regular zipper bags, it has to be a freezer bag otherwise the cubes will get freezer burn. The cubes can last about 3 months in the freezer. Very simple and no fancy contraptions required.
Then when it's baby feeding time, my husband or I pop a cube or two in the microwave. It only takes about 30 seconds to thaw in the microwave! So feeding prep time itself is very quick.
I am a busy working mother and honestly it doesn't take that much time to make baby food. I can do it at the same time as I prepare a dinner for my family in most cases. I have no problem taking a few hours once a month or so to make a bigger batch of baby food. Yesterday, I made a small batch of some peaches right before I went to work. My 3 peaches made me 17 cubes so if for some reason Sasha decided to eat only peaches every day that would be about 8-17 days worth of food depending on her appetite. Normally I make bigger batches than that but I wanted to use up those peaches before they spoiled.
I thought I'd add a list of resources that helped me:
iVillage Homemade Baby Food Message Board
www.wholesomebabyfood.com
BEST BOOK: Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron- This is like the homemade baby food bible! I have two copies because I thought I lost the first one and was lost without it, then after I replaced it I found the first again, hehe.
Ask Dr. Sears website- neat info about any baby question but great info on feeding babies
Kellymom.com - mostly a website about nursing baby but has good info on feeding baby too. I found the info on why to delay solids until 6 months very helpful
