You may be thinking, "My baby is still just a tiny
newborn - why would I be thinking about making baby food?” But, you
will soon find that time flies and it's not long before your
beautiful newborn is ready for real food.
When I was pregnant, if you had told me that I would be making my
baby's food by hand one day, I would have laughed my head off! Never
could I have predicted that I would be advocating making your own
baby food. I was a career driven, professional woman who believed
that Gerber was best doing those sorts of things.
But it really is so EASY to make your baby's food, and you save tons
of money, and best of all, you know what goes into it! That is the
key for me. How do you really know what goes into store-bought baby
food? You must be very trusting, to just accept (and hope) that the
"professionals" are doing what they're supposed to be doing, and
taking all the precautions they are supposed to be taking.
Baby food is really not complicated; for the most part it is one
fruit or vegetable or sometimes two. When you are cooking dinner,
boil up a few extra carrots. When they are cooled, use one of those
Braun hand blenders (they cost about $20) and blend up those five or
ten carrots with some of the water that they were boiled in. THERE!
You've just made baby food. And it took you about 45 seconds. And,
you know those carrots are just carrots. Jars of baby food carrots
that you buy are actually mostly water. There's a tiny bit of carrot
mixed in, but they are whipped so much with so much water, that
really they are hardly even nutritious by the time baby is eating
them.
Now, you may be wondering what to do with those carrots. You spoon
them into an ice cube tray. Each bit is about two ounces. Any time
you want to give some to your baby, just pop one out and microwave
it, or leave it in the fridge to thaw.
Other foods to cook for your baby include:
Zucchini (and other) squash - wash and cut into small pieces. Boil
or steam for about 10 minutes. Puree and freeze just like the carrot
example.
Potato - peel and cut into cubes. Boil and mash with some water.
Green beans - scrub beans well and cut off both ends of the beans.
Follow instructions for zucchini.
Peas - Use frozen peas or fresh peas, not canned. Canned peas may
have too much sodium. You can boil and then mash with a fork. Add
water or breast milk to make a smooth consistency.
Sweet potato - Pierce it with a fork and then microwave just like a
potato, or cook in the oven for about an hour. These are so very
nutritious for your baby!
Apples - All babies like apples, don't they? Wash and peel two or
three apples and then cut into smallish pieces. Boil or steam -- do
not add any sugar or cinnamon! -- and then puree just like the
carrots.
So there you have some easy ways to make homemade baby food for your
baby. It really is very easy, and when you make big batches and
freeze them, it's even easier. You always have fresh, healthy baby
food on hand, that you know how was made and what went into it. No
one will take better care of your baby than you will!
Suzanne Doyle-Ingram is the mother of two daughters, Hana and Alexa,
and married to her best friend James, who is a stay-at-home dad and
educational game developer (and he makes a mean grilled chicken!).
Visit her website at
http://www.pregnancy-leads-to-new-babies.com
