Make
Your Own Baby Food
By Bridget Mwape
Making
your own homemade baby food will ensure that what your child is
eating is fresh, nutritious and free of additives. By making your
own baby food, you'll be saving money. Also, you will have total
control over what is put into your baby's food. You can therefore
take the extra steps to ensure that only high quality foods are
selected and used. You will be able to feed your baby according
to his or her needs because you will know what foods are best
suited for your baby from experience.
Making
your own baby food also ensures that your baby is exposed to a
greater variety of tastes and textures. This will help your baby
when making the transition to table foods and also help him or
her develop healthy eating habits.
The
ABCs of making baby food
Because babies are susceptible to digestive upsets, always work
with clean hands and use clean cooking utensils, preparation surfaces,
pots and pans, etc., when making home made baby food. Prepare
foods immediately upon removing them from the refrigerator and
freeze immediately after cooking any foods you want to store.
Steaming
vegetables is the best method of preparation. This softens them,
makes them easier to chew and preserves more of the vitamins and
minerals than boiling. A steamer basket is cheap and by cooking
fruits and vegetables in it, you'll be sure of keeping the nutrients
in the food instead of in the cooking water.
To
puree your foods, you can use a fork, a food mill or blender.
A blender quickly purees almost anything into the finest consistency.
When your baby first starts on solids, you'll be pureeing things
to a very fine consistency; as baby gets a little older, you will
make foods a little coarser.
You
may wish to buy a food mill, which comes in large and small sizes.
It is very handy and inexpensive. The food mill strains most cooked
foods to a very smooth consistency, although meats can be a problem
because they have a coarser texture. Remember all the tools you
need to make baby food are probably already in your kitchen.
Prepare
ahead of time
You can prepare large amounts of foods at once and freeze them.
Take your prepared foods and plop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet.
Freeze the plops right away and then take them off the sheet when
they are frozen and put them into plastic bags. You can also freeze
the food in plastic "pop out" ice cube trays.
Small
Tupperware jars with lids serve the same purpose and stack easily.
Label and date the packages and rotate them, putting the most
recently frozen foods behind the previously frozen ones. Frozen
baby foods can be stored for up to two months.
When
you take frozen foods out for baby, warm the food in a cup placed
in a sauce pan of boiling water with a lid on. If you use a microwave
to thaw or warm baby food, be sure to stir the food well to avoid
hot pockets.
What
should you make?
Cereals are typically the first foods given to a baby because
they contain lots of iron. You can prepare your own by running
oatmeal through your blender. Fruits are generally given next.
Except for raw, mashed banana, you will need to cook all other
fruits till they are soft.
Try
making your own apple sauce and pear sauce; don't add any sugar,
since these fruits are sweet enough on their own. You can also
peel peaches, plums and apricots and boil or steam them.
Buy
and use organic fruits and vegetables. Use fresh and organic vegetables
whenever possible in order to provide the best nutrition and flavor
for your baby. Your baby deserves pesticide-free foods. Frozen
vegetables are better to use than canned.
Yogurt,
mashed cottage cheese, mashed pumpkin, baked potato, avocado and
tofu (oriental soy bean curd) are all popular with babies. One
good idea is to blend together cottage cheese, banana and fresh
orange juice — delicious!
Meats
should be added slowly. They can be boiled or broiled, then put
in the blender with a little milk and perhaps banana or cream
of rice to get the right consistency. Chicken is generally the
first meat baby is introduced to and usually goes down fairly
well.
There
is no rush to start your baby on solid foods. Milk is his most
important food. Your doctor's recommendations and your own intuition
will help you to know when to begin introducing solids to your
baby's diet. Introducing solids prepares the baby for the transition
to adult food and offers further vitamins and minerals as the
baby grows. Always remember to be patient with your baby and allow
at least a few days between newly added foods to make sure the
baby doesn't suffer any reactions.
© Bridget Mwape
Bridget Mwape writes for the Baby
Shop UK, which features baby information including articles
and discounts on baby products, gifts and advice from other parents.
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