I’m NOT the all-organic, earthy, “only health foods” type of mom, but I do want my son to have nourishing food and I do care that I’m doing my best for him. Sometimes, my best is grabbing a store-bought baby food pouch on the way out the door to Grammy and Pappy’s house. But I wanted to try to make good, healthy, homemade food for my child, and now that I’ve done it, I can say it makes me feel really good to cook for my child. And to be honest, I don’t really have a secret to doing it, just a few tips. I didn’t even cook on a regular basis before I decided “I can make my own baby food, it can’t be that hard.” In fact, it’s pretty hard to screw up and I can say that because I am not yet known for my skills in the kitchen.
1) My number one tip is to go stalk the baby food aisle and get ideas for food combinations from the jars and pouches you see there. You CAN mix fruits and veggies (after you’ve tried them individually and know your child isn’t allergic of course), and often I feel like it got my son more interested in veggies when they had a touch of apple or pear mixed with them.
2) Add rice cereal (or wholegrain, oatmeal, whatever you prefer) when the consistency is too watery. There are just some fruits and veggies that, when pureed, come out a little too viscous to spoon. So, just blend in cereal until you get the consistency you want.
3) Start simple. Especially if you’re nervous about making your own baby food, just puree carrots to start. If your baby is just starting on baby food, doctors recommend starting with one food anyway to make sure that he doesn’t have any food allergies. Starting simple can also give you a little bit of confidence, and help you realize it’s not as hard as you think!
Now, here are some of my recipes:
Sweet Potatoes & Carrots:
– 1 Med. Sweet Potato (peeled, cubed, and boiled)
– 3 Large Carrots (or 1/2 bag baby carrots, boiled)
– (Optional: add 1 Apple; peeled, cored, and boiled)
I boil these together in the same pot, then puree!
Butternut Squash, Carrots, and Apple:
– 1 Butternut Squash (roasted and cubed)
– 1/2 bag Baby Carrots (boiled)
– 1 Apple (cored, peeled, and sliced, then boiled to soften)
Can substitute sweet potatoes for carrots, or pear for apple and these combinations are equally yummy!
AvoBanana
– 1 ripe avocado
– 1 cup baby spinach
– 1 ripe banana
Make sure to freeze immediately- banana and avocado will brown if left out or refrigerated. Can also add pear or apple to this recipe!
Avocado Sunrise
– 1 ripe avocado
– 1 c. baby spinach
– 1/2 c. frozen or fresh mango chunks
– 1/2 c. frozen or fresh peach slices
Green Bean Machine
– 3 handfuls of green beans (snapped, steamed)
– 1 pear (sliced/peeled and boiled to soften)
– 1 c. baby spinach
– 1/4 c. baby cereal of your choice
Green beans are pretty watery when pureed, so I typically add cereal when making a recipe with green beans. I have also used apples in this recipe instead of pear!
Green Bean Breakfast
– 3 handfuls of green beans (snapped, steamed)
– 1 apple (cored, sliced, boiled to soften)
– 1 ripe avocado
– 1 pear (sliced/peeled and boiled to soften)
Peas & Greens:
– 2 Cups peas (cooked obviously)
– 2 handfuls green beans (snapped, steamed)
– 1 pear (sliced/peeled and boiled to soften)
– baby cereal as needed to thicken
You can substitute foods, add or subtract amounts, add cereal, and do just about whatever you want to these “recipes” because you are making food for YOUR child. I have changed up and substituted fruits and veggies with just about every recipe I’ve tried and Dean has eaten it all with no complaints! The amounts in these recipes were perfect for me because I was using our Nutribullet to blend, and then filling ice cube trays with the foods to freeze. Once the food was frozen into cubes, I would pop them out and store them in gallon Ziplock bags labeled with the ingredients. If you’re using other methods, just adjust these recipes so that they work better for you!
I used:
-This Nutribullet blender,
-these baby food trays (I loved them because they had lids so I could stack them in the freezer and not get baby food everywhere), and
-these baby food containers for storing fresh baby food that I wasn’t going to freeze.
I’m about done making baby foods as we are now moving on to solids, but I am a little glad I have somewhere to store these recipe ideas for the next baby! They were all a hit for us- I hope your baby enjoys them too!
xo Caitlin
