Friday, April 22, 2011

How To Make Your Own Baby Food

First, buy this book: Baby Love: Healthy, Easy, Delicious Meals for Your Baby and Toddler


Then, follow all of their recipes :-).

No seriously. Delicious basic purees for six months and up. Apple, pear, carrot, butternut squash, pea and more. At 8 months, the recipes get a little more creative, helping your wee one's palate evolve. I love the simple, pretty instructions. You can make a few weeks worth of food in about two hours. 

Making food this way is great for baby because jarred food is cooked at such a high temperature it loses a lot of the nutrients baby's need, plus it takes added preservatives to get jarred food to keep on the shelf for one to two years (what?!). 

Most of all, we did a blind taste test of simple mashed bananas and Earth's Best Organic Bananas in a jar and I about died: the jarred had this really weird aftertaste and a chalky foreign texture. Side by side it was clear the superior tasting product: Fresh is Best!

Here's a mildly tweaked rendition of their Basic Apple Recipe. 

1) Get five organic apples. If you live somewhere without organic as an option, then make sure to peel them first. 


2) Cut each apple in half. Scoop out the steams and seeds.


3) Cut each apple half into six equal-ish slices. 


4) Place apple slices in large pot with 8 ounces of purified water. Turn heat on high and cover. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring once. 


5) Pour apple slices and water into blender.


6) Blend until smooth.


7) Pour into ice cube trays and allow to cool.


8) Wrap trays and place in freezer overnight.


9) Unwrap and put 'cubed' apples into quart bags. Label bags with contents and date (frozen cubes last three months in the freezer).


10) To serve, warm 2-3 cubes on the stove over low heat. 
(Note: I put my cubes in a glass jar. Then, I place that jar in a pot of water that I warm. The reason? I'm pretty sure my pans are cheap and old and leech awful things, like aluminum or lead or titanium, into the food I just took all this time to specially prepare. So until I get the green to purchase safer, newer pots, I opt for caution. Plus, then I use that jar as his serving jar!)


11) Feed your fresh and tasty food to your rad little angel.


The End.


7 comments:

Dax's Dad said...

I love this post! And watching him eat the food is so funny! He absolutely loves this fresh baby food!

GGGGGGG said...

That is awesome, Darcy. Dax is sooooo lucky to have such a health conscious mother. No wonder he is so happy. Yes, can't wait to see him eating. Happy Birthday to you today. I know Dax would make you a nice meal if he could and so would I. Wish we were there.

Anonymous said...

Love it! Thank you for sharing! My friend just gave me a book for making baby food & I can't wait to start with Birdie :)

Erica said...

It's so easy, just a tad bit time consuming. I guess I don't know why I didn't do it more and others don't even try to do it once before thinking it's hard to puree food.
Oh well, each to their own.

Sister Stacy said...

What an adorable post about my absolutely adorable nephew! U do such a wonderful job explaining the steps and I LOVE the editorial pics to follow. I am excited for you to show me this trick when baby Pria comes and is ready for food. This looks much easier than what I tried when Nova was born. Hugs!!

Darcy said...

erica: the guy in the book says about two hours for two weeks worth of food, i am bit slower though and would definitely add more time to that...i am thinking the pureeing will be about two to three months and then on to more people food!
stacy: kekeke....thanks sis! I can't wait either! i am so excited about this new little girl on her way!

MIG said...

I wish I had made my own baby food for my son. I was really just starting to go green then and wasn't that advanced. You are such a sweet mom for making your son the most nutritious food!

The jar is a great idea too! If I ever have another baby I'll have to get this book. :)

spare a girl some clicks?

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