Have you ever wondered about making your own baby food? While it’s super convenient to rely on pre-made and packaged baby foods, making your own is actually easier than you think. Homemade baby food is natural, packed with nutritious ingredients and less expensive than pre-packaged items. Not to mention, you know exactly what ingredients you’re feeding your special little loved one. With a little creativity, a food processor and a sauce pan, you’ll be on your way. Take a look at these tips for how to make your own baby food that you can feel good about.
Start by choosing the right tools. You’re going to need a few things to get the baby food perfectly soft and pureed – there are a few good options out there.
- A regular kitchen food processor or blender. You probably already have one of these on hand and each will definitely get the job done, though might be more useful for making large batches of baby food.
- A food mill. This traditional kitchen tool is actually portable and non-electric; it’s a great option and has been used for years to puree.
- A hand blender. Pretty convenient and easy to use, this tool requires electricity and works the opposite way of a blender.
- A baby food maker. These tools steam and puree all in one. You can use this for veggies, fruits and even meat.
- A fork! Sounds so simple, but steamed veggies and fruits are easy to mash up with a fork (think banana, avocado or sweet potato) and you can typically find one anywhere.
Select the best ingredients for your baby, like fresh organic produce and locally sourced meats. Start out simple with fresh fruits like bananas, apricots, apples, plums, peaches, pears and mangoes. And for veggies, try carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and peas.
Wash and cook the fruits and veggies to be sure they a soft before pureeing. You can easily steam, boil or bake produce and meats and even add a bit of the liquid when pureeing the food. Be sure to peel any skin, remove pits, seeds and any fat or skin on poultry or meat.
Simply add the cooked and softened ingredients to your pureeing device (or use a fork!) and mash to a soft, smooth consistency. The homemade baby food can be frozen in small containers or even ice cube trays and will actually last up to six months (meat and poultry about two months).
What do you think? Now that you know how to make your own baby food, will you give it a try?
