Making Baby Food

So, Julia's an admitted gerber baby-  just no time to make my own baby food...but now that I'm getting her to eat white meat; I wanted to try to make that for her b/c the jar looks so unappealing. 

I baked chicken this morning; put it in the blender w/ some water and I didn't like the consistency-  and she had a hard time with is.  So I added some pureed carrots thinking it would help thicken it up and make it less stringy-like.

How does everyone make their baby food (if they do)?  Thanks for your help!

You can microwave or bake yams/potatoes etc. and mush them up.  My babe likes the lumpy consistency.  You also (obviously) can mash up all sorts of fruits like bananas, peaches, etc.  I cut up small finger chunks and my boy is really into that.  As for meats, really, at 11 months, he's still not into eating them unless they're really disguised into a rice/gravy mixture.  Just cook up the meat, cut into TINY pieces, and mix up with rice or whatever else.  Mashed potatoes are also a real hit with my boy.

I really wanted to make my own baby food this time around. I just don't have time during the week so I think I'm going to spend weekends making food. I read an interesting tip: freeze baby food in an ice cube tray and store in a freezer bag once frozen. You just take out as many cubes as you need and viola!

I have no advice to offer on the chicken topic. My daughter would never eat the jarred meats (I don't blame her!). She started eating finger-food meat around 10 months or so. I bought one jar of chicken to see if my son will eat it but I doubt it. Here's the website I really like when it comes to researching homemade baby food: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com

Good luck!

thanks!  I have to buy a few ice trays-  i have an ice maker so I don't have any trays in my freezer.

i gave her the jarred Apples and Chicken and she ate it right up-  which I was surprised b/c, well-  it just doesn't look that appetizing.  she loves all the fruit-combos; so I thought the apples and chicken would be good for her.  tonight she can have the chicken and noodles-  we'll see how she fairs with that.  and it all depends on her mood.

last night she kept putting her finger in the side of her mouth making it impossible to feed her.  messy baby, messy me!  and then sometimes she eats so fast and neat I don't even need the bib LOL!!

I made all my kids food.  I would make a weeks worth of food on the weekend using ice cube trays as well.  I find that parents who switch from jarred to table food have a harder time due to taste difference.  I would make one main dish for that week along with 2 fruits and 2 veggies.   I would also make sure there were lots of veggie combo cubes like peas and carrots.  I would sometimes take whatever I was making for lunch say pasta and add a veggie cube to the babies meal.  Babies can eat pasta around 7 months.  even add a bit of cheese to it as long as no dairy issues.  I also make all food for my daycare kids as well.

Soups and stews are great and I also found white fish was easier on the texture then chicken.  Also the dark meat is better b/c not as dry.  Remember ladies to start adding flavours to the food as early as 7 months.  start with herbs.  Basil, parsley , oregano then add garlic and onion to the stews and soups you make.  The last thing you want is a 2 yr old who is unfamiliar with those flavours.  I even added paprika and chili before my kids were 1 yr old.  But everything was in small amounts and no added salt

John would probably eat several entire jars of food in one sitting if we let him. Since he's only 5 months old, I hesitate to feed him more than a few tablespoons of solids but he LOVES to eat. He makes a fuss if we're too slow getting the spoon to his mouth. It's hilarious!

spuckine, thanks for the info! We did not add flavors to our daughter's baby food and, while she's not afraid to try new foods, she is still a picky eater. I ate a ton of Greek food while pregnant with my son so hopefully it readied him for some intense foods!

i second that bier-  i put hot sauce on EVERYTHING while I was pregnant-  i have a doc's appt for her this week and I'm going to ask the doc about spices-  I never would have thought, spuckine-  thanks for the advice!  :)

I made all my babyfood for my twins (now 2 years old).  It does only take a couple hours to make enough for the week.  I would buy whatever meat and veggies were on sale that week and I always did the ice cube trays.  Soooo Easy

Tips on meat:  Make sure the meat is cut up into small pieces and cold.  I would usually cook it and cut it one day and then puree it the next after it spent the night in the fridge but maybe pop it in the freezer for a while.  Try blending it as much as you can before adding liquid (I used breast milk but you can use formula or water also)

Most people say they have a hard time getting toddlers to eat meat but mine love it and I think it has to do with getting "real" meat right from the beginning.  It did take me a while to perfect the meat puree (my daughter hated lumps) but eventually we got it.

Check out the book Super Baby Foods (http://www.superbabyfood.com/index.html)

I found this book to be a great resource for me.

Cheers!

I think I waited on making my own meat baby food until she was old enough for finger foods.  It's really hard to grind up the meat smooth enough for little ones.  I know the packaged ones smell/taste bad to us, but babies aren't used to all the salt and seasonings we are, and my kid actually liked them.

I would boil pasta, have some tomato paste and a little bit of cooked ground beef and put it in the food chopper. Little guy LOVED IT!!

mom6-  that sounds so EASY and DOABLE for me!!!

yup. My mom turned me on to that little idea. Just take a tad of what you're eating and pop it in the grinder. It helps the little boogers get used to different textures and tastes. Ethan is about 15 months now and LOVES food. He's not too crazy about broccoli or green beans, but that's okay. He likes peas and carrots so I guess he'll just be getting those for a while!

Vanessa, have you tried the "Fresh Food Feeder" by Munchkin? We just bought one for our son (6.5 months) last weekend and he LOVES it. We stuck a frozen strawberry in it for the first use (mostly for teething relief) and he just sucked on that for ages. Last night, he ate half a mini-banana in it and threw a fit when it was gone 20 minutes later. It allowed us to have a family dinner without someone having to hold him halfway through the meal.

Anyway, I don't think it would work for meat but it should work for raw soft fruits and veggies. If you're putting in harder things such as carrots or apples, I think they'd have to be cooked. Now that I look at the website, it says it works for meat, too.

We're going to try some avacado in it tonight!

Bier I think we aren't supposed to give strawberries to kids under age 1, I can't remember why but you might want to look into that.

Strawberries are a touchy fruit. If they're the least bit spoiled, they can cause a reaction, even if someone's not allergic to them. This can happen to adults and children alike...my mom had a bad reaction when she was in the hospital after delivering my sister. As with all solids, it can increase their risk of allergies in the future if given at a young age.

That being said, my son has already been eating Beech Nut Strawberry Bananas for a couple weeks with no reaction. I understand the risks of feeding him these types of foods but I feel that it is okay for MY son. It's just a judgement call on my part and others should make their own call after discussing it with their doctor. Ours told us all foods except honey, cow's milk and nuts were okay to introduce. He warned us to hold off on dark fruits (prunes, raisins, etc.) and meats until 7 or 8 months.

Thanks for pointing that out, I should have added a disclaimer to my post

hi ladies.

bier-  i have one of those netted food things.  I gave it to the baby and my Mother-in-law literally started laughing at me and threw it in the sink.  She said "what the hell is that?  i never gave that to my kids"  and of course my sister in law that absolutely secretly hates me laughed and said "Yeah, what is that stupid thing?"

Uh-huh.  I know.

I give it to her in "secret"  She doesn't take to it that well; but my sister gave it to me and her little darlings loved it.

and my julia likes the gerber strawberries & banannas too.  Strawberries have antural asprin in them; witch could be another reason why they could be a red flag for babies.