Recipes For Baby Food?

[MomsMenu]

"I am interested in recipes for baby food and more info regarding cooking instruction, vitamins, minerals needed. Perhaps readers can send in their tips?"


Can you help this reader?

[sharboon]

My daughter has a home for abandoned babies in Ecuador, and we must make the food for the babies. So I would be very interested in ideas and tips as well.

Thank you!

[crumpskyhawk]

Hello
I am a mother of 3 and I never used jarred baby food. I always made my own. What ever we had for supper is what I would freeze for future use. I would make extra. Veggies either frozen or fresh and use the water that I used to steam or cook in and then puree the vegies and freeze in an ice tray. When they are frozen I would put them in baggies. There you have veggies for a dozen meals. When I was doing the meats I would use a little bit of apple juice to help with the puree so it was not like wall paper glue. The fruits I would cook and then puree if needed. My kids favorites were yams. You can make up your own mixtures. If you are going to use grapes make sure you peel them of course. You can puree almost anything and it is all natural. I never gave my kids vitamins when they were babies. They were all happy chubby kids. To this day my first born will eat almost anything. The other two are a different story. They are twins and what one likes the other will eat.
Have fun

[pita1213]

when i made baby food myself, i just used a little food mill and milled whatever we were having to eat. i didn't have a blender or food proccessor at the time so i only made food up as it was needed.

[Jeannie]

Home made baby food is easy and economical....just watch the seasonings......a blender or food processor will handle any food.
Just add a bit of liquid, be it broth, water or juice, and set it spinning in the blender....make small amounts....enough for one or two days...

The only thing I purchased from Gerber were the juices and strained peaches and pears for a little while.....then I made my own.

Jeannie

[sheilaanderson]

here are a few good sites to making homemade babyfood.

1. www.homemadebabyfood.com

2. go to www.about.com and look up babyfoodrecipes

3. www.nncc.org (nncc nutrition database-look up recipes)

4. http://earth.vol.com/~teri/ (Babyfood cookbook-a practical mother's guide) free online cookbook

hope these help everyone out. personally i have always fed mine beechnut or heinz jarred babyfood's only the # 2 's. but if you can get produce reasonable and have the time to do all the prep work-homemade would be a great way to go.

good luck.
sincerely-sheila ann anderson

[sheilaanderson]

hello again. i forgot to post this one along with the other four i just posted.

www.recipesource.com/special-diets/babyfood


hope this helps.

sincerely-sheila ann anderson

[Caroline]

Absolutely! Babies eat what people eat! We just put a little of what we were having in the blender, sometimes you need to add a little water. Make sure you don't feed highly seasoned foods--don't add salt or sugar for baby. And give them lots of fruits and veggies!
We did buy teething biscuits, though, when they were older. They are tough enough that they don't break up like a cracker or cookie, so the baby doesn't choke on them.

[jen143]

I would cook a little meat without seasoning and puree it in the food processer with a little juice or pureed vege's. I froze the stuff in ice cube trays and put them in ziploc bags after they were hardened adn labled them with a date. When the baby got a little older, I would shread the meat so it was a finger food. My ds was an early eater so he got more pureed stuff, but the girls were 8 months and 9 months before they even started being interested in baby food. It's easier then, b/c they don't need the pureed stuff as long. It's better for the baby too, if they have breat milk (I don't know about formula, as I've never used it) for as long as they can the first year. This is a recommendation by the American Pediatrics Society b/c of the rise of childhood food allergies. I don't know if this pertains to formula b/c I don't use it. My first two were bf and my dd is still bf.

Your best friend in making hm baby food will be a steamer, your food processor (or blender) and your freezer. Just wrap up the frozen stuff well to keep freezer burn at bay. When the child gets older, just chop or shred what you're having, minus the spices. Either add seasoning after cooking to everyone else's meat, vege's etc. Or cook a small portion separate for baby.

Good luck! It's a great way to save money and a great way to make baby feel like part of the family from the beginning!

[SuzyQ]

I also didn't buy much baby food. I waited with the younger two till they wanted to eat (after 6 months). I only fed 1 & 2s veggies and fruit with cereal to get them started. After that point they ate what we ate (unseasoned, well cooked and slightly mashed if needed). They didn't get meat, the doctor with my first said not to push it. So much of what we ate worked for them also!

My kids are still great eaters for the most part! Good luck!