Makin' baby food.
So the hubs and I make our own baby food. Well, what I should actually say is: I make Abilene's baby food. Because, really, the hubs has no part in it and the baby food is definitely not for us so "our own" doesn't really make sense. Although, I do try it... and, not gonna lie, it's pretty good.
So why we do it? Well, there are many reasons:
So how do we do it?
I'm not sure if you've heard of a Baby Bullet before. It's basically a Magic Bullet with cute smile faces on the cups. My dad bought one for us (two actually) before we had Abilene. While the small size of the Baby Bullet is convenient, you really just need a blender or food processor. Any appliance that can blend or puree would work just fine.
Here's what you need:
After the carrots were finished steaming, I placed them on the baking sheet and spread them out to cool for 4-5 minutes (I just don't like the food being so hot because I use my hands a lot but you could just place them right into the blender).
After the carrots have cooled, I place them into the blender and add a little water (you could also use breastmilk or formula) depending on what kind of consistency I want. When Abilene was younger, I wanted the consistency to be pretty liquid-y, now she can handle chunkier foods so I don't need as much water.
After adding the water, blend away!
Once your baby food is to the consistency you'd like, place one or two days worth into your baby food jars (remember, baby food should only be kept in the refrigerator for 3 days) and place the rest in your ice cube trays. Cover the ice cube trays with saran wrap and allow to freeze over night.
The next day, remove the baby food from the ice cube trays and store it in a Ziplock bag labeled with the type of food and the date it was made. Frozen baby food should be used within the month.
Pull out cubes the night before as you need them. Each cube is approximately 1 ounce of food.
Done and done! Now you have, in this case, carrot baby food made for the next few weeks! Easy peasy.
Now, if you have all your equipment out, you might as well make a bunch of other flavors so that you have a good-sized stock of food. Here are the flavors I made yesterday:
Some things to note:
So why we do it? Well, there are many reasons:
- It is definitely cheaper than buying pre-made baby food.
- Although we don't buy organic, it's better for Abilene.
- While it requires more effort, it's really pretty easy.
- I'm not gonna lie, I kind of feel like a Stay-At-Home-Bad-a** when I make my own baby food. Just sayin'.
 |
| "Seriously, is that your washing machine?" you ask. Why yes, yes it is. |
So how do we do it?
I'm not sure if you've heard of a Baby Bullet before. It's basically a Magic Bullet with cute smile faces on the cups. My dad bought one for us (two actually) before we had Abilene. While the small size of the Baby Bullet is convenient, you really just need a blender or food processor. Any appliance that can blend or puree would work just fine.
Here's what you need:
- Blender or Food Processor
- Spatula
- Pot with steaming basket inside or a Steamer
- Baking Sheet
- Vegetable peeler (if needed)
- Knife
- Containers to hold the finished baby food (The Baby Bullet comes with some. I also re-use baby food jars from the store)
- Ice cube trays to freeze the excess baby food
- Saran Wrap
- Ziplock bags to store the frozen baby food.
After the carrots were finished steaming, I placed them on the baking sheet and spread them out to cool for 4-5 minutes (I just don't like the food being so hot because I use my hands a lot but you could just place them right into the blender).
After the carrots have cooled, I place them into the blender and add a little water (you could also use breastmilk or formula) depending on what kind of consistency I want. When Abilene was younger, I wanted the consistency to be pretty liquid-y, now she can handle chunkier foods so I don't need as much water.
After adding the water, blend away!
Once your baby food is to the consistency you'd like, place one or two days worth into your baby food jars (remember, baby food should only be kept in the refrigerator for 3 days) and place the rest in your ice cube trays. Cover the ice cube trays with saran wrap and allow to freeze over night.
The next day, remove the baby food from the ice cube trays and store it in a Ziplock bag labeled with the type of food and the date it was made. Frozen baby food should be used within the month.
Pull out cubes the night before as you need them. Each cube is approximately 1 ounce of food.
Done and done! Now you have, in this case, carrot baby food made for the next few weeks! Easy peasy.
Now, if you have all your equipment out, you might as well make a bunch of other flavors so that you have a good-sized stock of food. Here are the flavors I made yesterday:
Some things to note:
- Some food I buy fresh, some food I buy frozen. It depends on what's in season. The nutritional value is the same and sometimes the frozen fruits and vegetables are actually cheaper than the fresh. As a perk, the frozen foods are already chopped up so all I have to do is dump them in the steamer, no peeling or chopping required :)
- Some foods don't require steaming. Some soft fruits, like pineapple, cantaloupe, blueberries, etc. are soft enough and hold enough water themselves that I don't have to steam them in order to blend them up.
- Always make sure the skins are removed from whatever food you're making. For example, apples, pears, etc.
- Certain foods can potentially hold a high risk of allergic reaction to your baby. As your baby grows, the risk generally decreases. Make sure you're pureeing foods that are appropriate for your child.
- If I'm not sure whether or not Abilene will like a certain food, I'll buy the pre-made baby food first. That way I avoid making a ginormous batch of food only to find that Abilene has a reaction to it or doesn't want to eat it.
Comments
Post a Comment