Making Baby Food

So as I mentioned in our last post, BB was waking up in the middle of the night again needing some chow-time.  As much as I wanted to hold off on solids until after Christmas - traveling with bibs, jars, spoons and the mess just wasn't sounding too fun - we decided that BB was ready to add solids to his daily routine.

We started out with rice ceareal (as recommended).  This is what he thought about that...

So I went back to what I did with both H and Bug... I made some sweet potatoes.  B was more of a fan of the sweet potatoes...

 

You might think that I am crazy to make baby food, but I really enjoy doing it.  I think that there are many advantages to making your own baby food...

1.  It tastes so much better

2.  It costs so much less

3.  You know exactly what is in the food... no additives or un-natural ingredients

 I bought this The Healthy Baby Meal Planner when H was a baby and have loved it.  You don't even necessarily need the book, but it great if you want a little more guidance.  Making baby food is so much easier than you might think, here is a quick tutorial of how I make sweet potatoes.

What you need:

Pan for boiling or steaming

Blender or food processor (I have used both and either one will work great)

Ice cube trays

Fruit or veggies

Peeler

...Making sweet potatoes..

1.  Wash veggies

2.  Peel off skin (H helped with the peeling process, he really wanted to be a part of making B's food)

 

3.  Cut potatoes into cubes between 1/2" to 1" 

 4.  Boil or steam until soft, check with fork.  About 20 minutes (I usually steam, but I was making such a large amount it wouldn't fit in my steamer)

 5.  Scoop out of pan and put in food processor or blender, do not discard water.  Add water from the pan to cover bottom 1/3 of potatoes
6.  Blend.  If too thick add more water from pan.
7.  Spoon out puree into ice cube tray

8.  Let cool to room temperature then cover with plastic wrap. 
9.  Put tray of food in the freezer.  You can either pop out a cube each time you feed your baby.  Or after the food is fully frozen, I pop out all of the cubes and store in a freezer bag.  Label the bag, cause sweet potatoes, carrots and squash all look the same: )

Enjoy!