Homemade Baby Food

So, being the stay at home mom that I am, I sometimes (rarely) get a little down time during the day. Most times I have to wait till the hubs is home or after the 2 older girls go to bed.  But, when I do get that precious time for just me I love to cruise Pinterest.

Recently, well kinda, I have been pinning things about meals for toddlers or kid friendly meals. Then I came across some pins for making your own baby food, and I thought, What a good idea.  I thought so because, I have severe food allergies. So with all my kids, when it was time to introduce solids I was very fearful and had to be extremely careful. Why I didn't think to try this years ago I don't know. Plus buying from a store, they don't always have the fruits/veggie baby foods your child likes or can have.  So I decided to give it a try.

 It was relatively simply and left me feeling like I had accomplished something!!!

 I just figured hey, I can totally make some baby food and freeze it and if my kid loves it Awesome!!

So how's about we get into this!!

Deciding What You Want To Make

I just figured I would go with most of the foods my 7 month old has tried already, likes, and tolerates well.

Which is Peas, Squash, Butternut Squash, Sweet Potatoes, and Bananas an Pears at this point.  

She hates, hates, HATES Green Beans. Girl will not eat them, we tried for 3 weeks. She wasn't haven it.  

So I decided to make and freeze sweet potatoes, squash, butternut squash, and pears.

Cooking Methods

Clean, peel, and chop your fruits or vegetables.  You can leave the skin on but I usually don't unless it's organic or came from my mom's garden (because I sadly don't have one, yet).

Next you cook them, hence the heading, I personally simmer fruits, steam most vegetables, and roast sweet potatoes and squash's

Simmering:  Place chopped fruit in a small pot with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. Cover and cook on low eat until the fruit is soft.

Steaming:   Place vegetables in a steamer set over boiling water, Steam for 10 to 15 minutes till tender.

Roasting:    Preheat oven to 400 degrees, add a little bit of water to a rimmed backing sheet about 1/4 of an inch. Roast about 25 minutes. 

         (For butternut squash its a little different, I will be doing a separate post on how I roast it).

You can save the water you use from simmering/steaming to thin purees if needed

Pureeing

Place the cooked fruits or vegetables in to a blender, food processor, baby bullet, magic bullet, whatever you like.

Puree until smooth.

Freezing

I used ice trays to freeze mine,  Just spoon the puree into the trays and freeze them immediately.

Once frozen, place cubes into freezer safe bags that you already labeled, and place back in the freezer.

Eating

You can thaw them out overnight in the refrigerator, or heat them in the microwave for about 30 secs.  Let them cool before serving them.

           
                    She loved it and did really well with eating it, isn't she cute, Halloween bib and all!!!!

There you have it.  My first ever experience at making and freezing my own  homemade baby food.  Now get excited about creating your own homemade baby food and go make it happen!!


 Stay Beautiful ya'll

                                                              

XOXO

 Emily