Homemade Baby Food - Riverside,CA

I started to make my own baby food about 3 months ago. It is so much tastier than the stuff you buy in the store. I simply buy canned veggies/fruit with no salt added or in their own juice, put the entire can in the blender, take half the juice out, blend and add more juice back for the consistancy you are looking for. My son is a big eater so I have never had to freeze anything however a friend told me to get an ice cube tray that has a lid and as you need the cubes take them out to dethaw. The best way to do this is to put them in a little container in the fridge overnight to dethaw. For protien, simply potch whatever you want in a pot with stock of you choice and veggies too if desired. Once it has cooled a bit, put either the protein or protein & veggies in the blender and add stock as needed to get to the consistancy that you want. It is so easy, better for your little boy. When I travel with baby food I put it in a "bottle carrier" that has a freezer pack in it to keep it cool. I have left baby food in the fridge for up to a week and it has been fine. As a rule of thumb I never leave it in longer than I would food for myself. :) Good luck mommy!

I also used the book "Super Baby Food" because I'm a dunce in the kitchen. (Just know that the book was published 10 years ago). But my pediatrician thought it was a good book too. While the author's recommendations vary per type of food, a lot of them say freeze for up to 2 months.

If I can do it, it must be easy enough! Basically, I used a blender/mini-blender and ice cube trays to freeze, then stored them in zippy bags in the freezer so I could re-use the trays. I take a few days worth of cubes out of the freezer and let them defrost in the fridge--unless I get behind, then seconds in the microwave works too. I bought cheap baby bowls to use in the fridge and serve right out of.

So far I've done veggies & fruits...easy stuff. I haven't mixed flavors in the blender, but I do after it's defrosted...for example, just take one cube of yams and a (1/2) cube of avocado for a yummy treat. I frequently mix-in baby cereal at least 1x/day and cereal works to thicken it up when your baby gets older.

When I'm going out, I just use jar food so I don't have to worry about insulated bags and keeping the food cold.

I'm not as gung-ho as the author of Super Baby Food, as I won't make my own cereal or yogurt and stuff, but my favorite page of the food book is a chart outlining at what age you can introduce different foods. I also found this website helpful: wholesomebabyfood.com

I am the only mom I know who has attempted making their own food- and it is honestly WAY easier than people think! I do all organic adn it is sooooooo much cheaper than buying- not to mention tastier, healthier,etc! Really the hardest part is clean-up on the afternoon I make the food. You know, the food processor can be a pain to clean. A couple of my tips- on the day you do your food- do two or three or four different kinds- not just one. I will have Sweet Potatoes in the oven baking and peas in my steamer. Then when I pull the peas out to puree them I will throw the green beans in. By the time I am done with both- the sweet potatoes are ready- and so on. I have ice cube trays with lids- but only three so I spoon the food into the trays (now I also use cupcake tins because my almost 8 month old is eating bigger portions) and just cover the other purees in the fridge and when one batch is frozen I transfer them into ziplock freezer bags with the date and type. I spoon the next batch into the ice cube trays... I bought 4 books on making baby food- but by far the best source of information for me has been www.wholesomebabyfood.com Also make sure you do bulk. I use some frozen (from everything I have read frozen is way better than canned and sometimes more fresh than "fresh" fruits and veges beacuse it is frozen RIGHT AFTER picking) and some fresh but I always do a lot- because it is just as easy to do a lot as a little- and I won't have to do it again for a month or so. I will steam like 4 bags of organic green beans adn it will make at least 84 oz. (each cube is roughly an oz). Those 84 oz = roughly 34 jars of stage one baby food (they are 2.5 oz each). Those four bags maybe cost me $9.00- 34 jars of organic green beans would cost me $26! Thats like a 65% savings- which is awesome if you ask me. Okay- so what I am trying to say is GO FOR IT- more people should!

Hello R.! I am not much of a cook, but I did baby food. I agree with the others - do it in bulk! I would pick one evening and cook 3 or 4 different veggies and fruits. Rather than ice cube trays, I used the small glad or ziplock containers (4 0z I think) - that way I had lids and I could grab and go. Often for a day out, I would grab a frozen container so it would stay cold, but thaw as the day progressed.

As far as recipes, initially, I did straight fruits or veggies and added water only - nothing for additional flavoring. Sweet Potatoes are easy, peas are good and they also mix well with carrots to change up flavors. I made applesauce and sometimes mixed in bananas or peaches with it. The only thing I struggled with was my eggplant - it didn't freeze well. My daughter seemed to like it a lot fresh, but not thawed.

I generally made food for the week, so nothing stayed in the fridge or freezer long - maybe 2 weeks in the freezer, but use a little sticker to date it so that older ones get used first.

It really is very easy - just be sure to use a food processor rather than the baby food mill - at least the ones I have seen are small, so you can't do bulk quickly and efficiently.

Good Luck!

The book, "Super Baby Food" is wonderful. It tells you storage times, when certain foods should be introduced, and much more. I just used the ice cube trays and worked great. Once cubes where frozen I used the Vacu-Seal bags to keep the frost bite down. Good Luck!