Hello,
Was wondering what you all used (and liked) for making baby food. I heard good things about the magic bullet, and also noticed that One Step Ahead came out with a food processor as well. Any comments, suggestions? Also, any good recipes you would like to share? I am new at making baby food, so please speak up! Thank YOU!
We happened to have a food processor and a magic bullet - the food processor worked great for when we wanted to make big batches of food and freeze it. We liked the magic bullet for making baby food from leftovers - we'd just toss the leftovers and a bit of formula into the magic bullet and voila - a few containers of food!
Time consuming, but we saved a TON of money - best of luck to you!
K.
wholesomebabyfood.com has lots of great recipes broken down by type of food and age, tho you have to use your discretion about what you think your baby is ready for. Also, I'd recommend just using a regular food processor (we found one at a thrift store) rather than using the mills to make individual servings. That way you can make more and freeze it in ice-cube trays for later use.
The latest and greatest (by far!) baby food maker out there is the Beaba Babycook! I've made baby food for all three of my kids and wish I had this for my first two. You cook and puree the food in the same container...and it's all BPA-free! You can get more information on it here: http://uggamugga.blogspot.com/2009/02/beaba-babycook.html
A favorite of our daughters was cooked sweet potatoes/yams. Cook them like a baked potato in the oven (or in microwave if in a hurry), cut in half, scoop out & mash the soft, cooked potato. Cool to room temperature before eating. These "treats" were especially enjoyed when we went out for dinner. I would cook the potato at home, put in a travel container & by the time we got to dinner the potato would be the perfect temperature to eat. They loved them & they were so good good nutritionally! Another favorite was mashed bananas. They also traveled well; peel & mash when ready to eat. Keeping it simple was the key to our success. Most vegetables, fruits, chicken - food we were eating anyway - could be finely chopped either by hand or with a manual chopper (Pampered Chef makes a great one).
I liked using a smaller blender for making baby food because in my regular blender, the food tended to spray out to the sides and stick rather than get pureed. I tried different speeds/settings too!
I did not follow any set recipes. I bought all my DD's fruits and veggies fresh and cooked and blended anything that could not be mashed with a fork. I preferred to do it this way so that I would know what was in it, and could control the sugar and salt content. I wanted her to learn what food tasted like without all the extras that so often are added. I sometimes made extra and froze it in ice cube trays, but usually served everything fresh.
www.wholesomebabyfood.com is a great resource for when to start different foods. They have recipes for different things you can make as well.
Good luck to you making your baby's food! My DD is 14 months and I think feeding her "real" food instead of baby food is why she eats everything that I give her!
I used a "mini chopper" that I got from Target. It is like a mini food processor that only held like 2 cups...it was only $10 and was perfect for the 3-4 months that my son was eating pureed food. Here is a link to a similar one for $13: http://www.target.com/dp/B000NJBYWG/sr=1-7/qid=1243189264...
Like a couple of other posters mentioned, http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ has everything you need including recipes
Hi H.,
You've gotten a lot of good advice already, but I will add my 2 cents... I use my little 2 cup (or maybe 3 cup?) food processor for pureeing & it works great. I usually do 4-5 apples, 4-5 pears, and a can each of sweet potato puree, squash puree (I find these in the regular canned veg aisle), and peaches & it lasts for 2-3 weeks. Less frequently, I'll cook some chicken breast and a bag of frozen peas or green beans to puree as well.
Now that my little guy is 9 months old, but still doesn't have any teeth, I've been using my pampered chef grater (the kind with a crank), or my pastry cutter to preserve a little more texture. I have the kind of pastry cutter that actually has blades - I don't think the kind that has wires would work as well. I also have a manual crank food mill which works well for small amounts, when we give the baby a portion of whatever we're having to eat, but it's not super easy to use or clean.
I just put a Black and Decker full sized food processor on my baby registry and actually received it. It was the most wonderful thing. With the large size, I could make a lot of pureed food at once. Just put the puree in ice cube trays and freeze it, then pop out the food and put in ziploc freezer bags. That way, you only have to make sweet potatoes once and it feeds for a month!! :) If you get the mini choppers or magic bullets, you'll be making baby food constantly. Also, don't waste your money on a One Step Ahead food processor when you can buy one made by a food electronics company!
I just used my blender, but if you do that, make sure you have a GOOD blender, or you will be frustrated.
Super Baby Foods is a fantastic book by Ruth Yaron. It is PACKED with information, tips, and recipes, and has info you can use beyond the baby stage too. There are plenty of ideas in there that will be fun for you and your 4-yr old too. She has simple suggestions for which foods to feed first and how to make (and store) your own baby food.
Hi,
I used the Magic Bullet and a regular food processor and both worked fine. It just depended on the amount of food I was making. For recipes, I really liked the website www.wholesomebabyfood.com. They have all kinds of recipes and info on when to introduce different types of food. Good luck!
I have a magic bullet that I use for making my baby food and it is wonderful! So easy to use and to even easier to clean up! Here is a link to a great website that I have used for making baby food. It is full of great recipes and ideas.
Hi H.,
I had a very low-tech, easy way of making "baby food". I bought canned fruits and vegetables. I watched the salt & sugar content, and made sure the fruit was in 100% juice. Then I just pureed it in the blender. IMHO, the baby food grinders and processors are a gimmick. If you already have a regular blender or a food processor, it will work just fine.
Some foods need some of the juice they come in (like peas) and others do not (peaches). Worse case scenario is that something is a little runnier than you'd like--add a little baby cereal to thicken it up. Some foods like bananas, avocados, eggs, noodles, and potatoes can be mashed with just a fork.
Once my son could handle some texture, he ate whatever we were eating, either mashed or pureed. I never made special recipes for him. You can use baby cereal to thicken foods (soup) and breastmilk/formula to make foods softer if needed (like meat). While you should avoid/limit salt and sugar, don't be afraid of spices and some flavor. My 17 month old son LOVES curried lentils. Have fun and remember that it does not have to get complicated or fancy!
All the other moms have given some great advice on processors and where to find recipes, you can also find great books at the library so you can check them out before you spend the money on buying them.
The one thing I want to mention is: the AAP and WHO don't recommend starting solids until 6 months or after. Your "about me" states a 14 week old. I understand that might be old, but just want to be sure! :):)
Oh - and don't forget to wait 2-3 days between new foods to help determine if there are any allergies or sensitivities.
