Websites for Making Babyfood

No matter what source you use for recipes, you need a VitaMix. Oh my gosh. It can turn a brick into liquid. No lie. We needed to have puree in the house for an elderly family member who struggled with swallowing issues. With the VitaMix, no matter what we had for dinner, she did too. It turns making babyfood in to a breeze.

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www.wholesomebabyfood.com . The author is a mother of 6YO twins and she has loads of good suggestions, sample menus, etc.

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Babycenter.com has a good article about what to feed your baby and when, as does the book "'What to Expect' the First Year." However, you don't need a book or a website to prepare baby food. It's easy! You start with fruits and vegetables; more bland varieites first (like pears, sweet potatoes, etc). You can use fresh fruit or veggies (boil/steam until soft and then food process, or fresh soft fruit with a little water in the processor); canned fruit or veggies (look for fruit canned in 100% fruit juice--not syrup--and veggies with no salt added); or frozen fruit/veggies (thaw by boiling/steaming until soft and then process). Once the food is processed into a smooth consistency, pour or scoop into ice cube trays and freeze, then keep in zip-lock freezer bags for handy one-serving portions. We started with pears, peaches, sweet potatoes and carrots (after grains were well accepted). Good luck!

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Skimmed the other responses, but didn't see this. My mom purchased the Baby Cook by Baeba at Williams Sonoma for me. It steams and purees in the same machine. Prior to that I was using pots, blender & cuisinart and it was a giant mess. This lil machine has been quite helpful. It's a bit pricey ($90 I think), but worth it since I don't have a huge mess of pots and all the Cuisinart parts to clean up. It's also nice when you've just got one quick thing you want to prepare. Downside I recently learned is that it doesn't do a great job at pureeing beef and chicken. They are left a bit chunky. It just doesn't seem powerful enough. I guess that's okay, b/c I introduced my son to pureed meats at 8 mos and I can't imagine it will be too long before he starts eating these foods in chunks or a thicker format. Happy cooking!

anabel karmel... i love her books. they are bright and colorful. First Foods has recipes up to famiy meals and I've gotten some good ones out of there that the whole family loves. So that book is worth the money!!

she also has a website. love it!!

Hello,

Try out http://www.petitappetit.com/ I bought the book version and like it.

Good luck,
V.

I didn't bother with a book. I just constantly referenced the website:
www.wholesomebabyfood.com
I love it for info on when to start foods, preparation ideas, and more.
I made about 90% of my daughter's food. Make it in big batches and freeze. It's so easy!
FYI, Acadamy of Pediatrics does not recommend making your own carrots because carrots from the produce department are too high in nitrates for babies. Babyfood makers grow carrots specifically low in nitrates for this reason.
Oh, and my preferred tool was always my regular blender. I made such a big mess with the food processor! And I do have the little $10 food mill from KidKo(I think) that I used for a single serving (i.e. a pear was too soft for me to enjoy so I'd stick it in there and have fresh lunch for baby).
Enjoy!

I got some great tips on wholesomebabyfood.com. The biggest hit was tofu chunks covered with crushed cheerios. My daughter loves it. The site has quick, healthy meal ideas and basic general feeding tips...all very helpful.

Try "Feeding the Whole Family" by Cynthia Lair

You don't need anything special to prepare your child's food. You can get a baby food grinder and take it to the table. When you prepare food for yourself, just make a little extra for your baby. Grind it at the table and feed it to him. Gradually introduce new foods. My daughter refused jarred baby food and went directly to eating table food at 7 months of age. She developed quite normally and still loves my cooking :-). Best wishes.

I also highly recommend www.wholesomebabyfood.com. I also recommend 'Baby Bites' for its clear layout of sample daily menus for babies of varying ages.

One word of caution on 'Super Baby Food' (which I also use). Confirm information from that book with other sources. I recall seeing in there somewhere that she recommended peanut butter from an early age, but my understanding is that you do not introduce them until at least 1 year.

wholesomebabyfood.com is good. Otherwise - steam any veggie you like in the microwave in a glass bowl with a dab of water until a little soft, puree in blender and divide up into small containers - freeze extra for up to 3 months. Peas and corn are the easiest.
Also, kp.org ( kaiser permanente) has a nutrition chart you can print out for introducing solids to avoid allergies & chocking hazards.

I second it....

http://wholesomebabyfood.com/

Hi J.
All of these moms are wonderful first of all
no I would like to put my idea in I know I haven't read all of them yet sorry I have 4 children and what we did was we bought a food grinder and what ever we ate our baby's ate but at first I know know how old your son is but if he still young I would do the baby cereal its like oatmeal good luck D. mother of 4

I second the advice about the SuperBabyfood book. It's terribly laid out, but it does have more information than almost anything I've encountered. My advice about that that book is to take it slowly, look at it periodically, and just pick out one or two chapters at a time that interest you, based on your child's age, the kind of food you're wondering about, etc. For example, if you really want to figure out how to get your kid eating green vegetables, look at the chapter on making super babyfood cubes.

I had a different kind of experience with that book. Much of that book is based on food that can be spoon-fed. Things were going great for me until my daughter at age one simply refused to be spoon fed. Nada. That was it. I had to struggle quickly to find very easy foods she could eat with her fingers as we gradually worked (for many months) on teaching her to use a spoon. So stay flexible, because you have no idea what'll happen!

Superbabyfood is probably the best resource you'll find. The book is arranged terribly! Just mark the pages you need with lots of post-its, and make do.

As for peanutbutter, which someone else mentioned: In the US we let 1-2-3 year olds eat it. In Australia, they say not to give it until age 7!!!!!! (What do you put in your first grader's lunchbox?) So when to introduce what foods is partly science and partly cultural (Aussies don't eat much peanutbutter.)

I loved the book, So Easy Baby Food by Joan Ahlers and Cheryl Tallman. It comes with ice cube trays for freezing the food. You'll need more ice cube trays though. All recipes are easy and can be done in the microwave. It is also very clear about what foods should be introduced and when to introduce them.

Good Luck!

Hi J.,

I have always made my son's food (now he eats what I make for the family).

When he was ready to start baby food, I went to the store and made a list of the jar food available at each stage/age. i used the jar foods as my guide to making baby food.

A few pointers:
1) invest is some of the really small (like 2 oz) tupperware-type containers. Make a batch of puree, divi it into the containers then freeze all but a couple. Every time he eats one move one to the fridge so you always have a little "jar" ready to go.
2) Try some semi-homemade things. Like, buy the regular unsweetened applesauce in a jar, then puree it until it's smooth enough for baby.
3) Feed your baby things your family likes to eat. It makes food prep easier (make a batch of baby food carrots while you make carrots for yourself. Plus, it will be easier when you transition to table foods.
4) I found that our high quality blender worked very well for making purrees. Don't invest in a new fancy gadget or special "baby food maker" unless you find that your existing blender does not do the job.

Hope this helps.

T.

I have two baby food books that I like:

Simply Natural Baby Food is short, simple, but very easy to use and I like the natural recipes which include a lot of grains like quinoa and barley and millet which I wouldn't have thought to use for a baby. It has a lot of useful tips and interesting combinations which you can progress with up to toddler age.

The Petit Appetit cookbook is more comprehensive with a different layout, but I like some of the ideas in there as well.

I really like the Kidco line of products - blender and freezer trays. I also just use icecube trays when I run out of space in the freezer trays. You can also use a cookie sheet and put spoonfuls on the sheet, cover with saran wrap and freeze. Then put the frozen clumps in a freezer bag for your weekly meals.

keep it simple. i blend raw bananas & peaches in a regular blender. i boil then blend squash, apples, carrots, yams, etc.
i found that breastmilk storage bags come in handy for freezing the blended food in baby amounts. i warm the food by running hot water over the bag or putting the bag in a bowl of hot water. trust your instincts, you'll do great!

I wasn't crazy about Super Baby Food either. I uses Annabel Karmel's books - "Top 100 baby food purees" and another one for toddlers. I use a lot of the recipes (and alter some b/c I don't use wheat or as much milk). She also uses tomatoes too early and oj too early. But some of the purees are really yummy!
Good for you for wanting to make fresh homemade food. I make 90% homemade and now my 15 month old eats all veggies I out in front of him. I think it's important for developing healthy eating habits.

Check out: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Hi there! I really, really like the book "Mommy Made and Daddy, too" by Martha and David Kimmel. Check it out on Amazon.com. It includes awesome helps on when to introduce what and simple recipes for making everything. And, it continues on past pureed food and goes into ideas for toddlers, too. I used it for both of my children and had wonderful success with it (and plan to use it with my third on the way). SOOO much cheaper to make your own food, and you KNOW what's in it! OH, and I highly recommend just using regular ice-cube trays to put the puree in to freeze it...so much cheaper than the fancy ones at Babie's R Us and accomplishes the exact same thing. Each cube is usually about 1 oz. After you freeze it, you pop the cubes out into freezer ziplocs and label them with the name of the food and date. Works great! Best luck in your cooking endeavors. It's really not all that hard.

(LOL just read the other responses and I guess I could've just said "ditto", but really, check out that book)

I used "Mommy Made and Daddy Too" for the basics. It's *great* that you are planning to make your son's meals at home. The truth is, once you get the hang of it, you won't look at the book anymore. What you really need to know is what order to introduce, and how long to cook certain things. In other words, if you can borrow the book rather than buy, that would be to your benefit.

Well the website is freshbaby.com but it mostly advertises for their product "So Easy Baby Food" which is great! I just got it for my 6 month old, and it has a super easy cookbook along with all kinds of charts for when to introduce what, what to look for regarding allergic reactions, and tons of other useful info. The idea is to cook & puree the food, then put it in the freezer trays overnight so you have 24 individual portions after one cooking session. I am going to make my first batch of food tomorrow. I would highly recommend the food kit!

Hi J.,

Haven't tried recipes from here yet, but this site looks good to me!
www.weelicious.com

Buon appetito!

I've been making my son's food for about 2 months now and have tried several books from the library. I liked Top 100 Baby Purees the best. However, when you start, it's pretty easy since you should only introduce one food at a time. I would also highly recommend the Beaba babyfood maker. It makes steaming and pureeing baby food soooo easy. My friend had a baby food mill that she hated, and when I recommended the new machine, she got it and now she also loves the Beaba. For storage, I would recommend Baby Cubes, or saving the glass containers that come with baby food when you do buy your son prepared food.

I absolutely recommend you do make your own baby food. It is super easy, super affordable and definitely manageable, and you don't need a web-site or cookbook. I work full time and have a 3 yr & 1 yr old. I've been making my own baby food for my baby since he was 4 months old. I did the same for my older son. I guarantee you if I can do it, so can you. I still recommend you buy jar food, because it is convenient for times you go out to dinner or travel.

The easiest way I found is every time I cook something for the family, I also cook for the baby. This is how you work it into your schedule. Otherwise, you can do it all on the weekend.

I chop chicken breast in bite size pieces and cook them in chicken broth. Beef I cut thinly and cook the same way. Actually, I cook all protein and veggies in no fat, low-sodium chicken broth because it gives the food some flavor. Sometimes I choose to also steam some of the veggies. Anyway once you have you protein and veggies cooked, you want to puree them with the same broth you cooked them in because the vitamins for the veggies will seep into the liquid, and because a little liquid helps the puree process.

After pureeing your protein/veggies I portion it into Ice Cube trays (I bought the ones that come with a cover from "OXO"). I freeze the food and it is perfect portion control because each food cube is about a tablespoon.

Fruit is a little different because you don't need liquid to puree. Only I found that watermelon really doesn't work well for this method, but I still do puree watermelon and serve it to my baby in a net teether, so he can suck on it.

Veggies that work great are any squash, zucchini, broccoli, egg plant, corn, peas, but potatoes you want to bake in the oven until they fall apart. Great fruits are pears, strawberries, blueberries, mango, apples, bananas. Best of all, you can mix and match to come up with different combinations to serve your baby.

I hear people use blenders, mixers, etc. I have one of those "Magic Bullet" nock-offs call the "Mrs. Kitchen". It is perfect because it is small and takes almost no space on my counter. Plus, it purees so well that even chicken can be smooth enough for a "stage 1" eater.

Best of luck!