So I jumped on the baby food making bandwagon! I immediately knew that I wanted to make Gabriella's food and started researching early on. I mostly refer to Wholesome Baby Food for recipes, nutrition guidelines and info on storing the food. The benefits of making my baby's food are abundant and I feel empowered to know exactly what I'm feeding Gabriella. I like to know that carrots taste like carrots, peas like peas, and apples like apples- you get the point. Have you tasted the jarred baby food? First of all it's pretty disgusting and it doesn't even taste like said food since it contains all the added preservatives. After all, they have to upkeep the shelf life of these products. That itself was a big turnoff and once I learned how simple, nutritious, and budget-friendly it is to actually make your own food I was hooked! A few days prior to Gabriella's 6 month birthday we went to the grocery store and stocked up on a few veggies we were going to try out first. I bought sweet potatoes, organic carrots, and peas. I also bought a $10 steamer at Target and nothing else. You do not need a fancy "baby-food" processor. I pulled out my regular food processor and blender and they worked perfect!
Sweet Peas
I bought a bag of frozen peas. I suggest doing this because if you buy them in the pods, you will need tons of
them before you have enough for anything.
1) Place fresh peas into a steamer basket in a pan with a just enough water to slightly show through in the basket.
2) Steam them until tender about 15 minutes, (you don't need to steam them longer to get a thinner consistency due to the skins, this causes them to loose their nutrients).
3) Put them in the processor with a little of the reserved water and puree. (You can puree longer to ensure you get all the skins).
1)Wrap sweet potatoes in foil paper and poke holes with a fork (leave the skin on).
2) Place them in the oven at 400 degrees for 30-60 minutes depending on the size.
3) Once they are ready, let them cool for a bit and peel the skin off. (They were so tender skin came came right off) and scoop the meat out.
4) Place the meat in the processor and puree.
My entire house smelled delicious when the sweet potatoes where in the oven. It smelled like Thanksgiving ha! I couldn't help but get a taste and they were very yummy.
Carrots
1) Place fresh carrots into a steamer basket in a pan with a just enough water to slightly show through in the basket. (I bought the organic baby carrots that are already peeled at Kroger to save time).
2) Steam them until tender (Do not use/reserve any leftover water as Nitrates may seep into the cooking water).
3) Place them in the food prcoessor and puree (You may add water to achieve a better consistency).
Gabriella tried the peas first and she loved them, the sweet potatoes gave her diarrhea but we will try them again, and she also loved the carrots.
This week I made apples and green beans:
Apples
1) Cut apples in half and core them
2) Place them faced down in a shallow pan with about an inch of water in 400 degree oven
3) Peel the skin and scoop the meat.
4) Place in food processor and puree ( You may add water to achieve a better consistency).
* This also made my house smell so good. They were also very tasty! Once babies are allowed to have addes spices you can add a pinch of cinnamon and tiny bit of butter.
Green Beans
1) 1) Place green beans into a steamer basket in a pan with a just enough water to slightly show through in the basket.
2) Steam them until tender and reserve water.
3) Place them in the food processor and puree ( You may add water to achieve better consistency)
This is super esasy and not time consuming at all. Gabriella loves all her food so far. Pictures to come!
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