Seeking Recipes for Infants

I started with baby foof Gerber oatmeal cereal in the jar and a little powdered cereal in his milk bottle. If you want table food - tried cream of wheat for starters. I have 3 boys now ages 15, 11, and 9.

This woman, Jennifer I think, has lots of homemade recipes for baby food.
http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2009/07/mckmama-answersbaby...

hi how are you today? i,m a mom of 3, grandmother of 1, and a school teacher. i would reccomend first in the morning try him with baby cereal if he,s reluctant mix it with baby fruit in the jar eg. pear, banana etc, also lunch time try him with vegetables once again you can mix with the cereal and reason for mixing it,s gives it a little flavor. in the morning you can also try cereal mix with the formula or breast milk. i hope this would be very helpful to you.

K.,
I found the book baby superfood and it was very informative and had alot of great recipes. Good luck!

A.

I just threw whatever we were eating into the blender. I started with just fresh fruit or steamed veggies-- broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes puree well-- and added maybe a little water, especially to the sweet potatoes. Then, after a few months, I got brave and added food with some spices, onions, garlic, etc. Mashed egg yolk, mashed or pureed beans, and cottage cheese or yogurt are good for protein. I would also mash or puree things like lasagna, soup, chicken and rice--again, whatever we were eating, really. Both of my kids loved it and are now great eaters who don't shy away from veggies and spicy foods. Good luck-- it can be some work, but it's worth it and I applaud your efforts to provide your baby with healthy foods!

K.,
go to www.yummyspoonfuls.com you will find a wonderful company that makes all natural baby foods that can be delivered to your door. I am not sure if Agatha has branched out past the Atlanta area yet, but it is an awesome company that was just featured on CNN.

We pureed lots of different veggies and fruits and eventually started mixing them with whole grains like oatmeal, rice, etc (Earth's Best is a great organic brand). Once he has a few teeth and can begin learning to chew, I recommend getting the book "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. There are lots of great recipes in there that the whole family will enjoy and they won't even realize how nutritious it is for them!! :-)

Hi !!! I use a meal planning website called Saving Dinner. It has a lot of great recipes and she has recipes for homemade baby food. You might want to check it out...

http://www.savingdinner.com

Good Luck !!!

K.

The book Super Baby Food is great. It has tons of information on making everything from first time cereals to snacks for toddlers. All you need is a mini blender. A home yogurt maker comes in handy, too.

I got a baby food grinder at Babies R Us (about $10). You can put almost any kind of food in it and easily mash it up for your baby. I like it because I can use fresh fruits and veggies and even grilled chicken or pasta and make baby food with no extras like preservatives or sugar. Hard veggies, like carrots, can be microwaved with a little bit of water to soften them up a bit before grinding.

www.wholesomebabyfood.com

Also I like the book "Super Baby Food" although some people think it's "too healthy," because she recommends some foods that seem exotic or can only be found in the health food store. But the author's understanding of nutrition is sound.

One more thing that I forgot - the Super Baby Food book emphasizes making grains and "cereals" form scratch so that it's whole grain (like brown rice cereal), but several companies make whole-grain infant cereals (like Earth's Best.) In most grocery stores, they put this in the health food section or organic section. And even Super Targets now have high quality frozen baby meals that are super-healthy, although expensive. You can buy them once to get some new ideas and then make something similar at home.

But the "Super baby Food" cubes worked best for us - for about 12 months, I always had at least 3 bags of frozen cubes in my freezer - one had brown rice and lentil puree, another had pureed orange veggies and the third had pureed green veggies.

I'm an 40yo mother with young children, but what I have done with my 4 children are just cook the veggies yourself and then put them in ice cube trays and then into ziplocs after they are frozen. I have done and still am (have a 10 month old) putting a butternut squash in the oven after having cut it lengthwise. Put it in the oven on a cookie sheet with about a half inch or so of water, face down. Depending on the size about 45 minutes to an hour to cook. Then scoop it out and puree it with a hand mixer or whatever you have, then into ice cube trays.

I either use fresh or frozen green beans and peas. I buy the carrots fresh and peel those and cut and cook and use the hand mixer....same thing with sweet potatoes..peel, cut, and boil, then puree.

As far as first foods, I usually don't do the processed carb thing. We, as Americans, just eat too many carbs, so I usually start our babies out on avocado. Of course I don't freeze that, but I do buy a large amount at Sams (usually about 5 or 6 in a bag), because we love that anyway. Whatever the baby doesn't eat we make into guacamole. lol. As the child gets bigger, I start to add more spices and such to it.

You have to check out wholesomebabyfood.com. I used it and it is great! There are recipes on there to make teething biscuits and directions on how to buy, make and store homemade baby food. They also provide a guide on what food to introduce when. My almost one year old never liked baby cereal but took to avocados as a first food. I know that she is healthier for it having never tasted baby food and being exclusively breastfed. I also introduced water in a sippy cup when I introduced solids. Juice usually adds extra calories that they don't need and water provides the hydration they need and you can easily move on to whole milk after a year. Keep up with the breastfeeding and remember that it is their primary source of nutrition through the first year and beyond. Always offer the breast first then wait about 30 mins to an hour to offer solids so they won't be ravenously hungry but eager to try something new. Also, don't be afraid of extended nursing past the first year. There is a great stigma against it, especially in this country and the benefits of it to babies through the first two years are great not only on a nutritional level but also on a security and comfort level. I never expected to still be nursing as much as I am this close to Phoebe's first birthday, (July 19), but all the stuff I have seen and read about extended nursing makes me know that it is right to follow her lead on weaning. Most moms that have nursed past the first year are like me and they never expected to but truly enjoy it and can tell that their little ones are thriving because of it and it is VERY helpful in keeping some of the toddler craziness to a minimum. Keep up the good work. Oh yeah and making baby food at home is SOOOOO much cheaper than buying jarred baby food.

My food processor was a great help as I prepared steamed/cooked fresh vegetables(pureed). Per pediatrician, we started with carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes. We took our time as we made certain there were no food allergies. I used expressed breast milk as an additive for smoother/creamier texture.

I used the site listed below for all of my kids baby foods and they loved it.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

If you need any containers/ice trays for freezing homemade baby food in I have tons that I am ready to give away. If your anywhere near Cumming, GA and would like it pm me.

I got the book First Meals by Anabel Karmel that I liked a lot. Why don't you check out a library for some recipes? Good luck!

K. -

Congratulations on your decision to make your own food! It's easy and simple to do.

My first suggestion is keep it fresh - focus on what's in season or choose organic produce. We started our son on pureed carrots, then peas, yellow squash, sweet potatoes, even broccoli. I steamed the vegetables for 10-15 minutes, then used my food processor to chop and puree.

We moved on to fruit after the first month. Again, keep it fresh! Bananas mixed with rice cereal, pureed apples, peaches, pears, berries - chop and blend!

I work full time and still make his food. I recommend you invest in the Ziplock Vacuum sealer and bags, 3-4 ice cube trays and a sharpee! I make double batches, freeze the food in the ice cube trays then store in the vaccum sealed bags. Each cube equals approximately one tablespoon. His food will keep for up to 3 months if frozen correctly.

Also - I received Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel as a shower gift. It contains great recipes - some my husband and I have made as "adult" meals. (See One Pot Chicken)

Good Luck!

hi K.

Like some of the other responders, I also made our own babyfood cubes and stored them in the freezer. Some of the super basic baby food (the stuff that you'd want to start out with) is the simplest. Some examples:
-boil sweet potatoes and then puree them adding some of the cooking water to thin the puree as necessary
-fresh or frozen fruit blends well (when fruit is out of season, try buying cans of pears or peaches (in water or juice-- NOT in syrup!) and puree them then freeze them in ice cube trays (using canned fruits can be simpler than using fresh fruit because they are already peeled, are soft, and you have all of the juice to thin the puree as needed, but the fresh or frozen stuff may be a little more nutrient rich)

The summer my son was eating baby food we participated in a CSA (community supported agriculture) and were able to get all kinds of local, organic produce and we gave him all sorts of things from that assortment (although he did not appreciate me trying to get him to eat the beets!)

My son's absolute favorite baby food was also the healthiest for him-- bananas and avacado mixed together. He didn't like either alone, but loved them together. (Another mom I know made banana avacado freeze pops (with some breast milk in them too, I think) for her daughter to knaw on while she was teething.)

If you have a food processor or blender you can use those to puree the foods (which is great for, say, a big batch of sweet potatoes), but I also got a little electric baby food grinder as a gift that made it really quick and easy for me to prepare the food and clean up (everything goes in the dishwasher) and I still use it now for little things like making pesto. smile

Good luck and good for you for wanting to make your own baby food-- keep up the good work!