How to Make Homemade Baby Food

If you’ve shopped for baby food lately, you might be surprised at how high it is.  Plus, if you want your baby's food to be organic, all natural and not full of sugar, fillers and preservatives, you have to pay even more.  With a little time and work, you can save money by making your own.  It’s easy and simple to make delicious, nutritious meals for your baby. Here are some tips on how to make homemade baby food.

Supplies:

* A steamer.  Don’t boil baby food; it reduces nutrients.  You can get an inexpensive steamer that cooks quickly and leaves all the vitamins and minerals your baby needs
* A food processor.  A blender can be used also, but there tends to be a bigger mess and more food wasted.
* Ice cube trays, freezer bags, and lots of space.  Unless you want to cook up food for your child everyday, freezing is the way to go.  Instead of having to make new, you can just pop it in a bowl, warm it, and be ready to go in no time.   Ice cube trays are a great way to store food and make convenient portion sizes.

The first step is to wash and skin fruits and vegetables then cut them up into small pieces.  This will make them easier to use later.  If skinning and peeling gets tedious, you can always use some prepared food from the grocery store, like baby carrots.  

The next step is to cook your food.  For vegetables, use the steamer.  Once you’re done steaming, keep the water.  You can add it later to thin out the food to the right consistency.  If you’re preparing meat or pasta, just cook it on the stove as normal, but don’t add any oil, butter or spices.

After your food is done cooking, you’re ready to start processing.  Put the foods separately into the food processor.  For pureed foods, you can leave the processor alone because it may take a while.  Later on when the food needs less processing, you may need to monitor it.  This is also the point where you would start fruits like banana that don’t require cooking.  You could also try throwing in some of last night’s leftovers if they're appropriate for your baby's stage of development.

After your food is prepared, pour it into the ice cube trays.  Once the cubes are frozen, put 2 to 4 of them into a Ziploc back and put them back into the freezer.  At first, you should keep the same kinds of foods in the same bag, but as your baby is eating new foods you can start mixing and matching.  For example, put in two meat cubes and two pasta cubes for a mixed meal.

When you’re ready to go, just take a baggie out of the freezer and pop it into a bowl of hot water.  With just a little work, you can make great tasting, inexpensive meals for your baby.  You might also enjoy using the Fresh Baby Easy Baby Food Kit.