|
MomTipsOnline.com
~
The home of everything *Mom* ~
Make Your Own
Baby
Food
By Carrie Lauth
Is your baby about to start solid foods? Are
you thinking of making your own baby food?
When you make baby's first foods, you can
save money and reduce waste. You also can choose more nutritious
options. Fresh foods are typically more nutritious than canned, and
you can purchase organic food to prepare for baby if you wish. You
can also avoid unwholesome ingredients that show up in commercial
baby food. Making baby food doesn't have to be expensive or time
consuming. In fact, the easiest and cheapest way is the best way!
The easy way to making your own baby food:
1) Don't bother with buying one of those baby
food grinders. They're hard to clean and too much hassle.
2) If you wait until your baby is 6 months old
to start solids, you can almost always just mash with a fork to the
desired consistency.
If you're breastfeeding, you can even wait
until baby's "pincer grasp" is developed and offer him small finger
foods like peas, bits of grated apple, and the like. The pincer
grasp is developed when baby can pinch small objects (like those
bits of carpet fluff or food on the kitchen floor!) inbetween his
thumb and first finger. In fact, if you have a family tendency
towards food allergy, waiting longer to start solids may be
preferable. No matter what baby's age, always offer one food at a
time and wait several days to watch for signs of allergy before
offering another. Take it slow.
3) Start with fresh single ingredient foods
like:
Banana Steamed carrot, turnip, potato, yam
Avocado Ripe pear, peach, melon, plum Cooked squash Grated apple-
raw or steamed Peas Well cooked beans Hard cooked egg yolks (avoid
the whites until 1 year)
Some of these foods could be served raw. Others
are lightly steamed (steaming retains more nutrients than canning),
to make them softer for baby.
4) It's not necessary to make a big deal of
preparing baby's food.
If you want to take a lot of time blending food
and freezing them in ice cube trays, you could certainly do that.
But I'm all for the easy approach!
Although you do want to avoid giving baby salt
and sugar (and spices that may upset the tummy), you can usually
just take an ingredient from your own menu and "make" baby's dinner.
For instance, if you're steaming veggies to
serve at dinner, take a tablespoon of them out of the pan before you
add butter and salt. Put this in baby's plate and mash away. Voila!
Instant baby food with no extra work. Or take a bit of beef from
your roast and mash mash mash until it's very soft.
Even when you're at a restaurant, you can
either bring an apple with you and "grate" it finely with a spoon at
your table, or bring along a banana or other portable food. Any
restaurant with a salad bar would have cooked beans or avocado. Or
give baby a bit of your baked potato (before you add the goodies on
top).
Life with a new baby is challenging enough.
Keep starting solids simple!
Carrie Lauth, mom of 4, publishes a free
newsletter for Moms. Visit NaturalMomBusinessGuide.com | 
