best vegetables for homemade babyfood?

We have a 6 month old who is starting on solid food. We want to make
our own and have had mixed luck with various foods. For those of you
who make your own, what veggies do you find work best? What doesn't
work well?

Here are my thoughts.

carrots: Easy to mash in the food processor

zucchini squash: Easy to prepare but seems to give our baby painful
gas.

green beans: Don't seem to mash well in the food processor. The
problem seems to be that the pods are so fibrous. I don't suppose I'm
supposed to remove the pods first? That would be tedious.

peas: haven't tried these yet. Think the pods would be as fibrous as
green beens. Same question as above RE removing the pods. Thought
about using frozen pease but they seem to all have salt added.

squash: not sure what type is best to use. Anyone have any input?

Engwar wrote:

We have a 6 month old who is starting on solid food. We want to make
our own and have had mixed luck with various foods. For those of you
who make your own, what veggies do you find work best? What doesn't
work well?

Here are my thoughts.

carrots: Easy to mash in the food processor

zucchini squash: Easy to prepare but seems to give our baby painful
gas.

green beans: Don't seem to mash well in the food processor. The
problem seems to be that the pods are so fibrous. I don't suppose I'm
supposed to remove the pods first? That would be tedious.

peas: haven't tried these yet. Think the pods would be as fibrous as
green beens. Same question as above RE removing the pods. Thought
about using frozen pease but they seem to all have salt added.

They're not all that bad to shell, especially
given the relatively small quantities needed for a baby.

squash: not sure what type is best to use. Anyone have any input?

Most of the winter squash are quick and easy,
like butternut or acorn.

Sweet potatoes are super easy.

And, of course, the easiest of all are bananas
and avocados, since you can easily mash them with a fork
without cooking them.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"Engwar" wrote in message
om...
green beans: Don't seem to mash well in the food processor. The
problem seems to be that the pods are so fibrous. I don't suppose I'm
supposed to remove the pods first? That would be tedious.

You can cook them until they are soft, then they puree fine (you need to add
water)

peas: haven't tried these yet. Think the pods would be as fibrous as
green beens. Same question as above RE removing the pods. Thought
about using frozen pease but they seem to all have salt added.

Yes, you need to take them out of the pods. Are you not in the US? I've
never seen plain frozen veggies with salt added here in the US.


squash: not sure what type is best to use. Anyone have any input?

Acorn squash and butternut squash work well.

You also didn't mention sweet potatoes, those are a good one that most
babies like because of the sweet flavor.

Thanks for all the responses. Just an FYI, the green beans ended up
working pretty well. I added some water and put them in a blender
(after the food processor) and they pureed just fine.

Tracey, I am in the US. At my local supermarket all of the frozen peas
list salt in the ingredients list. I'll have to shop around.

Thanks again! I'll have to try some of the acorn and butternut squash.
Anyone know if yellow squash is ok?



"Tracey" wrote in message . com...
"Engwar" wrote in message
om...
green beans: Don't seem to mash well in the food processor. The
problem seems to be that the pods are so fibrous. I don't suppose I'm
supposed to remove the pods first? That would be tedious.

You can cook them until they are soft, then they puree fine (you need to add
water)

peas: haven't tried these yet. Think the pods would be as fibrous as
green beens. Same question as above RE removing the pods. Thought
about using frozen pease but they seem to all have salt added.

Yes, you need to take them out of the pods. Are you not in the US? I've
never seen plain frozen veggies with salt added here in the US.


squash: not sure what type is best to use. Anyone have any input?

Acorn squash and butternut squash work well.

You also didn't mention sweet potatoes, those are a good one that most
babies like because of the sweet flavor.

"Engwar" wrote in message
om...
Thanks again! I'll have to try some of the acorn and butternut squash.
Anyone know if yellow squash is ok?

Yellow squash is okay, but like zucchini it can tend to get watery. If it
does, you can just add a little bit of baby cereal (like rice or barley) to
get it to a better consistency for spooning.

"Engwar" wrote in message
om...
We have a 6 month old who is starting on solid food. We want to make
our own and have had mixed luck with various foods. For those of you
who make your own, what veggies do you find work best? What doesn't
work well?

Here are my thoughts.

carrots: Easy to mash in the food processor

Not supposed to use carrots because of nitrates in the soil.

green beans: Don't seem to mash well in the food processor. The
problem seems to be that the pods are so fibrous. I don't suppose I'm
supposed to remove the pods first? That would be tedious.

If you cook them soft, maybe add some water, they should work fine. These
were one of DD's favorite first finger foods--cooked very soft and cut into
small bits.


peas: haven't tried these yet. Think the pods would be as fibrous as
green beens. Same question as above RE removing the pods. Thought
about using frozen pease but they seem to all have salt added.

My kids loved peas. I used frozen, cooked and pureed--I never see peas with
salt added. These don't mash down nearly as well as some other foods--they
stayed a little grainy. So they came a little later when the kids were
eating more textured foods.

squash: not sure what type is best to use. Anyone have any input?

Any. Pumpkin works really well--comes out very smooth and lots of kids love
it. Acorn squash also seems less fibrous than some. You'll want to strain
squash after cooking and pureeing to get rid of the strings.

You can also do sweet potatoes (a favorite first food), broccoli, potatoes,
beets, kale and other greens (should probably wait until closer to 9 months
for greens).


--
Jodi
SAHM to Oliver (3 years, 7 months) & Arwen (17 months)

"hobbes" wrote in message
...
Not supposed to use carrots because of nitrates in the soil.

I always heard/read this that you shouldn't make homemade carrots because of
nitrates in the soil, that you should only use the babyfood processed one
instead. But I wonder, don't THOSE carrots that come in the jars come from
the soil too? Why would those not have nitrates? I'd love to hear an
explanation of this, does anyone have a link?

What you need is a food mill
(see http://www.nextag.com/All~food+millz0zB4zmainz5-htm for a variety
of samples).

A food processor only takes you so far, but a food mill lets you
process the food and leave the fibrous bits behind (it squishes it
through holes so its like a forced sieve. I used to make baby food for
my first (of 3) by just making a little extra at meal times, cooking
things soft, and then running them through the mill and freezing the
product into ice cube trays. I could then pop the frozen "cubes" out
into a baggie and keep them in the freezer, ready to go.
My food mill had relatively small holes, so the resultant texture was
quite smooth, but if you have a fancier model, it comes with different
sized hole plates, so you can make chunkier baby food if you want an
older baby to get more texture.

By the time I got to #2 and #3, I kinda skipped the whole "shovel goo"
into baby phase, and we went straight to well cooked or shredded
finger foods.

Mary G.
Lazy mom at large.

My kids didn't digest carrots well as babies.

With my first baby, I used an ice-cube tray to make
baby-food of pears, carrots etc.

With my second baby, I just cooked a meal for myself that
included potatoes, sweet potatoes or something, sat down,
took a little of my potato or whatever, and mashed it with a fork
for baby. It took practically no time since I could do
it while eating. She sat on my lap and ate while I ate.

Banana is very easy to mash for baby, too. If you add
a tiny bit of vitamin C powder it helps prevent it from
turning brown.

When baby was older and able to take food with a bit
more texture, I would sometimes take corn-on-the-cob,
slit the rows of kernels, and squeeze the insides of the
kernals out by running a knife over it. The outsides of
the kernels stay on the cob; the insides, sort-of semi-pureed
already, come out and can be served to a toddler.
--
Cathy