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#11
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Baby Food Question
What I am wanting to know is how many of you make your own baby food?
What kind of processor (blender etc) do you use? And lastly, where do you get the recipes? We are very seriously considering making Ali's food ourselves so that we can buy only organic veggies and fruit etc.. I know most people here didn't bother wish specially made baby food, but I did, and I enjoyed it. Looking back, I probably wouldn't have needed to put as much time into the whole thing as I did, but as I said, it was fun, and I liked the fact that I had so much control over what DS was eating. Now that I'm trying to keep up with a 2.5 year old, I think DD will have to do with less production, but I still refuse to buy jarred baby food. For various reasons: too expensive, too much trash/recycling, not enough control over ingredients, inferior taste. I used a blender, a hand-cranked food grinder, and a book called Super Baby Food (forget the author). The book goes a little over the top in some areas, but I really appreciated the timeline for foods, the recipe for cereal, suggestions for healthy additions, and the suggestions for finger foods and meals. My basic process was to steam veggies until very soft, blend them, add water as needed, strain if necessary, and freeze them in ice cube trays. Some fruit I cooked (applesauce, etc), the rest I just pureed/grinded/mashed and fed to DS right away. DS preferred pureed food for quite a while, so I kept this up for longer than I think most kids need it. Most children, by age 7-9 months, do well with feeding themselves small chunks of soft things, cheerios, etc. So it's hard to tell how long you might want to continue the whole process--every kid is different. This time around, I still plan on making the cereal (made one batch a week, froze individual servings, total time: maybe 10 minutes, so totally worth it), and I'll probably do the ice-cube method for certain things. But this time around I'm more likely to just pull out veggies before I add seasonings (butter, salt, etc), make sure they're cooked extra soft, and either give them to DD as is, or grind them in the baby grinder or fork-mash them. HTH, -- Jodi SAHM to Oliver (2 years, 5 months) & Arwen (3 months) |
#12
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Baby Food Question
Ali's Daddie wrote in message ... I am posting this to 3 different NG's, but not cross posting. Alegra is not ready for solids yet. In fact, the pediatrician said that she will discuss with us the introduction of solids at our next visit (september 30th). 4 month visit. What I am wanting to know is how many of you make your own baby food? What kind of processor (blender etc) do you use? Kenwood hand held blender. And lastly, where do you get the recipes? We are very seriously considering making Ali's food ourselves so that we can buy only organic veggies and fruit etc.. This is what I did. We collected old baby food jars, whenever she used one, and from friends. Then we'd have an evening cooking and filling. I'd get several vegetables (eg broccoli, carrots, parsnips, tomatoes) boil them up (without salt) strain them (keeping some of the strained water), then blend (in separate bowls) them to the level she could presently cope with. Usually 1 chicken breast, 1 piece of fish (almost always salmon) and cook them (in oven) then blend them finely. Grate some cheese. Large amount of potatoes and sweet potatoes, mashed with (unsalted) butter and possibly expressed milk (or the strained water). Express some milk. Then I'd spoon different recipes into a big mixing bowl. With one bit of potato, 1-2 bits of veg, and 1 bit of meat/cheese. Mix them together, add milk and some strained water to right consistancy and put into labelled (date and ingredients) baby food jars. Freeze them. This would make about a month's food. We did try puddings, but she wasn't terribly keen. For lunch I usually gave her a yoghurt, and dinner was usually banana. We altered this depending on age. For example, at first we used plastic bags to freeze in, and did very small portions of just single veg. Then we did potato/sweet potato and cheese only, then we moved onto the above. As she got older we added pieces of chopped carrot, or peas, or sweetcorn, or dwarf beans to give lumps and we didn't blend it quite so finely. This would be totally organic, except the expressed milk! Debbie |
#13
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Baby Food Question
Ali's Daddie wrote: I am posting this to 3 different NG's, but not cross posting. Alegra is not ready for solids yet. In fact, the pediatrician said that she will discuss with us the introduction of solids at our next visit (september 30th). 4 month visit. What I am wanting to know is how many of you make your own baby food? We didn't make baby food per se, but our son had bit of whatever we were having. The only pre made food I bought was the jars of fruit which were very convenient to take out. What kind of processor (blender etc) do you use? When I needed to mash something I used a fork. And lastly, where do you get the recipes? To start with we kept things very simple, just plain vegetable or fruit. Then he started having what we had (excluding any allergy risk foods) We are very seriously considering making Ali's food ourselves so that we can buy only organic veggies and fruit etc.. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :-D The longer you wait, the easier it becomes. If the baby can use their fingers its even easier. Mary Ann |
#14
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Baby Food Question
For
example, it seems to be commonly held that rice cereal has some use to formula-fed babies because it's iron-enriched, but it's not particularly useful for breastfed babies. Which may have been valuable back when babies were commonly switched to cows milk at 6 months. But today FF babies are usually kept on formula for 12 months, and formula contains more than ample iron. I wouldn't be surprised if FF mothers tended, on average, to start babies on solids earlier, but I'd guess it would have to do with parenting style (a more 'old fashioned' style that would tend to do things the way grandma did them, perhaps?), than due to any nutritional need. (Also, of course, some mothers put cereal in the bottle from a VERY early age, but that's another issue entirely.) Naomi CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator (either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail reply.) |
#15
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Baby Food Question
I made almost all of DD's pureed foods (she actually preferred them to the
jarred "thank you very much" says she). We used a blender for most of the larger veggies I did in batches. We also used a hand blender Braun for some quicker "on the fly" feedings. I used a book written by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto (not that DD is sick, just that their nutritionists wrote the book). Most recipes for pureed stuff are the same - boil or steam it and use the water that it was cooked in to help with the puree until you achieve the consistency you like. I also have a book called "Infant Meal Planner by Nicola Graimes. It has great recipes. Stuff you don't have to cook: - avacado, banana Other stuff I cooked (steamed in batches in a large pot with an inch and a half of water (minimum) in the bottom) Cook until very soft: - parnsips & apple (mix with squash for a yummy meal) (15 min) - squash (pepper and butternut) (15 min) - sweet potato (20 - 30 min) - apples (10 min) if cut small - pears (5-8 min) just to soften - carrots (10-15 min if cut small - zucchini (8-10 min) - cauliflower (10 min) (add potoato & leek to this puree YUM) 15-20 min - broccolli (15 min) - new potato (mix with breastmilk or formula to mash) (15 min) - nectarine (5 min) - apricots (5 min) - mango (2 mins) - melon (2 mins) - dried apricot (10-15 min) Some combos I used - spinach & green bean, apple parsnip & butternut squash, apricot & yellow turnip, cauliflower potato & leek, apple pear & peach If you cut all the fruit & veg up in small pieces, it's easier to blend and will steam that much more quickly. Just make sure everything is very soft before pureeing it. I froze batches in ice cube trays and transferred them into ziploc baggies. This made for quick meals in proportioned sizes. Good luck! P.S. I'd wait until 6 months. Baby will be better adjusted to handle foods by then. Also, be sure to introduce items singly with a space of several days to observe for allergies. Don't introduce a mix unless all items have been previously given. HTH, theother Cheryl "Ali's Daddie" wrote in message ... I am posting this to 3 different NG's, but not cross posting. Alegra is not ready for solids yet. In fact, the pediatrician said that she will discuss with us the introduction of solids at our next visit (september 30th). 4 month visit. What I am wanting to know is how many of you make your own baby food? What kind of processor (blender etc) do you use? And lastly, where do you get the recipes? We are very seriously considering making Ali's food ourselves so that we can buy only organic veggies and fruit etc.. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :-D thanx! -- LES! Daddie to Alegra Lee. May 25th 2003! "Daddie's Little Diva" before you reply to me via email, please remove your hat YourHatDaddie at bonbon.net |
#16
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Baby Food Question
"Cheryl M. (ChatBrat)" wrote
I used a book written by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto (not that DD is sick, just that their nutritionists wrote the book). We have the book "Better Food for Kids" (or it might be Best Food, I'm not sure) by the same authors, and it's a great book. I like that most of the recipes include ingredients that you are likely to have in the kitchen already. Christina mom to DS, 21 months |
#17
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Baby Food Question
"hobbes" wrote
I used a blender, a hand-cranked food grinder, and a book called Super Baby Food (forget the author). The book goes a little over the top in some areas, but I really appreciated the timeline for foods, the recipe for cereal, suggestions for healthy additions, and the suggestions for finger foods and meals. The author's name is Ruth Yaron. We have gotten lots of use out of the book, and still refer to it frequently, even though DS eats what we eat now. I like the craft suggestions and recipes for playdough etc. Christina mom to DS, 21 months |
#18
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Baby Food Question
Ali's Daddie wrote:
What I am wanting to know is how many of you make your own baby food? We did both--made some, bought some. What kind of processor (blender etc) do you use? I just used a little food mill most of the time (we used a little one made for babies). It doesn't get the texture as smooth as you might get with a food processor, but I figure if it has to be *that* smooth, maybe it's a bit early for solids anyway ;-) I'd just take some of whatever food was on hand for dinner (that was suitable for baby and soft enough to put through the mill) and grind up a few spoonfulls at a time. I seem to recall that I did some bigger batches (to freeze) in just your garden variety food processor. And lastly, where do you get the recipes? I didn't use any recipes. Early on I would make simple single foods. By the time they were ready for combinations, I'd just grind up whatever we were eating. If it was unsuitable for some reason, I'd try to take a portion out for the baby before adding the offending item. Best wishes, Ericka |
#19
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Baby Food Question
hobbes wrote in message
but I still refuse to buy jarred baby food. For various reasons: too expensive, too much trash/recycling, not enough control over ingredients, inferior taste. Nah, you don't throw them away, you make craft projects out of them. One project was to glue different colored tissue paper on them and put a tea candle in it. Makes a great gift for grandma. There are a ton of stuff to use the jars for. -- Sue mom to three girls |
#20
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Baby Food Question
Nah, you don't throw them away, you make craft projects out of them. One
project was to glue different colored tissue paper on them and put a tea candle in it. But just how many teacandles can one person make? I mean, we didn't use a whole lot of babyfood (one kid, only on babyfood for a few months), but I ended up throwing out [we didn't have curbside recycling yet] zillions of babyfood jars, even though I reused as many as I could for other things. Naomi CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator (either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail reply.) |
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