Baby Cubes

Sam started eating solid food around 6 months. For the benefit of all the pregnant ladies I know I'm going to introduce the idea of making your own baby food! I never thought about doing it until I saw how much those cute little jars of food are. Yikes! Not to mention, I don't really know what Gerber is putting into my baby's food. I've heard the excuse that it's too time consuming; not so! I love to make my own food and try different combinations with Sam, plus nothing goes to waste. Once you open a jar of commercial baby food, you have to throw it away within a few days. Anyways, it couldn't hurt to try right? Ok, getting off my soap box. Here's my "easy step-by-step how-to make baby food instructions"!

1. Gather your essentials. You will need a blender/food processor/etc., cutting board, knives, spoons, peeler, ice cube trays, and 2-3 small pots/saucepans, and all your ingredients. My food processor was $10 or so at Wal-Mart, works fine.

When it comes to the food I like to use fresh, but frozen is just as good. I steer clear of canned food, and I check the sodium content of any frozen food before I buy it. There is a brand at Wal-Mart and Kroger that has no sodium in a lot of their veggies.

If you're wondering what all of that is in the pics below: applesauce, peach yogurt, oatmeal & rice cereal, green beans, butternut squash, bananas, sweet potato, carrots, prunes, broccoli, blueberries, lemon juice, and flax seed meal. I think all of that was around $10-20, and it will feed him for a while!

There is a website that tells how to prepare every food I could think of. www.wholesomebabyfood.com. Great site! The best way to cook the food is to bake it or steam it, the most nutrients are retained this way. Also, don't drain the food after steaming it, the water that it cooks in has lots of nutrients that can be used to thin out stuff when it's being pureed.

2. While I'm waiting for 2-3 veg/fruits to cook on the stove top/oven I will puree one thing at a time. Put the cooked chunks of food (they should be soft enough to squish) in the food processor before any liquid, puree, then add a little bit of liquid at a time until you get the consistency you want. You can use water, juice, breast milk, or formula to thin out your purees. I typically use water because I already have it from the fruit/veg that I cooked, plus it will be sterilized from the cooking. If you get it to liquidity, don't worry about it. You can thicken it up with cereal or add it with another fruit/veg puree. While cooking and pureeing all of my food I put them into separate containers (pictured below).

*A few drops of lemon juice in banana or avocado puree helps keep it from browning.

*I mix in about 1 tablespoon of flax seed meal in each bowl of puree. Info on flax seed is also on the website. It's loaded with Omega-3's found in breast milk, helps with eye and brain development. You can find it in the Organic food section. I bought the bag below for $1.99 at Kroger.

Here's a picture comparison below of home-made and commercial food. That is one large sweet potato in the bowl. At the time it was 50 cents a pound, so probably 60-70 cents total. The baby food beside it is a 6 oz jar of turkey dinner. I think these jars will run you about 79+ cents alone. I didn't buy this, someone gave it to me and it's still in the cabinet :)

*Here's an idea: Dump out the commercial food and use the glass jar for on-the-go food! You can heat the glass and not have to worry about chemicals from plastic getting in your kid's food, nice eh?*

One sweet potato will fill a whole ice cube tray; each cube is about 1 ounce. You won't waste any because you'll thaw a couple at a time.

Now for the fun part! The website has recipes that you can follow or a list of foods that go well with one another, or you can just do whatever you want. I do a mix of all. Also, don't be afraid to add spices! Our American culture is so set on bland food for babies. I was hesitant at first, but then read about babies in Mexico eating hot peppers, babies in India have curry, ect. I put cinnamon in some of the fruit dishes; Sam loves it! Some other spices you can use: imitation vanilla, pepper, garlic powder, basil, rosemary, dill, oregano, lemon zest, ginger, cinnamon, mint, nutmeg, anise, and curry powder. As with everything, one thing at a time to make sure your baby isn't allergic to something. Afterwards, go crazy!

Once you've mixed your purees together spoon into the ice cube trays; filling each one, but not letting it run over. I labeled each row, so I wouldn't forget what was what. Stick the trays in the freezer, wait a few hours until they're solid, dump the cubes into labeled and dated zip lock bags. You're done! Thaw them out as you go.

There ya go! I would encourage you to try it! Ask if you need help!