Homemade Baby Food

Homemade baby food – I’ve always made my own for all my kiddos. It’s cheaper and FAR tastier than buying jars/pouches. I talked last week about how we’ve started weaning Vega. I thought I’d share a couple of the ‘recipes’ for the puree’s I made him. These first few weeks are all about discovering new flavours and textures and getting the whole idea of eating food.

Vega loves most of what he’s tried, though the key is making sure he’s not too hungry as he gets frustrated he can’t eat it fast enough otherwise! He’s also a huge big fan of finger food. Now, I’m aware that ‘they’ recommend finger food from 6 months and he’s only 5… BUT I never leave him unattended and am confident he’s safe/happy.. tbh he doesn’t eat that much of it, but he loves to day to day and makes it easy to have a big variety of food to offer your baby. Making your own food is so easy, there is no need to buy jars of it. It works out cheaper too, and in my experience, homemade food ALWAYS tastes better than any of the pre-made stuff I’ve tried.

For a 4-5 month old baby, it’s all about veggies and fruit. No added extra’s just yet. I tend to make up mainly single fruit/veggies rather than mixing as I cook – I can easily take an ice cube from one veg bag and mix it with another so he gets a variety. Right now we have in our freezer – carrot, potato, parsnip, beetroot, buyzithromaxonlinemed.com sweet potato, butternut squash, brocoli, pear, apple, apricot rice, apple & pear rice and plum.

R E C I P E S

Carrot/Potato/Sweet Potato/Butternut Squash/Parsnip/Brocoli

1 cup diced veg {skin removed if necessary}
breast milk/formula

I steam my veggies to preserve the flavours. Cook for 15-20 mins until tender. Puree with a stick blender and enough breast milk/formula to get a smooth, lump free texture.

Beetroot

4 Beetroots
Breast milk/formula

Scrub the beetroot and wrap in foil. Bake at 180C for around an hour and a half. Scoop out the flesh and puree with breast milk/formula.

Plum/Apple/Pear

1 cup fruit, diced
8 tbsp water

Place the fruit in a small saucepan and cover with the water. Bring to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 mins until tender. Puree with remaining cooking water.

Apple & Pear Rice

Cook 1 cup apple & Pear as above, and then mix in 4 tbsp prepared baby rice {the rice mixed with breast milk/formula}.

Apricot Rice

1 cup dried apricots {look for ones without sulphur}
8 tbsp water

Place apricots and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 mins. Puree the apricots with 4 tbsp prepared baby rice.

I allow the purees to cool a little, then pour them into ice-cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, I pop them out and keep them in labelled bags. They’ll keep for 3-4 weeks in the freezer.

If you’re looking for some great baby weaning books, these are the a couple that I love:

*Bébé Gourmet: My Baby Recipe Book – 100 easy recipes for raising adventurous eaters

*River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook

*Ella’s Kitchen: The First Foods Book: The Purple One