For the frugal mom, learning how to make baby food is a must. Not only is it easier on your pocket, it is also much healthier especially if you purchase organic vegetables or grow your own for your family.
First foods for baby 6 – 8 months
Even though there are many companies that push rice cereal as the first food for a baby, we never went that route. We waited as long as possible before introducing solids and then we started with mashed paw paw, mashed banana and mashed avocado pear.
Homemade Baby Food 8 – 10 months
Soon thereafter we started offering stewed apples and pear for lunch and cooked mashed sweet potato or butternut for dinner. These are just steamed until soft then blended smooth with a hand blender (see side margin for my recommendation).
Only when we knew our babies were digesting the foods well we would introduce a new recipe. We also stayed away from pure carbohydrates until 9 months.
Thereafter, for breakfast we cooked some organic oats and blended it with stewed apple or pear, or fresh mashed banana.
Animal protein was also only introduced much later to our toddlers. This is when we felt that they were ready to eat from the table.
How to make babies food 10 – 12 months
Here was my basic homemade baby food recipe.
A selection of organic seasonal vegetables, peeled and cubed
One of: organic lamb cube or organic chicken breast or oily fish (use fish only once your child has been checked for allergies)
In a large pot cook your vegetables in a little water. Place the chosen protein source in a heat proof bowl and steam it. When everything is cooked, blend it smoothly.
Over time blend it less and less to get your little one used to texture. When they can handle different textures without gagging you can start just mashing with a potato masher and finely chopping the protein source.
For more help with cooking for your baby, you can buy this lovely ebook to tempt tiny tastebuds.
