Homemade Baby Food

I decided to take the homemade baby food project on with our second child.  Why you ask?  Because I have even less time than I had before?  Well, that is the case, but no.  I have managed to educate myself in the arena of organic foods and pesticides more than I ever wanted to know, and plus, I’m a control freak.  So now that I’ve shared this little piece of me, I’m willing to share my experience with you.

Now for some reason, I had to get over the anxiety that I was going to somehow poison my baby from steaming vegetables and pureeing them.  I don’t know why; just go with me.  Yes, I even ordered a book.  I can cook a mean meal, don’t get me wrong, but again, being the control freak that I am, if the book doesn’t say to steam for 10 minutes, by golly, I’m not gonna do it.  So that being said, at this point, my daughter is only 5 months, so she is only eating rice cereal and carrots.

I started by peeling my organic carrots, and scrubbing them under the running faucet.  I set up my pot to boil, and placed my steam basket on top of the pot.  So far so good.  I got this! I cut up the carrots into one inch pieces and threw them into the basket.  I let the carrots steam until fork tender, pulled them out into a bowl and let them cool.

I received an immersion blender at my baby shower specifically for this process.  I was so excited to finally get to use it!  I will jump ahead just a bit and explain that I do like this tool better than a regular blender because I can visualize the food so much easier than if I used a blender to get the perfect consistency.  The key to getting a consistency that your baby will prefer is to use the water that you used to steam the vegetables.  Using formula, breast milk, or regular water can be used as well.

To store the baby food, I utilize food storage containers, but have seen ideas for using ice cube trays also (I may be moving on to this as my daughter gets older).  Our containers are flexible and stack nicely in the freezer.  They are nicely proportioned for a 5 month old as well.

In the end, I was able to make approximately 18 oz of baby food for my daughter.  It was all organic and made with my own two hands. The process was surprisingly simple and easy from start to finish.  I have also researched organic baby food companies as well to have on hand for a plan b just in case.  I would like to hear ideas for more make-at-home recipes, so please share!

Janet Fragle works in customer engagement for innovative technology solutions at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano and is Mom to a 9-year-old boy and 5-month-old girl.