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Why make your own baby foods? For two good reasons; to save money and to ensure that your baby’s food is healthy and nutritious. Baby food may not seem very expensive; it’s only 59 cents a jar, but a baby eats more than one jar a day. When babies get a little older they can consume 3-6 jars a day and unless you can afford to add $3.60 a day to your grocery budget (that’s over $100 a month!) it makes a lot of sense to make your own baby food. When you make your own baby food you select fresh fruits and vegetables and do not add anything you don’t want your baby to eat like sugar, salt or preservatives. You know exactly what your baby is getting. You also don’t have to worry about a baby food manufacturer recalling bad or tainted baby food.
Fruits are the easiest baby food to make. Simply buy fruit fresh. Buy a pound or two, not just one or two pieces of fruit. Once you have peeled the fruit cut it up into small pieces and boil it for just a few minutes. Drain off the water and put the fruit into a blender or food processor. Add a small amount of water or juice and puree for just 30 seconds or so. Make sure it’s the consistency that you want for your infant. Bananas are easily mashed up and tossed into the blender to puree with a little juice or formula. Peaches and apples work well.
Vegetables are easy to make into baby food also. Squash and potatoes can be microwaved. Scoop out the contents and blend in the same way as mentioned above for fruit. Clean carrots and boil them in the same manner as fruits. Peas and green beans can be made from your canned, frozen or fresh selection, which ever you use at home. Corn is more difficult because of the kernels and is not recommended especially for babies just learning to eat solids.
For storing homemade baby food freeze it in ice cube trays and store in freezer bags. You can freeze the baby food for several weeks. You can really save the money by buying fruits or vegetables on sale and making a large quantity and freezing them. When it comes time to feed the baby just select a cube or two and use the microwave to thaw. Heat the food in either the microwave or on the stove, checking carefully to make sure it’s not too hot for the infant. Homemade baby food is very easy to store; much easier than storing 30 or more little jars in your pantry!
You can also make meats and meals into baby food. Cook beef or chicken and chop into small pieces and puree in blender. Don’t season the meats. For a quick and easy stew add broth, cooked potatoes, carrots and a small amount of onion. Blend together for a meal. For variety alternate chicken or beef and add different vegetables such as peas or green beans. This is very easy to make especially when you are making stew for the whole family. Just make sure to set aside a small piece of unseasoned cooked meat for the baby food.
In order to save a busy new parent time it’s best to buy a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables at one time and make several batches of baby food to freeze. Take a slow Saturday or Sunday and make as much as you can store in your freezer. This will last several weeks and is much easier than making baby food everyday.
Enjoy this special time in your child’s life and be proud that you made the little extra effort to make his or her’s food healthy. Cherish the short amount of time that your child will eat baby food, it goes by so quickly.
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