A Guide to Homemade Baby Food
When you start feeding solid food to your baby, you need to think about what type of foods to feed them. There are various premade healthy options like organic baby food. However, homemade baby food is a great option for parents to ensure their baby eats fresh and healthy things.
Here is a comprehensive guide to help you know everything about making homemade baby food without thinking much about what to feed your baby.
The key to making your homemade baby food is not to stress about it. It must be fun! Making homemade baby food is simpler than you think. Once you master the art of making the baby food, you will realize that the task is not daunting at all.
Why make baby food at home?
The first reason to make baby food at home is that it’s very economical. This way, you can even customize the baby food purees to the right consistency for baby requirements. Instead of thinning food purees with water, use breast milk for added nutrition. This way, it will taste better too.
Advantages of homemade baby food:
Here are a few advantages of homemade baby food:
l Parents get to know what to feed their baby.
l It is more reasonable than purchasing pre-packaged foods.
l It makes baby habitual of eating the same food you eat but in the puree form.
l Parents can choose their vegetables, fruits and other purees instead of depending on pre-packaged manufacturers.
Easy Steps to Make Homemade Baby Food
l Wash your hands and equipment thoroughly.
l Peel vegetables and fruits.
l Steam, bake, roast or microwave vegetables and fruits until tender.
l Make puree in a food processor by adding some liquid. You can also mash the baby’s food so that baby can easily handle food texture.
l Store baby food in a freezer or refrigerator in airtight food containers. While packaged baby foods are easy to store in a cupboard until you open them, homemade food cannot stay fresh in cupboards. Therefore, homemade baby food must be kept in a refrigerator or freezer.
l Rewarm the food when it’s time to feel the baby.
How to freeze and store homemade food for the baby?
You can freeze purees, as it won’t last more than two to three days in the refrigerator. Since your baby’s immune system is not as strong as adults’, you cannot risk it. For freezing food, you can use a silicone or a regular ice cube tray.
When the purees get frozen, you can later pot them out and place them in a freezer labelled with the date it was made, as well as the name of the puree. The frozen purees further last in the freezer for up to two to three months.
How to heat baby food?
You can heat frozen purees in the microwave or the stovetop. You can thaw them instead of heating them. Further, the cubes can be transferred to a glass container and further thawed to make easy pure. For the serving puree like peas or potatoes warm, you can place a small bowl with puree within a bigger water bowl to gently heat it. This way, the food gets adequately warm — NOT too hot to burn the baby’s tongue.
Conclusion
Homemade baby food is best for letting your baby get used to the taste of regular vegetables and fruits that you eat. However, you must follow the given steps to prepare and store purees in the fridge before rewarming them for feeding your baby. Some infants may prefer their puree warm, really warm or cold, whereas some don’t mind eating it at any temperature. You will know about your baby’s preferences as you start bonding with him/her over food.
