We have been giving Phoebe rice cereal for about 3 weeks now and she's been doing great with it, so I decided to go ahead and try some vegetables. I used eney-meeny-miny-moe and chose to start with sweet potatoes.
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| I'm ready... |
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| Wait a second...what is this orange stuff? |
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| Maybe if I close my eyes it won't taste funny? |
Overall she did pretty well with it. Day #2 was a little bit better than day #1. I had bought carrots at the same time I bought the sweet potato so I baked the carrots and used the food processor to "mush" them up. I tried to use the magic bullet, but the blender didn't quite get them mashed enough. (I think I probably needed to add more water??) So then I tried the food processor and it worked, but it still didn't grate/mush them as much as I would have liked. Again maybe I needed to add water. I didn't add any because I figured I would thin it with breast milk later before I served it? Any suggestions? Has anyone else made their own baby food and found something that worked well to blend it up? Should I use water to mix it before I freeze it?
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| Carrots and Sweet potatoes ready to go into the freezer. |
I might try the carrots next, or I have an avocado ripening on the counter because they were $1 at Kroger last week so I might do that too. I'm hoping she likes avocados because they're so fatty. We got to get some meat on her little bones!
I made most of the baby food (which explains why I still have a nearly full box of baby food jars in the pantry). For small quantities, a tea strained worked best for me. Just put the tender veggies in the yea strained and push through with a spoon. It removes the large and tough bits, but wouldn't be good for huge amounts at a time. I did this from the start because it was cheap ($2), easy to transport, and left no messy clean up. Avocado is great...just mash with a fork. --Arielle
ReplyDeleteI've made the baby food for most of the babies I've nannied and I will be making Caroline's. I've found that the stick blender http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CSB-77-Blender-Chopper-Attachments/dp/B0006G3JRO does a really good job. It does help to add more water to find the best consistency. Also, just make sure if you steam the carrots (which makes them very soft) don't use the water collected in the steamer, use fresh to mix (something to do with nitrates being left in the steamed water). I've always loved making baby food for some reason! Also, when she is a little bit older, a mini-food processor works great to just blend whatever you are having for dinner to give to her.
ReplyDeleteMatthew never had jarred food. We used our blender + water and found it was very easy. I think just add water or breast milk (if you prefer extra calories or worry about her milk intake) when you blend it to thin it out. We froze them in ice cubes like you and then put in freezer bags. We used rubber ice cube trays and not the plastic ones, and I think it was a lot easier to pop them out. Anyway, super easy to just add water to think it out. Now she'll late it really thin. Later, not as much. I also recommend the website wholesomebabyfood.com. Great recipes, advice, food ideas, AAP recommendations on foods and ages, etc. Used it all the time and follow their facebook page.
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