How to make your own baby food

Making your own baby food is easy, efficient, and economical. Instead of spending money on prepackaged baby food, you can use fresh produce, grains, and meat that you have on hand. Best of all, you'll know exactly what you're feeding your baby.Going the do-it-yourself route also gets your baby used to eating the same food the rest of the family does, a strategy that may pay off during the picky toddler years.

Preparing the food

• After washing, cook vegetables – and fruits like apples and prunes that need to be softened – before pureeing or grinding. Bake, boil, or steam the produce until it's soft. If you boil the food, use as little liquid as possible and add some of the leftover liquid when mashing the food (or add it to your family's soup stock).

• Peel and pit the produce if necessary and strain out any seeds. Some fruits and vegetables don't require any liquid – simply mash, add a seasoning or two, and serve. For others, you may want to add a little liquid (breast milk, formula, or water) as you puree or grind to get the consistency you want. As your baby adapts to solid foods, you can add less liquid.
• Grains like quinoa or millet can also be pureed or ground in a food mill. Cook them first according to package directions. For older babies, whole grains make fabulous finger food.

• To prepare meat and poultry, remove the skin and trim the fat before cooking. Then puree the cooked meat in a blender or grind it up in a food mill with a little liquid. For older babies, simply chop the meat into very small pieces.
• If this all sounds like a lot of trouble, keep in mind that "homemade baby food" can be the very same food you feed the rest of your family. It's an old-fashioned idea that deserves to be resurrected. Simply use your food mill or other tool to puree, blend, or mash some of the same food that your family is having for dinner.
• Soups and stews, for example, can be processed and fed to your baby. The same goes for most healthy foods your family might eat. Pack empty baby food jars with extra so you'll have a meal for the next day.

Serving tips

• Serve the food no warmer than body temperature.
• Use caution if you heat meals in the microwave. Microwaves heat unevenly and can create "hot spots" – areas of the food that are much hotter than others – so be sure to stir microwaved food well and let it sit for a few minutes before serving.
• Only dish out the amount of food you think your baby will eat at that feeding. You'll need to toss what's left over because your baby's saliva will get into the mixture and make it easy for bacteria to grow in the food.
• Don't sweeten your baby's food. Babies don't need any extra sugar. And never use honey or corn syrup, which can cause botulism – a potentially fatal form of food poisoning – in babies.
• Use seasonings. Despite the tradition of feeding babies bland food, they can tolerate and enjoy different flavors.
• Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container and use them up within a couple of days. You can also freeze leftovers in ice cube trays or similar devices. After the cubes are frozen solid, remove them and store in plastic freezer bags. Fruits and vegetables frozen this way will last six to eight months. Meat (including poultry) and fish will last one to two months.

TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR OWN BABY FOOD

• Buy organic fruits and vegetables. Your baby deserves pesticide-free foods. Scrub fruits and vegetables extra well with a vegetable brush. Trim stringy parts and remove any part of the food that could cause choking, such as pits, peels, and seeds. Trim excess fat off poultry and meat.
• Steam vegetables this softens them, makes them easier to chew, and preserves more of the vitamins and minerals than boiling.
• No need to add salt or sugar. Try a bit of lemon juice as both a preservative and a natural flavor enhancer.
• Avoid deep-frying, which adds unhealthy fats to foods.
• Don't feel you have to prepare separate meals for your baby. You can simply take portions of your adult food (before you add any strong seasonings) and grind or mash to a stage appropriate for your baby.
• Make enough for several meals at a time and pour the freshly-cooked and pureed food into an ice cube tray. Cover with cellophane wrap and freeze. Then, remove the frozen food cubes from the tray and store in air-tight freezer bags. Remove one serving-size cube at a time when needed.
• When baby graduates from cube-size portions, store the homemade food in recycled commercial baby food jars or small, plastic, freezer containers. Be sure not to fill the jars to the brim, as food expands as it freezes.
• Label all your freezer packages with contents and date and rotate stock like the supermarket does – putting the most recently frozen foods behind the previously frozen ones. Homemade baby foods can be safely kept frozen for three months.
• For slow thawing, place a day's worth of baby food in the refrigerator. It will thaw in about four hours. For fast thawing, use an electric warming dish or place a heat-safe dish over water in a small saucepan and heat gently.
• If you use a microwave to thaw or warm baby food, be sure to stir the food well to avoid hot pockets.
• No matter what method of heating and thawing you use, stir the food well and test it with your finger to be sure it's not too hot.
• To avoid wasting your carefully prepared cuisine, dole out small portions. Gradually add more, using a clean spoon as needed. (See Shaping Young Tastes)

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