As parents, we all want the best for our little ones. What parent wouldn't jump at a product that promises nutritional quality and convenience? Although many commercial brand's clever marketing magic has left many of us to believe a lot more than what is actually truthful. By reading a fair amount of commercial baby food labels, we have found that a lot are in fact loaded with refined sugars, chemically modified starches, artificial additives, and preservatives. Translation: processed slop in a jar. Meaning our little ones are more than likely eating mouthfuls of chemicals and fillers. Yuck!
Consider whipping up your own; its easy, efficient, and economical. The best part is that you'll know exactly what goes into your baby's mouth, without having to spend hours of reading and decoding nutrition labels.
Directions on how to make your own baby food:
Food Blending Tool Options:
- Basic blender
- Food processor
- Hand-turned food mill
- Hand-held mixer/blender
- Baby food grinder
- Hand-held manual masher
- Fork
Getting started:
- Thoroughly wash organic (choose organic to avoid pesticides) fruits and vegetables. Peel and pit if necessary and strain out any seeds.
- Steam, boil, or bake food to the consistency of your baby's age and stage of eating. Some fruits and vegetables don't require any liquid; simply mash.
- With your blending tool of choice, puree the cooked food with a small amount of filtered water, breast milk, or formula; adding more liquid if needed to achieve desired consistency. For extra flavoring, try a tiny amount of lemon juice. It works as both a preservative and a natural flavor enhancer. Never add salt or sugar.
- Pour or spoon the puree into ice cub trays (or other BPA-free storage units), cover with tin foil, and place them in the freezer.
- When the cubes are frozen, remove from trays and place them in food storage containers, making sure to label each container with the type of food and the date it was prepared.
Heating:
- At mealtime, heat desired number of portions slowly . Always remembering to test the temperature of the food before feeding baby.
- It is recommended that fresh pureed homemade baby food be stored no longer than 48 hours (many food safety authorities say that 72 hour is fine.) in the refrigerator. This limit ensures that bacteria growth in the puree is kept to a minimum and that the food does not take on the "taste of the fridge".
Local Green Circle December, 2009