As a parent, you want the best for your child. That means you want nutritious food, too.
Making your own baby food ensures you know exactly what is in it.
Prep in advance, customize to your baby’s tastes
With these recipes, it’s easy to prepare multiple servings and freeze them for up to two months. You can substitute apples, pears, green beans or other mild fruits and vegetables in the first food recipe. You can use other vegetables in the second and third food recipes.
As your baby is able to handle more consistency, gradually make the food thicker, says Kari Mizgalski, a dietitian at Marshfield Clinic. Leave small, mashable lumps in the food as your child tolerates more textures. This will help your baby learn different textures and later appreciate a wide variety of food.
Simplify even more
To make baby food even simpler, Mizgalski suggests baking a sweet potato until very soft – about 75 minutes at 375 degrees. The potato should be soft enough that your baby can mash it with his gums. Peel the skin off and dice the potato into small, bite-size pieces. Give the cooled pieces to your baby, and watch him enjoy feeding himself.
Try these quick and easy recipes
First Baby Food: Peas
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 3 cups frozen peas
- 1/2 cup formula or water
Instructions
Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add peas, cover and steam until tender, about 15 minutes.
Place peas and formula or water in a blender or food processor and puree until creamy. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any lumps.
Spread pea mixture into an ice cube tray, cover with plastic wrap and freeze until solid, 2 to 3 hours. Transfer frozen cubes to a resealable plastic bag and store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
To serve, heat cubes in the microwave for about 30 seconds until warm but not hot. Stir thoroughly.
Nutrition information
Each serving contains about 47 calories; 0.6 g total fat; 8.4 g carbohydrate; 1 mg cholesterol; 2.4 g protein; 2 g dietary fiber; 36 mg sodium.
Source: allrecipes.com
Second Baby Food: Carrots and Broccoli
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped carrots
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup formula or water
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add carrots and broccoli, cover and steam until tender, about 20 minutes.
Place carrots, broccoli, formula and water in a blender or food processor and blend until creamy. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any lumps.
Spread carrot-broccoli mixture into an ice cube tray, cover with plastic wrap and freeze until solid, 2 to 3 hours. Transfer frozen cubes to a resealable plastic bag and store in the freezer up to 2 months.
To serve, heat cubes in the microwave until warm but not hot, about 30 seconds. Stir thoroughly.
Nutrition information
Each serving contains about 22 calories; 0.6 g total fat; 3.9 g carbohydrate; 1 mg cholesterol; 0.7 g protein; 1 g dietary fiber; 22 mg sodium.
Source: allrecipes.com
Third Baby Food: Chicken, Sweet Potato and Spinach
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 cups peeled, cubed sweet potatoes
- 2 cups packed fresh spinach leaves
- 1 cup cubed skinless, boneless chicken
- 1/2 cup formula or water
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil; place sweet potatoes in steamer, cover and steam until softened, about 8 minutes. Add spinach and cook until the sweet potatoes are easily mashed, about 5 minutes more.
Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the cubed chicken and cook uncovered until no longer pink inside, about 10 minutes.
Combine chicken, sweet potatoes, spinach, formula and water in a blender or food processor and blend until creamy.
Spread sweet potato-chicken mixture into an ice cube tray, cover with plastic wrap and freeze until solid, 2 to 3 hours. Transfer frozen cubes to a resealable plastic bag and store in the freezer up to 2 months.
To serve, heat cubes in the microwave until warm but not hot, about 30 seconds. Stir thoroughly.
Nutrition information
Each serving contains about 72 calories; 1.1 g total fat; 8 g carbohydrate; 19 mg cholesterol; 7.4 g protein; 1.2 g dietary fiber; 45 mg sodium.
Source: allrecipes.com
