Baby Food


I never thought I’d be making my own baby food but in reality it is quite simple. In Australia they recommend starting solids at six months but it used to be recommended at four months. At any rate, they suggest starting with plain rice cereal mixed with formula or milk, whichever baby is already taking. From there you try a new fruit or vegetable for a few days and check for signs of food sensitivity. Signs of food sensitivity can include redness on the cheeks, diaper rash, and irritability.

The overall idea is you boil or steam the food until it is soft and then puree it. The puree is then put into ice cube trays and frozen so each cube is a single serving (or a portion thereof). Once frozen the cubes are emptied into ziplock bags to keep the food tasting fresher.

Remember that baby food should not have salt, sugar or other flavor additives. They have lived on nothing but milk or formula for so long that even though it tastes so bland to you, it is very flavorful to your baby.

I recommend having several good ice trays. I find it helpful if the trays all make the same size cubes and if they will stack easily. It doesn’t take much to fill a tray but once your baby is doing well with the food you will want to make larger batches so you aren’t cooking every day. Therefore it is easier if the trays will stack without nesting. If the trays nest too deeply into each other you will find the food squishing out from the lower one and the trays will freeze together.

Most any vegetable or fruit will boil well and can be served. I would recommend avoiding advanced food like those in the cabbage family, or acidic foods such as tomatoes, or oranges. That said here are my mini-recipes:

Banana and Avocado
Beets
Broccoli
Cereals
Finger food
Green beans
Meats
Parsnip, turnip, Swede/rutabaga, white potato
Pear and apple
Pumpkin/squash
Sweet potato
Zucchini


Banana and Avocado - These are the only foods that do not need any cooking but can be fork-mashed.

Beets - Because they stain so readily you may want to have a special beet bib or just proceed with caution. They boil and puree very nicely, like pumpkin.

Broccoli, cauliflour and brussel sprouts - Because they can cause some gas you might wish to proceed with caution!  It is generally not uncomfortable for babies but can be smelly for those around them.  I over-steam the stems and florettes and then puree.

Cereals - Rice cereal is a good starter as it rarely causes problems. Once baby is established on solids a good option for breakfast is Weetabix (called "weetbix" in Australia). To serve crumble in a dish and pour milk or formula over it and allow the 'bix to mush. There are also suggestions under finger food.

Finger Food - There are several finger food options. Rusks are very popular first baby food in Sydney; they are effectively small, bland breadsticks. In America I think they recommend Zweiback. The idea is to have a break-like food that softens in the baby's mouth. If your baby has food sensitivties you may elect to not offer wheat-based foods.

Other finger foods are toast with butter, puffed rice or other puffed cereals, oat cereal such as Cheerios, banana, and cooked pasta.

Green beans - in spite of over-steaming, they never pureed in the cuisinart.  What I ended up with was a very finely chopped vegetable which I would reserve until baby is more accustomed to lumps and texture to food.

Meats - There are a few ways to make meat for baby. Once its to buy minced or ground meat, fry it and then puree the meat. You can find minced chicken, beef, pork, veal and lamb. Alternately, you can boil or steam cuts of meat and then puree it. Lastly, you can take any plain meat that you have cooked for a family dinner and puree that. I recommend that you use un-marinated and un-sauced, grilled meat rather than most other cooking methods as the meat is plainer. If you do not have a robust food processor you may have trouble with the second two methods.

Parsnip, turnip, Swede/rutabaga, white potato - Root vegetables are good candidates

Pear and apple - poached and pureed, these fruits will make a dessert good enough for the whole family. Consider serving the warmed puree with cool custard!

Pumpkin/squash - this is a favorite with most babies but keep in mind it can stain clothing if not washed promptly.  It cooks quite well in the microwave either whole or cut in half, just be sure to pierce the skin so steam can escape.  You can also roast it by putting it on a rimmed dish in a medium oven (maybe 350 degrees fahrenheit), again, pierce the skin. Once it is cooked the skin will come off quite easily and the seeds will scoop away with a spoon.

Sweet potato - Another baby favorite this one boils well.

Zucchini - I boil it but if you have a steamer it should also steam well.  Because there is a lot of water in zucchini these cubes will take a little longer to defrost.






This page is copyright 2006, Laura Giletti
Last revised: May 2006