homemade baby food

[DrLilac]

Hey guys

I'm planning to start making my own baby food and freeze them for later use. Do you guys add breast milk or infant formula to the puree? Is that ok to freeze then?

And what kind of containers do you use to freeze the puree?

Thanks a bunch

[Shiv52]

Initially I used BM for purees but then just used water if I needed to thin it but rarely needed to do that. I used full fat cows milk in any recipes that called for milk from 6 months and it's fine to use it for cooking but not as a drink until a year.

I bought ice cube type things by Annabel karmel and froze in those. I also had we'd individual pots I used. Ill see can I find a link. But the ice cube portions worked great as you could just defrost a cube at a time.

[anna*]

Normal ice cube trays work fine too! Once they are frozen you can press them out into labelled freezer bags, freeing your trays up for the next batch of freezing!

[~Emma~]

I just freeze portions in freezer bags and when I take them out of the freezer I take it out of the bag to defrost in a bowl in the fridge. I can then reuse the freezer bag.

 I also just used cows milk for purees (oat milk for DD). Its fine to use in cooking after 6 months.

[rach321]

I freeze food in just normal ice cube trays and do what anna does and empty them into freezer bags once frozen and reuse the trays.  I don't add milk to the puree before freezing  - I add formula (in our case because DS2 is MSPI) once its defrosted, that way I can adjust the texture because as they get older you want it to be more solid and less liquid. Hopefully that makes sense!

[DrLilac]

Great tips! Thanks a lot guys!

[*Kara*]

I keep a box of basic add water type rice cereal on hand as well for thickening if need be...

This is a fantastic website with tonnes of info and great recipes, schedules for introducing foods etc

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/index.htm

[mianita]

I cook food in steamer and use the water which stays in an upper container, my book says this water has nutrients which veggies (or fruits) losing while steaming. This works really great for us

[DrLilac]

Thanks everybody

So I started pureeing her food. Started with sweet potato amd she loved it. I've already made green beans, Avocado and banana and they're in freezer bags right now. On the 4th day I will start Green beans. I noticed tho that thye green beans are not as smooth as the sweet potato or bananas. It's kinda grainy. Is that ok? But I pureed it as much as I could...

[anna*]

Some veggies puree smoother than others, you could try her on some and if it's too much texture just save them for another day.

[*Kara*]

Beans and peas can be put through a sieve to get rid of any grainy texture

[DrLilac]

I see. I've already froze the green beans before sieving I'll just throw it away then

[*Kara*]

Don't throw them out!  They can be kept frozen for a few months!  Just wait until baby is better with lumpy textures and try them again

[DrLilac]

Good idea. Thanks Kara

We're now on to our second food. We started with sweet potato which she loved. Today I have her avocado and she ate it too

[*Kara*]

That's so great!  Sounds like she is really enjoying her solids   Mine loved avocado for about a month, now she is kinda on the fence about it LOL!  Don't forget good ol' banana!  One of the easiest to introduce - no need to cook it (as with apples/pears etc).  Just mash and serve!  I try to get fairly ripe bananas for DD since they are a bit sweeter and funny enough, the riper they are, the less chance that they will constipate the little ones

Apples and pears were big successes for us early on as well!  Just peel and gently steam for about 7 minutes to start the breakdown of the sugars/fiber and the blend away - they freeze wonderfully as well!