What to use as a filler / sauce / thickener for home made food?

[kyliehutch]

HI All.

Wondeing what other parents use to thicken home made baby food - or to give it some sauce.  As an exampole, I have cooked chicken and vegetables, I cut them up but it is quite dry and needs a sauce or something to bind it together and also make it a bit more like the shop brought food (with the sauce  (not sure if this explains it??)).

Not sure what to use to give it some sauce and thicken it up a bit.  Or even what to use as a filler.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Kylie

[Lola]

I have used about 1tsp of flour with my lo but not sure if that is recommended. 

[kyliehutch]

Cheers Lola.. I will give that a go..   

[15milner]

I used to add some baby rice

Alex

[Mrs. Gravy]

If you plan to use flour, make sure your baby has been introduced to wheat.  Wheat is one of the Top 8 allergens, so depending on the age of your child, you may want to hold off for a while.

Really, there's no need to thicken baby food or to try and make it look like the store bought stuff.

For veggies, just steam and puree or cut in cubes if baby is old enough for finger foods.

For fruits, just use ripe, soft fruit and puree or cut in cubes.

For meat, I waited until my son was old enough to eat finger foods, around 8 months, before introducing meat.  Then I would just cut up pieces of plain chicken or beef and he'd feed himself.  No need for sauces.  He loves it. 

And it's a lot neater without sauce, in my opinion! 

[carolyn]

If you are still pureeing the foods and they are too thin, you can use rice cereal.  It always worked well for me.

If you are dicing veggies and you want a sauce with it, you could puree some of the veggies with a bit of breat milk or formula to make a gravy.  Otherwise it should be ok just diced for finger foods.

[notenoughshelfspace]

I use cheese sauce and tomato sauce way tooooooooo much; my little one still really dislikes 'dry' food so it really helps.

[J&Jsmom]

I tend to just make casseroles the same way as I would for adults - so soften some onion or veg, add meat/chicken, use a bit of flour to thicken it, then add stock and cook. If you don't want to use flour, I find adding more potatoes or something like lentils helps thicken out the sauce.