I saw this article on one of my egroups and the author, Marybeth, was kind enough to allow me to share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Here are a few ideas and recipes for making and
storing baby food……

Storing Homemade Baby Food:

When making more than just a one meal’s worth of food,
you need a way to store a larger volume safely. By
freezing foods, you will have the benefits of variety
and convenience of prepared foods and you will find it
easy to cook in volume. You can always keep an
adequate supply on hand and never need to rush to
prepare food for a hungry baby!

The Food Cube Method”
1. Take prepared , pureed food and pour into plastic
“pop out” ice cube trays.
2. Freeze the food cubes quickly.
3. Pop out cubes and transfer to plastic freezer
bags.
4. Label and date. Can be stored up to 2 months!

The “Plop” Method

1. Take pureed or finely ground goods and “plop” by
sponfuls onto a cookie sheet. The size of each “plop”
depends on how much you think the baby will eat at one
meal.
2. Freeze “plops” quickly.
3. When frozen, remocve from sheet and transfer to
plastic freezer bags.
4. Label and date. Can be stored up to 2 months.

*Keep foods, cereals, vegetables and fruites in
separate freezer bags when storing.

Before a meal, take out the food you will be serving ,
and thaw it in the refirgerator or warm it (carefully)
in the microwave. The microwave can give you hot
spots in the food, so be sure to stir it and heat
slowly…

Fruits:

Except for banana’s, you will have to cook other
fruits until they are soft. Stay away from
strawberries until the baby is older. They tend to
cause allergic reactions. Also be careful of fruit
with tiny seeds…blackberries, raspberries etc. Use
ripe bananas, they are very easy to mash.

Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums and Apricots-

Wash, peel and cut fruit into small pieces: Add 1/2
cup boiling water to 1 cup of fruit. Simmer until
tender (10-20 minutes). There is no need to add
sugar. Blend or puree until smooth Freeze balance.
* When the baby is eating yogert you can add the fruit
cubes to the yogert….really tasty!

Veggies:

Fresh is best! Frozen is next! ( I know that sounds
stupid , but it is a good rule of thumb when feeding
your baby veggies)

Best Basic Recipe for Cooking Beets, Carrots, Sweet
Potatoes, Peas, Green Beans, and Potatoes:

Water Method:
Peel and slice for fast cooking or use frozen. Cook
in 1-1/2 inches of water 20 minutes. Puree or blend
with some of the cookingwater.

Steam Method: Peel and slice for fast cooking or use
frozen. Steam over boiling water until tender. Puree
or blend adding cooking water fro right consistency.

Baked Sweet Potato and Apples:
3/4 c cooked sweet potato
1/4 c liquid (cooking water)
1 cup applesauce (unsweetened) or apples that you
cooked and mashed.

Preheat oven to 350 . Remove skin and core and slice
apples. Mix sweet potatoes and apples in baking dish.
Pour liquid over. Cover and bake fro 30 minutes.
Puree or mash with a fork. Serve and then freeze into
plops.

Meats:

You can use meats that you have cooked for your
family, or cook up a month’s supply of baby food at a
time , and puree it. (Food processor or blender or
baby food grinder ) * I bought my grinder at “Whole
Foods” if you have one in your area they are great
for having “hard to find items”, such as a
grinder….they are also really helpful if you have
questions about making baby food. They will give you
more tips and ideas….
If you want a smoother meat consistency, mix the
pureed meat with some water. You can combine chicken
with a little bit of ripe banana to get a smooth
texture. You can also cook meat in a crock pot with
some water until tender ( no seasonings ) and then
puree them. Freeze and store.

Basic Stew

1 cup of cubed chicken, turkey, beef, cooked
1/4 cup vegetables, cooked
1/4 cup water
Blend or puree together and make into food cubes or
plops. As the baby gets older you can use chicken
broth in place of water to give the food more flavor .
You can also add 1/4 cup of rice ,cooked.

Ok….. this is a start. I will keep looking around
for more information for you and will post it …….I
always made my own baby food. It was so much easier
and soooooo much less expensive. My word of advice is
to go buy a grinder. And to just dive in. Your baby
will be very happy with the variety of foods he is
enjoying!

Let me know if you have any questions…..you can
email me ! Have a great day!

Marybeth Krol CBE, Doula
athenasbymbk@yahoo.com