For sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, squash (those consistency foods) bake until soft, puree in either blender or food processor, add a little formula or expressed breastmilk to help it puree. Store in tupperware container in fridge for 3-5 days, freezer in the breastmilk storage bags for 3 months.
For other veggies and fruits, steam whole- (do not cut up as it will allow the food to lose nutrients faster during the steaming process) Then cut up and place in either blender or food processor, add your desired milk and same storage method applies.|||Best book EVER is "Super Baby Foods" which is all about feeding your baby through their preschool years. Talks a lot of making your own baby food, as well as fun, toddler recipes. She also includes information on when to introduce certain foods, how to prepare them, when's the best time to buy them, etc. You can't go wrong with this book. The author also includes all kinds of other tips, like making your own birthday cakes into fun animals...how to make safe cleaning products for your kitchen, etc.
http://www.amazon.com/Super-Baby-Food-Ru鈥?/a>|||Weelllll honestly I only actually have made what you would call 'baby food' like 3 times in his whole 10 month life...I would just give him whatever was on my plate usually. When I actually made something I think it was beans with peas, then corn with shredded chicken; and..that's about it? %26amp; Usually it was gone within a couple days so .. no worries about how long to store;
The chicken I would grill it %26amp; chop it up; the beans, whole; just normally boiled until soft with a pinch of salt; the corn %26amp; peas same thing whole, boiled for 5 minutes with a pinch of salt.
For the record he loved my concoctions ;)
I kept the regular baby food containers(my husband likes to give him gerber sometimes lol) %26amp; washed them %26amp; reused them.|||I steamed some, I baked some. Potatoes, yams, squash were baked. Most everything else I would steam until softened but not mushy. We did baby-led weaning, so we didn't mash them, just gave them large enough pieces to handle, mouth, and chew. If you are not comfortable with that, then just mash up with a fork and your good to go. We didn't store, always made fresh, but freezing in ice cube trays seems to be the popular, easiest choice.|||Baking or steaming is the best bet as far as retaining as much nutrients as possible.
Once I pureed or mash the food, I freeze it in ice-cube trays and then transfer the cubes to labeled freezer bags. It can stay in the freezer for up to 3 months!
It's fast, easy, fresh and MUCH less expensive.
Superfoods for Babies and Children is a great book for recipes:
http://www.amazon.com/Superfoods-Babies-鈥?/a>
Good luck!|||At 8 months I don't think I'd bother with babyfood. He can probably self-feed finger foods by now, and can eat most of the same things you eat.
So -- just prepare food for the family, and cut some up for him. (If there are parts that aren't suitable, just give him the parts he CAN eat. He doesn't need a balanced solid food diet yet.)|||For one no matter who makes the baby food, it will all look gross. Anyways, I didn't make my own I bought it but you steam them and then it is easier to use a food processor, Im sure there are jars that you can buy at a local store to put the baby food in.|||boil carrots..then mash then up with a little butter.....YUMMM
boil any veggie like that...|||By 8 months your baby is able to eat fruits raw if they are the kind that soften when ripe (pears, bananas, avocado, peaches, melon, etc). Otherwise I usually steam veggies or hard fruits until softer. You can also grate them into small pieces and serve them raw, though they are harder to digest this way. YOu may of course bake them as well (you lose slightly fewer
I use a food processor for any food that doesn't get soft enough to mash with a fork, but otherwise at this age they usually are ok with chunks and a fork or potato masher is fine. Sometimes you have to add some liquid to make it a smoother texture. You can also use the pulse setting on a food processor to make it more chunky and still do a bigger batch easily. Sometimes I put half the food in and blend it well, then leave bigger chunks in the other half, then mix it all together so its a smooth food with chunks in it (which she liked better than just all chunks)
The few foods I did have an easier time with boiling vs baking or steaming are meats.Your son is about the age he will be starting meats soon. Chicken esp works well being boiled until done, chunked up, and food processed with some water (using cooking water often makes the taste too strong). Cooked ground turkey or beef, well broken up, is also a finger food.
I store her food in just any old leftover container with a tight-fitting lid. You can only keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days, but you can freeze in ice cube trays, move the cubes to a freezer bag, and freeze for up to 3 months. It makes getting meals easy when you just have to pop out a few cubes and thaw in the microwave!
This age is also a great time to start finger foods and let your son play around with self-feeding. sticks or chunkks of ripe soft fruits are great for this! Or chunks of veggies, bread, small pasta (ditilani is good), mashed sweet potatoes, etc. Another fun food you can introduce at this age is whole milk plain yogurt. There are so many variations you can do with adding fruit purees, fruit chunks, cinnamon, etc!
HOpe you have fun making your own food! it was easier than I expected and I liked that I could make so many different flavor combos, and use herbs and spices (ok to start adding at 8 months) to change things up some.
Btw, tons of info, tips, etc at http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com
It is my favorite reference for making my own food.
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