How to make baby food

Tiffany's process for making baby food from scratch:

1. Steam or boil the heck out of any fruit, vegetable or legume until soft. Transfer to a bowl (if necessary, drain first).
2. Using an immersion blender, puree it all up.
3. Transfer to ice cube trays for small portions, muffin trays for larger and freeze.
4. Once frozen, transfer to Ziploc bags and label.

When you're ready to use, thaw in the microwave, in the fridge or in a small saucepan. You can get creative and mix potatoes and applesauce, lentils and carrots, the possibilities are unlimited!

You can also steam some rice and add it to your concoctions. Need to add some fat? Coconut milk works well.

Want to learn more? Or get some recipe ideas? Check out the British book Baby and Child Vegetarian Book by Carol Timperley.

I couldn't find the book Tiffany recommended on Amazon (US), but I've heard "Super Baby Food" (Ruth Yaron) is good for recipes and tips.

Do you have a favorite source for homemade baby food recipes and how-to?

More: Baby food hacks

Comments

[Christy]

When my youngest was starting on baby food, I clipped this article out of Martha Stewart Baby: http://tinyurl.com/7uo5y

It's basic, but fairly useful. And you know, like everything Martha, it's purty.

[Edward Vielmetti]

I find that just mashing the food up at the table with a fork works fine for our 11 mo old. Soup vegetables tend to be pretty good too as a source for things to mash.

[Jon Roberts]

We've done exactly the same thing for our last two children while they were infants - sans the vegitarian aspect. :-).

It's really a great time and money saver. And I felt better about what we were feeding the kids, if only because I knew exactly what we had puréed and put in there.

[Stu Mark]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0091853001/ref=sr_11_1/104-6886842-8798367?%5Fencoding=UTF8

or http://tinyurl.com/83dpq

[Scott Severtson]

Once baby is a little older, get a hand crank like this one: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00016X0GY/

Baby's dinner can be a finely-ground version of your dinner, when appropriate. Hint: Some ground foods might require a little water to make them more palatable to the little one.

There's electric mills, too, but this style travels better to restaurants, grandma's house, etc.

Check out "Feeding the Whole Family" by Cynthia Lair for other ideas to incorporating cooking for baby into cooking for the rest of the family:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0966034619/

[Bob Matsuoka]

In a pinch, you can Microwave a potato or sweet potato for 2-4 min (depending on size), mash it, then put it in the freezer for a few minutes to cool.

[T. Carter]

Super Baby Food is okay, but strays way too far into some questionable advice, particularly when she starts talking about nuts and allergins. Overall, Mommy Made and Daddy Too! -- http://tinyurl.com/9kgff -- is a better make-your-own-baby-food resource. Oh, and if you have a KitchenAid mixer, the food grinder/strainer attachments can make things go a lot faster than an immersion blender ....

[Tiffany]

Oops! I just realized the book "Baby & Child Vegetarian Book" (published in the UK) was renamed for the US market. You can find it at bookstores and the library as "From Animal Crackers to Wild West Beans."

[brigitte]

like to share a great article on how to prepare delicious home-made baby food...

http://www.e-nterests.com/familyhtml/simplestepsbabyfood.php