Make Your Own Baby Food
FoodShare promotes making baby food at home
Ready, steady, go! Starting baby on solids
What to feed baby and when
How to make baby food
Baby food recipes
Weblinks

Making Baby Food at Home

Making baby food at home using fresh and nutritious ingredients is incredibly simple. Here are some easy steps to guide you in making home-made baby food. You will find the process empowering and rewarding as you watch your child begin to eat solid foods. By making your own baby food, you have control over the ingredients that go into your baby’s food as well as the opportunity to incorporate your own culture’s foods in her meals.

You will need a few things to make your baby food, most of which will already be in your kitchen such as MASHERS, GRATERS, STRAINERS, saucepans, measuring cups and spoons and ICE CUBE TRAYS. We've provided info on COOKING baby foods, BABY FOOD RECIPE IDEAS, STORAGE, REHEATING, and FOOD SANITATION.

Cooking baby foods

Raw vegetables and fruits are difficult for young babies to digest, so you should cook most vegetables and fruits until at least 6 months of age with the exception of bananas which can be mashed up raw.
Use different methods of cooking such as baking, boiling, steaming, and stewing to add variety. Avoid frying foods to minimise fat content.
Steaming is the most effective way to retain nutrients that get lost from cooking fruits and vegetables. Additionally, the water used for steaming can be added to your vegetables when you mash or purée them. Do not save the cooking water from NITRATE-CONTAINING VEGETABLES.

Equipment: What you’ll need and how to use it

Most items will already be in your kitchen and there is no need to spend a great deal of money on equipment for baby food making as your child will only be eating puréed foods for a short time. Here are some of the things you might find useful to help you make baby food. Any one of these items below would work for making baby food and no one is better than the other—it is up to you which you choose to use.

Equipment Description	Key points	How to use it
Food mill/grinder	Inexpensive (Find out HOW TO ORDER from FoodShare for $17.00) Best used for grinding fruits, vegetables, meats (i.e. chicken, liver)	Put cooked food into mill and follow instructions included with mill Depending on what you are grinding, you may also need to add liquid to keep the mixture moist (i.e. water, cooking liquid, milk).
Masher and sieve/strainer	Low tech and can be found in most kitchens Best used for fruits and vegetables	A fine meshed sieve or strainer is your best option Mash cooked foods with a fork or potato masher and then press food through the sieve/strainer with a spoon Mix to your desired consistency with liquid such as water, cooking liquid or milk.
Steamer	A colander and tightly fitting lid in a pot also does the trick	Useful for cooking fruits and vegetables and preserves the vitamins found in these foods better than simple boiling
Fork	With a fork and a bowl you can mash away	Excellent for mashing soft fruits and vegetables once you are past the purée stage
Blender	These are excellent for preparing fruits and vegetables but they tend shred most meat rather than purée into a smooth consistency	Follow the instructions in the operations manual. Excess blending can cause destruction of essential nutrients and these machines tend to do their tasks in a few seconds. Blend small quantities of food (no more than 175 ml—3/4 cup) and a small amount of liquid in a blender to give a uniform product with minimal blending.
Food processor	Process all types of foods into smooth purées, but your baby will only need smooth purées for a short time and will quickly progress to lumpier food. Large food processors require that you make larger quantities of food each time.	Cut firm food such as meat into small pieces in order to decrease blending time. Test for smoothness by running a small amount between your fingers. If any large lumps remain process again until you get the desired consistency.

Storage

You can prepare more food than you actually need at one meal and store the rest in the refrigerator or the freezer (N.B. avocado and banana cannot readily be frozen).

Refrigeration

Home-made baby food should be stored in tightly covered containers and placed in the coldest part of the refrigerator for no more than 3 days.

Remove only the portion to be served at each meal rather than feeding your baby directly from the container.

Any food that has already been re-heated should not be refrigerated for another meal.

Freezing—the food cube method

Once the purée has been prepared, let it cool and pour into ice cube trays. Each cube contains 60 g (2 oz) of food and is an appropriate serving size for your baby.

Cover the ice cube containers with plastic wrap and place the trays in the coldest part of the freezer. It should take 3-6 hours to freeze the food.

Once the cubes are frozen, remove from trays and store in labelled and dated plastic freezer bags taking care to let all the air out before sealing.

Freezing—the "plop" method

Take the puréed foods and "plop" spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. The amount you plop depends on how much your baby is eating at each meal. Freeze the plops in the coldest part of the freezer.

Once the purées are frozen, store them in plastic freezer bags, which you have labelled and dated. Make sure all air is let out of the bag (you can use a straw) to prevent vitamin destruction and freezer burn.

Freezer Storage Time for Homemade Purées

Food	Freezer storage time
Vegetables	6 to 8 months
Fruits	6 to 8 months
Meat and poultry, cooked	10 weeks
Fish, cooked	10 weeks
Vegetable and meat meal	10 weeks
Purees containing milk	4 to 6 weeks

Reheating

At mealtime you can take the required portion size from the freezer bags and put it into a bowl or pot to reheat it. A nice way to do this is the ‘double boiler’ method. Add an inch or so of water in the pot and fit a smaller pot (with the baby food) into the larger pot. As you bring the water in the larger pot to a boil it will heat the baby food and minimise scorching or burning.

You can also use the microwave, which generally takes around 45 seconds on medium-high heat. In all cases, make sure the food is stirred well throughout so the heat is evenly distributed.

Food Sanitation

Please consider the following points before preparing and serving your baby her food.
Always wash your hands before preparing food or feeding your baby.
Keep all kitchen utensils clean. Clean as you go. Wash all equipment/utensils with hot soapy water and air to dry. If you are preparing baby foods in batches, clean up equipment (especially food grinder or blender) after each food to prevent cross-contamination.
Use a clean cutting board. Bacteria tend to grow faster in wooden boards, so wash often.
If in doubt, throw it out. Most baby foods, both commercial (once the jar is opened) and home made, can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Bacteria love temperatures between 4oC and 60oC. The temperature of the fridge cannot be higher than 4oC. Always store prepared baby foods right away in covered containers in the back of the fridge or freezer where it is the coldest.
Never defrost meat by leaving it at room temperature during the day. Defrost food in the fridge or microwave.
It is not necessary to sterilise equipment used to prepare and serve food for babies 6 months or older.

BABY FOOD RECIPES

Make Your Own Baby Food FoodShare promotes making baby food at home Ready, steady, go! Starting baby on solids What to feed baby and when How to make baby food Baby food recipes Weblinks