Cupcake gets Homemade Baby Food

At 5 months my doctor gave us the green signal to feed my daughter solid food.  I had borrowed books on baby food from a close friend of mine a month before.  I wanted to read up on it and figure out what recipes she might enjoy.  Don't get me wrong...I did try the baby food you buy at stores.  When I say I did try I meant me...I tasted the baby food.  I wasn't too crazy about it, so I decided to make my daughter her baby food.  I taste everything I make before I give it to my daughter.  If  I don't like it I change it accordingly until it passes Mama B's standards. 

I won't lie, making baby food is work.  I usually cook baby food on Sunday nights while my daughter is already asleep and my hubby is playing GT5 with his usual Sunday racing buddies online.  It takes me 1-1.5 hrs. I cook enough for several days and freeze them.  I would cook them fresh daily but I prefer cooking bigger portions because I do work full time, so by the time I get home I prefer spending my available time with my family than in the kitchen.

I usually steam each ingredient separately and then mix them later on. For example,  cook peas, chicken, carrots, cauliflower, apples, pears, etc.  After steaming, I freeze each item separately.  When it's time to feed my daughter, I defrost the peas, chicken, carrots, heat them up, mix them together, and feed it to her.  That way you get several options for your baby's daily menu for that week, so your baby isn't stuck eating the same food.

Beaba Baby Cook Food Maker

I've even been inventive with the baby food I've made, so it isn't the standard chicken w/ peas.  She's had rib eye steak with Chinese broccoli.  She's even had salmon, tomato, whole wheat Penne pasta, and basil.   My husband and I want our daughter to be exposed to different types of  food as possible so hopefully she doesn't become a picky eater and her pallet is not too conservative.  I don't put salt in any thing my daughter eats.  Yes, we do right down what she eats so if any allergies flare up we can track it.

There are a lot of items out there in the market now that are available for parents who want to make their own baby food.  My neighbor has the Beaba baby cook food maker, which she got at William Sonoma. She loves it because it's simple to use and does everything in one container.  You don't have to wash a lot of items after using it.

One of the books I used and borrowed from my friend (which I found useful) is:

The Petit Appetit by Lisa Barnes.  This Mommy even has a blog as well, so you can keep track of her blog on food and her adventures with it as well.

The Petit Appetit Cookbook

I use Munchkin baby food containers.  I love these because they have screw on tops and are color coded so you know what is inside.  Green= veggies, Blue = meat/poultry, Pink = fruit  (it's my color coded system).  They are also squeezable so you can remove/pop out  frozen baby food easily.

Munchkin fresh food containers holds 2 oz.

I actually enjoy making my daughter her baby food.  My husband and I take our daughter with us to our local Farmer's Market and check out the produce.  It's great because she gets to be be exposed to local farmers around our area.  I am also seeing the benefits myself! It's actually helped improved my own food intake as well.  We eat a lot more healthier: organic foods, brown rice, and low sodium/sugar diets.  I avoid over processed foods like sugar.  Face it...we are growing older, so the food we used to eat 10-15 years ago won't be processed by our bodies the same way.