Homemade Baby Food

One of the easiest ways to save money on baby food is to make your child’s baby food yourself. You might be surprised how simple it is to make nutritious baby food for your little one right at home. You just need to follow a few simple rules.

First, you’ll need to own a food mill. These are inexpensive and easy to find at stores that carry baby supplies. Alternatively, you can use your blend or food processor. However, most moms find that using a homemade baby food grinder requires far less clean up than the blender or food processor.

The second thing you’ll need to remember is that baby food should be unseasoned. So, if you’re cooking some vegetables, and plan to use some for baby food and some for the rest of the family, simply cook the vegetables and then remove the amount you plan to use for baby food before seasoning.

Making most homemade baby food is as simple as boiling, cooling and grinding. Vegetables, in particular, require nothing other than cooking to a soft consistency and then grinding. Be certain, however, that all the fruits and vegetables you use have been thoroughly washed. Just be careful with vegetables like sweet potatoes, as they can become stringy. You’ll need to pull out the strings to make the consistency right for baby. Steaming vegetables works well, too. You can also boil meats like chicken, and then grind them. They’ll take a bit more grinding than vegetables to reach the right texture.

Once you’ve prepared baby food, be sure to refrigerate or freeze it within two hours, so that it stays fresh. Baby food, whether, homemade or prepared should never be left out for more than two hours, to prevent harmful bacteria from growing.

One way to make baby food preparation even simpler is to make a big batch for freezing. Once your prepared baby food is cooled, use ice cube trays to freeze it into small one serving cubes. Once the food is frozen into cubes, you can repackage and put the food back in the freezer. This method allows you to thaw just enough baby food for one meal if desired.

Making homemade baby food is a great way to save money and ensure that your baby eats nutritionally sound meals. It’s also great to know that you can make baby food when needed to avoid a trip to the grocery store, or to simply share some particularly fresh vegetables or fruits with your little one!