Homemade Baby Food: Carrots, Sweet Potato, Peas
The good news is that you can go organic in the foods that your child eats. There are two ways to do this, you can purchase ready made organic baby food or make your own. When purchasing the organic baby food jars you can pay quite a hefty price per jar and for what reason? Can we truly trust everything in those jars to be just as healthy as they suggest it to be? Once they add in preservatives, salt, and sugar the healthy nature of that organic baby food flies right out the window.
Shop the vegetable shelves at your grocery market instead. Buy organic vegetables and fruits and make your own baby foods so you can be 100% sure what gets put into your little one's tummy. By making your own homemade baby food you can take most of the questions and concerns out of their feeding. Then relax and enjoy watching your baby try new fruits, vegetables, and other solids.
There is of course some prep work involved. The vegetables will need to be cooked and then ground into a fine puree. You can use a hand held blender or a food processor which ever gadget it is that you have access to. Begin by dicing larger vegetables into smaller chunks for cooking.
It's also a good idea to use less water for cooking your babies food so you don't lose any of those precious nutrients by draining them away. When you cook any vegetables, they lose some of their nutrients in the water that is used to cook them and we want our babies to get every single one.
Homemade Baby Food Pea Puree: If you don't have a garden and the opportunity to grow your own vegetables then you will need to go shopping. I do up my vegetables one batch at a time. For the pea puree you will need one bag of frozen green peas. Keep it organic if at all possible. Select a brand that you trust to have a quality product. By preparing your baby's food you can insure that no additives or preservatives are added into your recipe. Just pure goodness for your baby's meals.
Ice cube trays make perfect little food size portions for your bundle of joy. Storing these cubes in the freezer will help preserve your pureed baby food for a much longer time than simply keeping it in the fridge so you can do up larger batches.
After you have filled your trays gently knock them on the counter a couple of times to get the air bubbles out. This will also help to make the food flat for easier freezing. Easy to freeze and even easier to store cubed trays with lids make individual baby food sized portions a snap.
Just fill the little compartments with your desired puree and put the lid on. It's as simple as that. Some freezer storage containers have lids but if you yours don't this is not a problem. Just wait for the cubes of baby food to be frozen and then pop them out like ice cubes and place them into freezer bags (or a larger lidded container). Easy peasy. No problem at all!
I am using freezer bags for my batches of baby food and single bagging it. If you are making a big batch of baby food puree you can double up the bags to be double sure they don't get freezer burn by the time you use them.
Be sure to date your freezer bags so you will know how long it has been in the freezer. I would recommend not keeping frozen vegetables for more than 3 months. If you are using a frost free freezer I would cut that time down to no more than 1 1/2 to 2 months time.If you have the cubes wrapped well enough they may keep for up to 6 months. Double bagging is a definite plus in this department. Just keep in mind that frozen foods can lose their nutritive value the longer they are frozen.
The small size cubes are wonderful for baby as she or he ages. Use as many as you would like at any one sitting. As baby gets older and acquires a bigger appetite use 2 or 3 cubes of food.
Never be Afraid to Try Your Hand at New Things
...easier said than done right? It really is okay to be a little afraid to try something new but don't let your fear get the best of you. I was very worried about how much time and effort it would take up making my own baby food but I really didn't need to be. Making my own has worked out great.
With having 3 other children on top of my baby: Swim Lessons, Soccer Practice, Bowling Tournaments, Dance Classes, and everything else the kids are involved in trust me, I know how valuable time can be.I'm not going to lie, some of the prep work takes a little bit of time depending on what fruit or vegetable you are preparing for your baby but when all is said and done you will be far more satisfied with the homemade baby food. You not only get to see what goes into your child's food but it is also a much more economical option.
Good Food Makes for a Happy Baby and Everyone Knows That a Happy Baby Creates a Happy Mom. We want the best for our babies whether it is making sure they get out and play in the fresh air or learn that fruits and vegetables are good for them.Teaching our little ones the important little things in life only works if we ourselves follow the principles as well. Nutritious eating is a family affair. Lead by example or do as I do, or so they say.
When your babies grow up to have babies of their own you may help your children and grandchildren follow this rule. A little knowledge can go a very long way. It's never too early to start showing the people that you love how to live a healthy lifestyle.
