Sunday, March 17, 2013

Making Baby Food

I have to admit, I knew I wanted to make Kendall's baby food, but I was a bit skeptical about the whole thing. Its a little nerve racking to know that I am responsible for her nutrition, food preferences, pickiness, etc. Making her baby food turned out to be much easier than I thought, fun, and rewarding (I realize I sound like a commercial right now...). I was lucky enough to get a Beaba Baby Cook food maker at one of my baby showers, and it has made this process much easier than I ever thought. We started Kendall on baby cereal at about 4 1/2 months and she hated every bit of it! We then switched from rice cereal to baby oatmeal, and she still hated it. So, we kept her on her liquid diet. Fastforward to 5 1/2 months, and baby girl could not get enough of that stuff! After about 4 days of oatmeal at night time, we did avocado mixed with breast milk for a few days, and then tried bananas. She loved both. I started with these two items because 1) we had them on hand already, and 2) I had read that both were great to start with because they required no cooking, just mashing, and are both great sources of fat, nutrients, etc. Once we maxed out on those two food items, I went to the grocery store and picked up carrots, sweet potatoes, apples and pears. In total, I spent about $10, and 1 hour prepping, prepparing and storing all four foods. I followed along in my recipe book that came with the Beaba Baby Cook, and was able to make enough for 2+ weeks of food for Kendall (she gets a veggie at night time and a fruit in the morning mixed in with a bit of baby oatmeal for texture and consistency). This weekend, I spent another $8, and one hour making apricots, peas and string beans. It has been a fun adventure feeding her new foods, and a bit scary when you go to change their poopy diaper after the first few new solids you introduce!

Here are a list of my "must haves" when it comes time to make your own baby food.



1) Bibs - any bib will do, but how adorbs are these?!
2) Bowls - great because they suction down and come with lids. Great to throw in your diaper bag and go
3) Spoons - perfect for baby's little mouth, and as an added bonus, will keep your baby entertained while you are trying to get their food ready and they are pissed because it isnt in their mouth, NOW.
4) Multiportion storage tray - use this to freeze single portion sizes, and pop out as needed
5) Reheat jar - place frozen, prepared baby food in here, and put it all in to the baby cooker and steam to reheat baby food
6) Beaba Baby Cooker - a MUST for any mom/dad wanting to make baby's food

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