Homemade Baby Food...Yeah Baby!

Yeah I said it – Homemade baby food. When people find out I make my own baby food they seem shocked. Surprisingly with the right equipment (food processor and steamer) it is not as time consuming as one might think. I do try whenever possible to make my own baby food. I have really enjoyed making it. I like the fact that I can control what Alex is eating and how the food is prepared. In my opinion it is cheaper, healthier and allows for more variety. The neat thing is you can make a ton of it in advance and freeze it in ice cube trays and store it in food storage bags for up to three months. You can also control the texture of the food for younger and older babies. I have had to feed Alex out of the jar on occasion. A few things like prunes and apricots are hard to do yourself. I have also found that when Alex transitioned to eating chicken it was hard for me to get the right consistency in my food processor, therefore at first we had to start with the jarred stuff. Now that he has a couple of teeth and can mash food with his gums he does not like food from a jar anymore. The reason I am posting about this is because I wanted to share a website that I recently came across. I was looking for different combinations of baby food and finger foods. I love this site because you can search a particular fruit or vegetable to see when it should be introduced. It has sample feeding menu’s for different ages as well as nutrition facts about the different foods. It is very helpful and informative. For example I was looking for finger foods that are protein rich and found a recipe for Apple Turkey Sticks. Alex loved them. They consist of ground turkey, oat bran (I used wheat germ), carrots, apple sauce, basil, garlic powder, and egg yolks. You combine the ingredients and then bake it. I like the fact that I can pronounce all of the ingredients and it is a healthy dinner for little man. Sure, making baby food takes time and planning but to me it is well worth it.

Here is a link to the site: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/index.htm