Red Potatoes!

1.  Red potatoes are easily digested and great for babies 6 months and up.  The red skin has a ton of vitamins and minerals in it.  I like to leave a little skin in the potatoes after I have cooked them before I blend them.



2.  Cut them in half and then add to boiling pan about 1/2 full of water.





3.  Boil on high for about 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes are soft to the touch.  Once cooled off and drained, peel off 90% of the skin before blending.



4.  Place in blender and mix with breast milk, water, or formula to desired consistency.  A hint, it only takes a few table spoons of liquid to blend the potatoes with.  Potatoes liquefy very well by themselves so not much liquid will be needed.

5.  It is ok if you see a little bit of skin once blended.  This will only enhance the flavor and pack a nutritious punch for your little one.  :)

Carrots

Easily digested and semi sweet, carrots are a great first stage baby food for your baby!

1.  I like to buy organic carrots because they will have less if any pesticides and chemicals on them.  Make sure to wash them thoroughly before peeling or cutting them.  Also, stay away from mini or baby carrots as these are chemically enhanced and full of chemicals.



2.  Cut off the ends of the carrots and peel them.  The cut them up into 2-3 inch pieces.




3.  Place in a steamer/strainer that sits on top of a large pan.  Boil water halfway full for about 20-30 minutes or until carrots are soft and can easily be cut.  Blend in blender with water or breast milk or formula until desired consistency.  Place in ice cube tray and freeze!

Mangoes!

Soft and juicy, this sweet fruit packs a healthy punch for your little one.  The best way to make mangoes is raw.  Make sure it is soft but not mushy to the touch on the outside.

1. Clean the mango



2. Cut lengthwise all the way around the large pit inside.  Its not easy to cut and you wont be able to cut the fruit in half so once you have sliced around the middle, start pulling the flesh off and place in blender. Make sure the skin is fully removed.



3.  Once you have the mango bits in the food processor, puree it with water, breast milk, or formula until all the lumps are gone.  Add in ice cube tray and viola!

Blueberries

This was a bit messy but fun nonetheless.  I bought a frozen bag of blueberries, drained them, and washed them first.  I let them thaw for about 1 hour in the strainer:




Once thawed place in blender and add some water, breast milk or formula.  It doesn't take much liquid so I wouldn't add more than 1-2 oz. of liquid.  Blend until the skin is in very small pieces:


Fill each cube to top, cover with saran wrap and freeze.  Pop put of tray and into Ziploc bags once frozen.




You can add bananas while mixing if the taste is too strong for your little one. 

I add about 1-2 tablespoons of oatmeal or barley to it in a bowl once thawed for Bella.  She loves the mixture!  You can also add rice cereal as well.  :)

Apples

Super duper easy!  I found that 6 apples makes almost 2 ice cube trays worth of baby food.  Most babies eat 1-2 cubes per feeding so this should last you 1-2 weeks depending on what kind of eater you have.  :)

Wash apples and place upright in baking dish with 1 inch of water.  Cut each apple in half OR you can core the apple which is basically cutting out the middle of the apple which leaves a big hole in it.  Either way is fine.  I find that cutting the apple in half is easier and less messy.



Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.  Drain water, and let cool off.  Peel the skin off once cooled or scoop out the inside with a spoon.  Make sure to cut out and discard the seeds and skin.

Mix in blender with breast milk, water, or formula to desired consistency.  A hint; it doesn't take much liquid to puree apples.  Apples hold their own water so don't add as much liquid to the apples when mixing like you normally would.

Pour into bowl and spoon into ice cube tray.  I would add a little more than normal to each cube because it lessens when it freezes.


3 apples made this tray, fyi.  Medium sized Braeburn apples.

Squash

I chose Butternut Squash since its sweeter.

Wash the squash and lay on cutting board.



Cut in half length wise.  With a spoon, clean out the seeds and any strings that are sticking out.


This is how it should look once cleaned out.



Place face (or flesh) down in a casserole dish with 1 inch of water in it.  Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.



Once its ready, I would drain the water and let it cool off on the cutting board.  Once its cooled on you can scoop out the insides into the mixer.  Discard the skin.

Mix with breast milk, water, or formula to desired consistency.  You can play around with this to see what consistency you want for your baby.  Some babies like thicker food and some like it very thin.


Spoon from mixing bowl into cubes.  I put just enough in there to reach the very top of each cube.



Place saran wrap lightly over the tray and place in freezer.  It will take a few hours to freeze.  Once frozen, pop out and place in labeled Ziploc bag with date.  Good for 1-2 months frozen and 48 hours thawed in refrigerator!

Baby Food!

I decided when I was pregnant that I wanted to make my own baby food for several reasons; its healthier, its cheaper, and its fun.  You can pick and choose what you want to make for your baby and know exactly what is going into their precious bodies.  Its SUPER easy and if you make the food in large batches in can go for weeks at a time before you need to make another batch.  I started making baby food for Bella when she was 5.5 months old, starting with peas (which were a huge epic fail) and then onto sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, apples, and peaches.  You can mix the veggies and fruits in any mixer or food processor.  It really doesn't matter.  The magic bullet is another popular tool to mix the food, however it makes smaller batches which for me as a working mom doesn't suffice.  My food mixer is a basic mixer from Target with options to blend and puree which is all you need.  Once you have made the baby food and frozen it, all you need to do is pop a cube or two out and heat it in the microwave for about 30 seconds in a glass or bpa free bowl.  :)

Tools

There are a few basic tools you will need to make your own baby food, which I have included below:

1. A food processor or mixer of some sort. 
-The price for these range and you can check out the prices on Target or Walmarts website.



2. Ice cube trays. 
-This is what you will place the mixed baby food in once you are done making it.



3.  Saran wrap. 
- You will cover the ice trays with saran wrap and place in the freezer to freeze.

4.  Ziploc bags with labels.
-This is what you will use to hold the baby food after its frozen.  Just pop out of the ice cube trays, label what the food is and the date with a permanent marker.

5.  Mixing bowl.
-This is what I use to pour the mixed food into once I have processed the food.  Its easier to spoon into the ice cube trays as opposed to directly from the mixer because of the blade.

6. Itty bitty Tupperware bowls.
-I bought GLAD Tupperware that is BPA free.  I pop one or two cubes from the freezer into this and place them in the fridge before I heat it to feed Bella.  Its a little bigger than a baby food jar but small enough to put in your diaper bag or ice pack if you need to travel.