Adventures in Babyfood Making

I've alluded to this several times on the blog, but Ryan and I are making Riley's baby food ourselves.  I had three big wishes for giving Riley the best start possible:  breastfeeding her the first year, cloth diapering, and making her baby food.  All three of those were pretty ambitious and would require a lot of work on my part, but I really wanted to make it happen.  Breastfeeding has gone very well, even after me going back to work when Riley was twelve weeks old.  I think a lot of that is helped by the fact that I'm home with her two days a week.

Ryan said no ma'am to the cloth diapering.  I wanted to fight him on it, but it seemed so important to him, and he had some great points.  With a big kid, we are always on the go, and with daycare to consider, we weren't sure that the huge initial investment would pay off.  So while I wanted to be super green and not use disposable diapers, that's where we've ended up and I'm fine with that decision.

The biggest commitment to me was making Riley's baby food.  I had no idea where to start, but fortunately my cousin had a baby about six months before I did and she had decided to do the same thing.  She has been a wealth of knowledge for me and has kept the whole process from being too confusing.  I still get a little overwhelmed at times - without the baby food aisle to guide me on what "step" we're on, I tend to get lost on where to go next.  However, three months into doing this, and I'm almost a pro.

The process is pretty simple.  All you need in a steam basket (I got an Oxo one from Amazon for around $15), a sauce pan with a lid, a knife, a cutting board, and a blended.  We use a Magic Bullet that Ryan bought from Amazon for around $100.  As I mentioned before, he bought it thinking he would use it, but turns out Riley has used it most of all.

First, you chop and peel the fruit or veggie you're cooking (if required).  I don't peel squash, apples and pears, but I do peel mangos, peaches, sweet potatoes, and plums.

Then you bring 2-3 cups of water to boil in a sauce pan.  Place the chopped or sliced food into the steam basket and cover.  I steam for around 10 minutes.
 

Once the timer goes off, I take the lid off and let the food cool.  Then I put it in the blender.  If I know a food is going need some water to blend (most vegetables plus apples & pears), I add the water from the  pot because it's going to have absorbed some of the nutrients from the food.  Special thanks to R.Lowe for being my hand model.

 We have two silicone trays for freezing food.  We got the green one at Target and the pink one was a gift.  I have to say, the pink is superior.  I absolutely love it, and not just because it's pink.  It's the easier of the two to get the frozen food out of!

So once you blend to the desired consistency, then you just pour it in the trays, cover, and freeze.

It's actually a surprisingly easy process, and one that I have really enjoyed because it's not only good for the Roo, but it has made our family much more conscious of what we eat.  I love feeling like I'm doing something so healthy for her that it's helped us in the process!

Here's a list of what Riley has tried so far:

• Avocados
• Bananas
• Oatmeal (Sprout brand, mixed with breastmilk)
• Blueberries
• Green beans
• Peas
• Pears
• Peaches
• Plums
• Mangos
• Sweet potatoes
• Chicken (Boiled, shredded, and then blended)
• Yogurt (I didn't make this myself - It's whole milk yogurt from Ozark Natural Foods)
• Pumpkin (canned)
• Summer squash
• Butternut squash
• Carrots

And here are a few notes:

• Bananas and avocados do not have to be steamed - you can just peel, pit (if needed), and blend.
• We use the SteamFresh bags for green beans and peas.  It's just easier - I steam them in the microwave and then blend.
• We use frozen peaches from Ozark Natural Foods that have no added ingredients.  They are so simple because they are already peeled, sliced, and ready to steam.  Sometimes, depending on what's in season or in stock, we get frozen mangos and blueberries as well.
• Don't fill the sauce pan up with too much water - suspending food in water actually removes the nutrients.  If you have to add water to the blender, always try to use the water from the pot you used to steam.
• An exception to the above is blueberries - their skins are so tough that they retain their nutrients.  I actually boil them for 10 minutes in 2 cups of water uncovered.
• If anything is too runny, add baby oatmeal.  
• Canned pumpkin can actually be served right out of the can.  Just make sure it's not pumpkin pie mix.  No need to cook.
• The chicken was the hardest thing we've made, and I think it's scared us off of making any other meats!  It was so hard to get the consistency right.  Just keep adding water and blending.
• I used this website as my reference, and I still read it constantly.  It has a great listing of spices to add to each baby food once you've introduced them all so that you keep exposing your child to new flavor.

I've not done a great job of moving past the fruit and veggie purees.  I need to get some grains introduced as well as beef and turkey.  We're also starting to work on textured foods, so I'll mash up a banana or peas in front of her and let her play with them.  She's not putting it into her mouth yet, but I think we'll get there soon.  It makes me feel great to be able to make Riley's solids for her and I love knowing exactly what's in them.  I encourage anyone who wants to to give it a try - it's not as hard as everyone makes it seem!