Making My Own Babyfood-

M.,

This website M. also have some useful information for you:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

And be careful about certain foods... I make my own baby food as well, and my pediatrician told me not to make my own spinach, carrots, and other root vegetables due to the high nitrate levels.

Avocado is a recent favorite in my house... soft and delicious with no preparation needed!

A.

She's probably ready to try some finger foods, as long as she's chewing those stage 2 foods well. Have you asked her doc? Is she allergic to dairy, or it just hasn't been introduced? Baby Mum Mums are a great first treat, but they have a little milk powder in them. They are at some grocery stores, and almost every organic market. They will give you a glimpse into how she handles chewing crunchier foods. (They dissolve in the mouth, but give her a chance to take a bite first!)

Also, she's definitely ready for you to give her well cooked carrots and sweet potatoes, which she can start picking up with her hands. Also, mushy bananas. And once you introduce dairy- cottage cheese is a great finger food! Don't stress about the meat right now. She's getting plenty of protein with her formula. I didn't really give much meat to my son until he was eating "real" food. Now he eats chicken and beef in chunks. I never gave it to him in baby food form, because it seemed so yucky!

Three meals a day is up to you and her. There's no set time. Is she hungry? If so, feed her! :)

Another thought is to invest in a high speed blender. These things are so powerful that they will actually cook food just by their speed. I use one to puree raw greens and fruit for green smoothies. If it can turn raw kale into pudding, I am certain it would puree any meat you put in. The most reputable brand is Vita-Mix. It is several hundred dollars, but it's an investment I have never regretted.
Brava to you for your hard work!
S.

M.,
I never bought baby food, I used to make chicken or beef soup or stew and grind it. Whenever we had a pork loin I would put in some water or chicken broth and add yams or rice or carrots, etc. I even made Beef Barley soup using ground beef and would put it through the grinder. Another suggestion is Beans and Macaroni, it is an Italian dish and purees up nicely; let me know if you would like the recipe. I used to make that because the beans are very good for the baby. Macaroni with meatballs and sauce is another good idea. I found that I would serve the baby whatever I was cooking for dinner unless it was fish and they were under a year old. As for eating 3 meals a day, I started mine at 8 or 9 months old, except for my oldest son who did everything extremely early and was on all solid foods at 6 months. Let me know if I can be of any other help.
Hugs,
T.

make a meat dish for your family as normal and then puree that; such as spaghetti and meatsauce or chicken with broccoli with alfredo sauce over fettucini noodles (puree a portion for baby.

Hi M.!

Give yourself a big pat on the back for making your own baby food. Its a great way to start a lifetime of healthy eating. The Super Baby Food book that others recommended is fantastic, I recommend it too.

I wouldn't worry too much about meat, there are other sources of protein that are healthy. If there is no dairy allergy you can try yogurt and cheese. You can use organic whole milk plain yogurt and mix in fruit purees instead of buying something like a Yobaby product which is full of sugar.

You can try beans or lentils too, make soup with veggies that have already been introduced, some low sodium chicken or vegetable broth and puree.

My son is 14 months and now eats everything. He has never been sick (knock on wood) and I attribute his health and healthy attitute to feeding him home made whole foods from the start.

Good luck.

I highly, highly, HIGHLY suggest a book called Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. I gives the developmental readiness and nutritional benefits of all foods and yummy make your own baby food recipes (350+). She also has a section on child safety and feeding (recs for seating/feeding equipment and make your own green alternatives for chemical cleaners etc) It has been my food bible!
Good Luck!
L.

Hi. good for you on making your baby's food. You can go without meat by using M. variety of beans. Canned beans are convenient for being cooked, and you just rinse them in a collendar. For meat replacement you should use rice (brown rice is best for health - having the whole grain), because together rice and beans make a 'perfect protein' with no digestive slowness of meat. I also mixed in some fruit with the rice/bean combo and in with the veggies to make all taste better.
Not sure what your storage method is, but I'd make a tremendous amount in a day and store in ziplock bags labelled and freeze them flat. Leads to a card catalogue of baby food you just pop in the microwave or tak on the the go.
PS. My son ate everything as a baby because of the variety and using real fresh food. He's 4 now and will resist for the way food looks but can be coerced to try and likes almost everything. No picky eater, and I attribute it to his experience as a baby with good food and my own negotiation with him.
good luck.

hi M., i made all mine too, and i had the same problem with meat, it is gross in the processor, though not so bad if you mix it with apples or banana or sweet potato. but what i did for chicken was to buy really good cutlets and boil them in a little water until they fell apart, then just cut it up a bit so the strings arent long. you can mix in some of your applesauce or whatever. or, you can buy ground beef/chicken/turkey/pork, whatever, and just break it all up as you simmer it in a little water in a pan. also mix with applesauce or mushed up bananas or whatever. also, when you make veggies, save the water and use it for the meat, extra nutrition that way. also, some organic beans, kidney or black beans, or lentils, so healthy and extra protein. smush them up for now, as she gets better at finger foods, you can smush them up a bit less, though i would wait quite a while before feeding them whole even if she is taking finger foods because of the shape. if you havent done squash or sweet potatoes yet, they were a favorite. tiny petite peas are a great first finger food, you can just run them under hot water in a colander. smush them a little at first, just so they aren't round. mango is great, avocado is so healthy also if she will eat it. brown rice is healthy too. if you really want to pack in the nutrients, make kale/brussel sprouts/collard greens/spinach/broccoli steamed and mixed/pureed. it is a powerhouse of vitamins, and anyway you can get it in her is great, mix some with cereal/bananas, whatever you can get her to eat with it. later on you can put it in eggs or pancakes. apples and carrots are great for sweetening all kinds of things, as are bananas. my kids all still eat tons of bananas, i bought 3 bunches today, they will last maybe a week! the perfect food. have fun with it, and remember that if she doesnt like something today, she might very well like it the next time or the time after, etc. take care, D..

Just a quick suggestion for the meats
(which I did with my daughter) my doctor suggested that I buy organic cold cut meats instead of using meat puree (I started with turkey, then chicken- from stop and shop -natures promise, at the deli counter) It is already very thin, so just break it into tiny pieces, and let your daughter pick up the pieces or you can feed them to her.
At 16 mo. she still likes this today

There's a great book on this subject call Super Baby Foods by Ruth Yaron. I wholeheartedly recommend it! http://www.amazon.com/Super-Baby-Food-Ruth-Yaron/dp/09652...

Hi M.,

I made all of my last baby's food and I wish I had done it from my first. Isn't it great? So much more economical. If your daughter is only 7 months adjusted, I wouldn't rush into the meats just yet. I didn't bother pureeing meats...I used beans...black beans are great...fresh not canned of course. They are highly nutritious. My daughter loved them pureed with sweet potatoes. I even put them in with blueberries! So, I would try that instead of meat for now. I introduced meat/poultry as a finger food when she was ready, and I just gave her what we had at the table. She loved that.

BTW, what are you using to puree the food? I've got one of those bullet type blenders, but it is pretty much on the fritz and I'm wondering if there is something better out there...the plastic cups of this blender say you can put hot foods and liquids in them, but they always cracked and I'm down to 2 of each size.

Take care!

D.
35 year old mother to 5 with one more on the way

My doctor suggested putting a little bit of olive oil in to make the consistency more pleasant. We never made our own food so I'm not sure if it works but thought I would share his suggestion!

Try mixing the chicken with the peas or carrots after prcessing Sweet potatoes mix well also

add the meat/poultry to the veggies
add some water to the meat/chicken

Hi-
I use earths best organic foods, they are great! They have stage 2 meals with chicken or beef and my 11 month old son loves them. I feed him 3 times a day. Breakfast he has a bottle and organic cereal with an organic fruit I add in usually bananas. For lunch he has a jar of 2nd or 3rd foods meal and some fruit. Dinner he has the same, I also give him a snack or 2 during the day depending on how long his nap runs. He gets a total of 4 bottles a day 6-7oz each every 3-4 hours. Hope this helps.

we make our own baby food, mostly organic. i was told not to worry about nitrates if using organic. i would definitely check out wholesomebabyfood.com

remember each baby is different. my daughter wasn't so interested in solids until 7 1/2 months. she started 3 meals a day around 8 1/2 months.

good luck!