My Guide To Homemade Baby Food
So many people decide to make their own baby food. So far I am definitely one of those people. It’s a fun hobby and I honestly love making my own baby food (plus it saves me ALOT of money)! I thought I would share with you my favorite products to make baby food with, how and when I started feeding and then finish up with my favorite recipes!
Here is a list of my favorite products for that baby registry:
1. baby bullet - I personally LOVE my baby bullet! A regular old nutribullet would work fine too but I love the cute little containers that come with my bullet.
2. baby bullet steamer - this steamer is perfect! It gives you a guide to exactly what settings to steam at to get a perfect purée. If you don’t use this, you can also use and instapot or steam the old fashioned way. I do not recommend boiling because food loses its nutritional value that way!
3. infantino squeeze station - this station is perfect to store baby food in little pouches for freezing or on the go meals!
4. simple modern reusable pouches- I prefer these over the Infantino pouches because they are reusable! I will admit they can be difficult to wash though.
Honestly, I use all of these products pretty regularly and I would highly recommend each and every one of them!
So let’s get to it! Here are some commonly asked questions I get on homemade baby food!
Do you prefer baby led weaning or purées?
Both! I truly think that both are important. I like to make sure that my babies get all of the possible nutrition that they can. I like to offer purées and then let them play with some additional food to experience textures and learn for themselves! My kids get very messy while eating because I let them play with their food for as long as they are entertained. I will often feed purées on the go but I let them sample some of whatever we have for meals too.
Below is a picture of lily playing with some blueberry purée after I fed her 50% of the container!
next up is a picture of carter using a piece of steak as a pacifier that I offered him along with Mango purée and some cooked carrot slices!
Both of my kids have done so well with a mixture of purées and baby led weaning! Lily is now two years older and she is not picky AT ALL. She will eat nearly everything put in front of her and I like to think this is because I offered variety at every meal and I still do now that she is a toddler.
When did you start feeding your baby Solids?
I started both of my kids at different times. Lily was very advanced with her motor skills and indicated she was ready for purées around 4 months and I started introducing baby led weaning at 6 months. With carter I started purées closer to 5 months and introduced baby led weaning at 6 months. Both kiddos were so different. I noticed when they started seeking out solids and could hold their heads steady and that is when I started feeding solids.
What foods did you try first?
For both kids I started with avocado as their first food. I did this because avocado is not sweet and I did not want them to refuse veggies (that could be a load of crap but someone told me to do it so I did and I think it worked for me). Even when my baby didn’t like the food I continue to offer it because I believe that exposure is key to not having picky children. Here is a sample schedule of my first month feeding puree‘s.
Avocado 2 ounces 1x per day for 4 days. I puréed this fresh each time because avocado is better fresh. I pureed half of the avocado for the first two days and covered the second half with Saran Wrap in the fridge.
instructions: just chop up the ripe avocado and pop it in the baby bullet with a little drop of water, it’s that easy! (You can add breastmilk to it but only if you are feeding it right away!)
Carrot 2 ounces 1x a day for 4 days. for the carrot you need to steam the carrots before making purée! I only add water to get the consistency that I want!
Pears 2 ounces 1x a day for 4 days (cooked same as carrots) I do this 3rd because it can help them poop if they get a little backed up starting solids!
Banana 2 ounces 1x a day fir 4 days (made same way as avocado)
Peas 2 ounces 1x a day for 4 days. Not gonna lie both my kids HATED peas so after two days I mixed the peas with banana and they loved it. I try not to to go crazy with bananas because they do get a bit constipated from them! (Made same way as carrots)
Apple 2 ounces 1x a day for 4 days (follow carrot instructions)
Sweet Potato 2 ounces 1x a day for 4 days (follow carrot instructions)
Green bean 2 ounces 1x a day for 4 days
(follow carrot instructions)
** I use these foods when I mix purées frequently so I like to check that none of these cause problems first! Once I know that they don’t I will mix them with other foods! ***
What are your favorite mixes do you use from 4-6 months
I mostly do single Intro foods during this time with the exception of a few mixes here is what we tried between 4-6 months in order for carter!
Avocado, Sweet potato, Pear, Peas, Carrots, Apple, Banana, Green Bean, Peach, butternut squash Mango….
Blueberry/Pear mix
Avocado banana mix
homemade rice cereal/apple/cinnamon
Sweet Potato/apple mix
Green bean/Carrot
Carrot/pea/potato
greek yogurt
chicken/apple
after 6 months I start adding a lot of variety and textures into the mix! here are some of my babies favorite mixes!!
kiwi/banana/avocado
strawberry/banana
spinach/apple
quinoa/tomato
peanut banana yogurt
sweet potato basil
Blueberry apple peach
broccoli apple
broccoli cheddar
banana cashew
apple/peas and mint
Strawberry Kiwi
spinach apple green bean
Here are some of our favorite recipes for 6+ months!
Banana-Cashew!
My babies both LOVED this mix. I know some people are hesitant to introduce nuts but I am not. This purée is so easy! I boil water and place cashews in the water for 30-60 minutes or until they break easily. Here is a before and after picture of cashews that are ready to purée and ones that are not. before
Ready to purée cashews!
I simply just purée them with banana and it’s amazing!
Tomato Carrot Spaghetti
this one is a HUGE hit for both the baby and my toddler!
you need:
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 large tomato
salt/pepper
pastina or homeade rice cereal (recipe below)
steam carrots using baby bullet steamer
sautee diced tomato with salt and pepper (I don't use oil)
dump all of the veggies into the baby bullet and blend to make a soupy sauce
cook pastina and dump it in OR blend with homeade rice cereal
Homemade rice and oat cereal!
Personally I dont trust baby brands at all! I like to make my own baby cereals.
For rice: I cook brown rice regularly and then purée it! (that easy)
For oats: I made oat powder by
1. Placing oats in a food processor until finely ground.
2. Store the oat powder in a sealed container in the refrigerator or freezer or in a cool dark place for up to 3 months.
3. boil water and add the oats to cook them before mixing into purees
I use these cereals as a base with fruits that do not always have a good consistency pureed
examples:
blueberry cereal
strawberry cereal
raspberry cereal
blackberry cereal
Finally, a super weird but delicious hit in my family!
Baby Led Weaning Spinach Banana Pancakes!
1/2 cup plain flour 1 egg 1 banana handful spinach 3/4 cup breastmilk (or any other alternative such as formula, milk, oat milk, soya etc)
1. blend everything together in your baby bullet
2. cook like you would regular pancake!
toppings I use: banana, chocolate chips, and peanut butter or jam (you could use syrup if you want but I try to stay away from the sugar for littles)
Storing baby Food!
I typically make my food in bulk and I use my infantino pouches or breastmilk bags for freezing food and my baby bullet containers for food we will immediately eat! I only keep frozen foods for 6 months max!
Thank you so much for reading this! Make sure you check with your doctor before trying any of these foods and check our disclaimer on our home page! Stay tuned for more recipes and feel free to reach out to me on our Instagram @mommyteablog with any questions!