Homemade Baby Food

Hubby and I decided that we wanted to make our own baby foods rather than buying the jarred stuff. This way we know exactly what's gone into the food, and when boy-o gets a little bit older he can eat the same things that we're eating rather than having to buy special foods for him.

Since boy-o is my first child I have of course never made baby food before, so armed with my Baby Bullet that we bought on sale at Canadian Tire, I set to it. One of the more commonly recommended foods to start with is Sweet Potato--so that's what we tried!

It was really quite simple and I highly recommend you give a go too! You don't need a Baby Bullet, which let's face it, is just a blender with a face. And a bit of a creepy one at that.

Sweet Potato puree:

1. Wash and peel sweet potato
2. Cut into cubes and cook in pot of water (you can also bake etc)
3. Cool chunks of potato and then add to blender
4. Add some of the cooking water/breast milk/formula to the potatoes as necessary to make sure they blend well in to a thin liquid consistency.
5. Store as required. Tada!

 

 

 

One medium sized Sweet Potato gave us 12 tablespoons (TBS) worth of food. We've kept two TBS out to try feeding him today, and we're going to freeze the other servings. To make life easier for yourself you can put a single TBS in each ice cube tray slot. If your tray doesn't have a lid, simply wrap with Saran-Wrap and place in freezer. Once it's frozen, you can pop them out and put them into a plastic Zip-Lock bag. Write the date on the bag and they can stay in the freezer for several months!!

 

This method of storing your baby food makes feeding time super easy! You can simply remove a cube or two from the Zip-Lock before mealtime and microwave for a minute to thaw. You can also combine different food cubes in one dish to make a more varied meal. My nephew used to love sweet potato and applesauce mixed together for example. Get creative!

 

 

This was the boy-o's very first attempt at real food, and it resulted in some pretty awesome faces!

 

"Gah Mum, what is this stuff?! This isn't milk!"

 

 

We're on day three of the Sweet Potato now, and although he still has some trouble with swallowing the food rather than it dribbling back out, he is definitely enjoy his Sweet Potato now!! The next item on our menu to test out is going to be some Avocado!

 

 

Note: Once you've warmed up your frozen cube, if the puree still seems to thick, simply add a bit more formula/breastmilk/water to thin it out as necessary and check to make sure food is not too hot!!