Guest Post by Carolyne Britt from Red Orchid Studio
I always knew I was going to be “one of those moms”. The very kind that we all roll our eyes at, but unlike that TV ad for a well-known brand of diapers, I didn’t plan on “getting over it”. I read a lot of books and websites and I adopted certain ideals that I felt were important in raising my baby. I breastfed, I cloth diapered, and when it came time, I made my own organic baby food. The bonus to my plan was that what I felt was good for my baby (and the environment) also saved us money and (surprise!) was actually pretty easy.
Of course, being “one of those moms”, I wanted the food I would be offering my baby to be full of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and to not have any pesticides or growth hormones and not be genetically altered. That meant organic, which can be expensive, but after doing the math I saw that making my own baby food (organic or not) would cost me a third less than the same sized serving in a commercial jar!
The jars are convenient and I did use them occasionally, but with the frozen cube method of making baby food there was really no need for them. We used the cubes for sitters, when we traveled and when we ate out, just as we would have used jars.
The frozen cube method is simply purees of steamed or boiled food poured into ice cube trays, frozen and transferred into freezer bags for storage. Ice cube trays vary, but most are about 2 oz per cube, so you can easily measure the servings (cubes) needed per meal.
I am not a cook and I do not like to be in the kitchen, but once a week I would have my husband entertain the baby while I set up my assembly line of prepping, steaming, pureeing and freezing. I would do all the vegetables first so that I wouldn’t have to wash (just rinse if necessary) the cutting board, steamer and food processor, in between foods, which saved time. To cut down on clean up and time in the kitchen you could do veggies one week and fruits the next, which I did.
I pulled out the vegetables and fruits I found on sale that week and cut them into smaller pieces so they would cook more quickly and dropped them into the steam basket on my stove. I left skins on (lots of nutrients in the skins) and put the softened food in the food processor slowly adding the steam water (you can use breast milk or formula) until the puree was smooth. You can strain the puree if needed, so that the skin pieces won’t choke the baby. As your baby gets older the purees can get chunkier until they can just pick up the steamed chopped up pieces with their fingers.
If you strain into a big liquid measuring cup it’s easier to neatly pour the purees into the ice cube trays. Once frozen, simply pop the cubes into freezer bags and label (it can be hard to tell the peas from the broccoli in their pureed state). When you are ready to use them, you can grab a couple cubes and leave them in the fridge to thaw overnight. If you choose to microwave them, stir thoroughly and very careful of hot spots. If the food is too hot for your upper lip then it will burn the baby.
There are lots of sites that can give you details with cooking times for each food, puree recipes and even when to introduce which foods to your baby. I like this site because she offers recipes and menus for all stages. I also used the book Super Baby Food and it is my food-bible, but the author introduces nuts, dairy and wheat much earlier than some doctors recommend today, so you need to make yourself aware and be very cautious.
Have fun with it and don’t be afraid to try foods you aren’t used to cooking with. It’s worth the extra effort and will save you time and money in the long run.
