How do I make Baby Food?

awnserer

Answer
Making Homemade Baby Food
By Dawn Lloyd (www.babyuniversity.com)

Making your own baby food gives you the distinct advantage of controlling what goes into your babyâs sensitive tummy. You determine how much, if any, sugar and spices your baby gets. Even when found on sale for as low as 50 cents per jar, producing your own is a much less expensive alternative to ready made.

Making baby food is actually very simple with a few simple tools: a blender, food processor, baby food grinder or similar machine, a steamer or boiling pot, ice cube trays, and a few minutes of your time. As with jarred baby food, begin slowly, introducing only one new fruit or vegetable per week. Be sure to watch for any signs of an allergic reaction. Start with the least acidic of the fruits, such as apples, pears, and bananas.

If you would like to prepare your own baby food, follow these basic tips:

Fruits and Vegetables

Wash fresh fruits and vegetables thoroughly to remove any chemical residue.
Steam or boil your babyâs favorite fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables until mushy.
Use fresh fruits and veggies for the most nutritional value, frozen next, and canned as a last option.
If you use canned veggies, be sure to use the "No Salt" versions.
Use little or no spice.
Purée the fruits or vegetables very well for smaller infants, or leave a bit coarser for older ones.
For variety, mix two fruits together.
If these are the first foods you are feeding your infant, you may even want to strain the pureed fruit. You can purchase an inexpensive baby food maker that does this for you.
Spoon puréed food into ice-cube trays and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze. At meal time, simply pop out a few cubes of food and allow to thaw to room temperature or defrost in the microwave for a few seconds. You can make weeks worth of meals at a time!
A few suggested fruits and veggies to begin with:
Apples
Bananas
Pears
Peaches
Plums
Potatoes (mash with water, formula or breast milk)
Peas
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Butternut Squash
Desserts/Treats

Make your own Ambrosia by mixing a few fruits together, such as strawberries and bananas. Be creative! However, only use fruits which baby has already tried and shown no allergic reaction towards.
For older babies, mix plain or vanilla-flavored yogurt with their favorite fruits.
Freeze babyâs favorite juice in ice cube trays. Mush up and let baby eat with a spoon for a frozen treat! This one is great for those terrible teething days.

Meals

As baby gets older, you can also purée dishes that you fix for the rest of the family such as: macaroni and cheese, spaghetti well cooked, chicken and ham. Freeze in ice cube trays similar to the fruits and vegetables.

Be sure when thawing meat dishes that you allow them to thaw in the refrigerator or defrost in the microwave to prevent the risk of E-coli bacteria forming.

Organic snacks and easy to make meals?

SK

I want to eat a little more healthy, and am looking to buy more organic products. What are some common organic snacks? (e.g. pita chips with hummus, cheddar bunnies... etc.) I'm not too into bars, like the cliff bars or whatever they are called.

Also, what are easy meals or more filling options? I don't cook to well, so nothing too complicated. Preferably stuff as easy to make as mac 'n cheese and organic oatmeal.
Thanks!

Answer
You can just try making your snacks using organic ingredients, same with your meals.
Whole Foods Market has some amazing nutrition information, recipes, tips, etc.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/values/building-blocks.php

For meals choose things that are whole grain, vegetables and fruits, protein like eggs, fish, nuts/seeds, some dairy, soy, etc. For example, make pasta with whole grain or brown rice noodles topped with basil pesto sauce or tomato sauce, add baby spinach, some goat cheese and serve with a bowl full of steamed vegetables like kale, broccoli and sliced carrot (with some balsamic vinaigrette or olive oil) or a salad - cherry tomatoes, baby mixed greens/baby romaine or romaine lettuce, cucumber, dressing, dried cranberries, nuts, etc. For oatmeal, you could try toppings like nut butter, nuts, berries/fruit, a milk you like or yogurt, jam, honey, agave, maple syrup, dried blueberries/cranberries/cherries, etc.

Here are some healthy product links:

http://www.kashi.com/ - crackers, cereals, snack bars, etc.

http://www.amyskitchen.com/

http://www.naturespath.com/

http://www.pitabreak.com/

http://www.shashabread.com/

http://www.horizondairy.com/

http://www.kindsnacks.com/kind-store/buy-kind-bars

http://www.foodshouldtastegood.com/

Here are some healthy snack ideas :)

Go for organics when you can.

~ Veggies & hummus

~ Greek yogurt or regular yogurt

~ Strawberries with with nonfat vanilla greek yogurt to dip

~ Berries/Fruit & nonfat yogurt or greek yogurt - add healthy cereal if you'd like (Kashi; Nature's Path Organic, etc..)

~ Apple slices dipped in almond butter or peanut butter

~ Homemade trail mix. Made with nuts, seeds, dried fruit like cherries/blueberries/cranberries, dark chocolate bits or dark chocolate chips.

~ Whole grain crackers with cheese, hummus or tuna/low-fat salad dressing

~ Frozen grapes or frozen banana slices

~ Nuts (1/4 cup) or a bit of dried fruit like mango strips, dried blueberries or dried cranberries, etc.

~ Fat free all natural popcorn, sweet potato chips, etc.

~ Healthy cereal with skim milk or non-dairy milk like almond, soy or rice milk - top with berries/fruit if you'd like

~ Small whole grain tortilla with a tbsp of almond or peanut butter & a tbsp of jam - add a small banana if you'd like. You can also try filling the tortilla with things like cream cheese, low-fat ricotta & honey, honey & cinnamon, etc.

~ Small whole wheat pita with hummus, & veggies

~ Plain greek yogurt with berries/fruit - add a drizzle of honey, agave nectar or jam for sweetness

~ Kashi granola bar or Kind fruit & nut bar

~ Whole grain toasted waffle with toppings like - light cream cheese, jam, honey, maple syrup, berries/fruit, agave nectar, nonfat yogurt, etc.

~ Buckwheat pancake or waffle

~ Fruit salad

~ Cottage cheese + fruit - for sweetness you can try honey on the cottage cheese or jam

~ Homemade smoothie - blend fruit/berries with 1/2 - 3/4 cup milk of your choice & 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt. Try adding a tbsp or two of ground flax seed if you'd like to.

* Healthy snacks:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/values/nâ¦

Healthy food ideas :)

~ Greek yogurt or yogurt (nonfat) - Greek yogurt has more protein than regular yogurt
~ Eggs, cheese, cottage cheese (2% is fine), goat cheese, skim milk or goat milk, etc.
~ Vegetables
~ Fruit & Berries
~ Beans (chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans, mixed beans, etc.) - full of fiber and protein
~ Veggie burgers (Amy's makes great veggie burgers)
~ Multigrain bread, ezekiel bread, rye bread, whole wheat pitas, whole grain tortillas or bagels, etc.
~ Whole grain pasta or brown rice pasta, brown/wild rice, quinoa, etc.
~ Sweet potatoes or potatoes
~ Hummus
~ Oatmeal
~ Healthy cereals (Kashi, Nature's Path Organic, etc..high in fiber like raisin bran)
~ Nuts, seeds, almond butter, peanut butter
~ Non-dairy milks like soy, almond or rice milk
~ Ground flax seed to add into a smoothie, top yogurt, etc.
~ Olive oil
~ Salmon & Tuna
~ Tofu & Tempeh
~ Whole grain crackers, flax flat bread crackers, spelt crisps, etc.
~ Whole grain waffles like - berry-flax waffles - Nature's Path Organic makes great waffles! :)

I hope this helps! :)

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