To Make Homemade Baby Food or Buy From a Store? That is the Question
Angela Jenkins
| 3 min read
Okay, so I am not one of those moms who used cloth diapers, joined the Le Leche league or made my own baby food. But I am the kind of mom who was able to produce six months of breast milk for my daughter and bought organic pre-packaged baby food. You can just forget the cloth diapers, I totally agree with the concept and envy those of you out there who are able to use them to help the Earth, but I am practical and it isn’t for me.
With my second baby, I still plan to nurse and pump as long as I am able, but now I’m also entertaining the idea of making my own baby food. I have a couple of girlfriends that did this with their second babies and they love it, recommend it and say it’s easy as well!
Homemade or Store Bought?
There is some controversy about store bought baby food: that it is processed and not as good for the baby as making baby food at home with fresh and/or organic fruits and vegetables. I see both sides and can make a good argument for either side. One thing that caught my attention in the news a week or two ago was that a major baby food manufacturer recalled some of its baby food because glass was found in some containers. I think this is extreme and rare, but all the same it happened.
Making homemade baby food may not be for everyone and don’t worry, store bought food is great for babies overall. My daughter ate baby store bought organic fruits and veggies and has had minimal visits to the doctor in her 3 ½ years. My motto is for parents to do what is the easiest for them and produces the least amount of stress for each individual and their lifestyle.
Getting Started
Since I am new to this process, I reached out to some moms on the internet that were willing to share their secrets. If you do decide to make homemade baby food, here are some of their tips and recipes:
- You will need some type of food processor (it doesn’t have to be the fancy one designed to make baby food specifically, just something that will puree fruits and vegetables)
- Using ice cube trays to freeze food is ideal, they are about 1 ounce, and so tracking baby’s food intake will be easy
- Use frozen baby food before 3 months, 1 month is ideal
- Use a variety of fruits and veggies that are in season to save a little money
- You can use frozen fruits and veggies (second best option to fresh). It will not take nutrients out if you thaw, cook and puree and then refreeze. The key is that you are cooking, steaming, boiling the fruit/veggie first before refreezing.
Here are some recipes and methods from on-line moms that I think I will be using:
Nuturebaby (separates baby’s age and appropriate food)
Remember to always check with your pediatrician before introducing different foods to your baby.
More Popular By the Minute
Making homemade baby food is becoming more popular than it once was. So popular in fact, that there is a National Baby Food Festival in Fremont, MI. It is running this week, July 20-23. It has baby food judging contests along with a lot of other activities for the whole family. Some of the fun and goofy activities include bed races, frog jumping contests and bubble gum blowing contests. This festival was named “One of the Wackiest Festivals in 2011”.
This was a fun blog for me to write because I learned about the process and picked up some tips and recipes along the way.
Do you have a favorite baby food recipe and/or tip you would like to share?
Photo credit: DanielJames
