Making your own Baby Food

WHY MAKE YOUR OWN BABY FOOD?

ü  You have total controlover what goes into your baby’s food.

ü  You take care to ensureonly high quality foods are selected, nutrient ratio is higher in fresh foods.

ü  Baby is exposed to agreater variety of tastes and textures making the transition to table foodsless stressful.

ü  You feed your babyaccording to his/her needs and cues; you know what foods are best suited forYOUR baby. You can combine foods according to his/her preference.

ü  Healthy eating habitsdevelop earlier as you are dedicated to only making high quality, healthy babyfoods and snacks. Your child learns that eating homemade foods are best vs.processed/packaged foods.

ü  You save money.

REMEMBER FOOD SAFETY

Special care should be taken when preparing foodsfor babies because they are more vulnerable to germs than are older childrenand adults.

Always wash your hands and equipment thoroughlybefore making baby food.

Raw food contains bacteria. Never let cooked foodcome into contact with raw food. Thoroughly wash cutting boards and utensilsthat have been used with raw foods to avoid the cross-contamination that isresponsible for many foodborne illnesses (food poisoning).

Do not let baby food sit at room temperature formore than two hours. Harmful bacteria in the food grow very well if given achance. Refrigerate or freeze baby food as soon as possible.

BasicFood introduction

Start by introducing baby to solids with ricecereal as it is least likely to cause an allergic reaction.

Whenever possible choose organic meats andproduce, this will decrease the toxins your baby is exposed to.

ALWAYS follow the 4 day wait rule when introducinga new food to baby - Continue with the same new food for 4 days to assure thereare no allergies to that single food. Never introduce more than 1 new food at atime. Once you have introduced several new foods without a reaction, you canbegin to mix them together.

Remember, formula and/or breast milk provide allthe nutrition your baby needs during the first year of life. Don’t worry ifbaby does not take to solids “on schedule”, the later they start the better.

HOW TO MAKE BABY FOOD

1. Wash your hands and equipment using hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly. Jars and utensils should be sterilized with boiling water.

2. Prepare fresh fruits and vegetables by scrubbing, peeling, and removing pits or seeds. Remove all bones, skin, gristle, and fat from meats. Do not use leftovers to make baby food.

3. Cook food in a small amount of water until tender. If the recipe calls for liquid you can use the cooking water, breast milk, formula, or boiled water. Most purees require adding extra liquid to make them easier for baby to swallow. If you wish to thicken up the meal add baby cereal. Food may also be steamed or baked.
4. Don't add salt or seasonings.

5. Don't add sugar, honey, or other sweeteners. Babies do not need the sweet flavour. They like fruits and other foods the way they are. Honey and corn syrup are not safe for infants under 12 months as they may carry botulism spores. The digestive system of a baby cannot destroy these spores.

6. Puree cooked food using a food processor or blender. Ripe bananas and avocadoes can be mashed with a fork and do not need to be cooked. As your baby gets older small chunks are acceptable.

7. Package and label for refrigerator or freezer storage. Note ingredients and date made. 

HOW TO STORE BABY FOOD

Making several servings is a good use of time, butit requires careful storage. One to three extra servings may be stored in therefrigerator. Use cooked vegetables or fruit within 3 days. Raw fruit and meatsshould be used the next day.

To store more than three servings, freeze in icecube trays. After the food is frozen, put the cubes in freezer bags. Sealtightly, label, and store up to 2 months. To serve, heat in a small dish in apan of water, you do not need to heat the food too much. You can also allow itto thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

WARNING: Use caution if defrosting or warming in amicrowave oven. Microwaves can heat food unevenly, one spoonful may be cold,but the next could burn your baby's mouth. Always stir food well before feedingbaby. Most health and child care professionals recommend not using a microwaveto warm baby food.

BABY FOOD RECIPES

WARNING: Beets and spinach have high concentrations ofnaturally-occurring nitrates which can reduce the ability of the baby'shaemoglobin to transport oxygen. Use these foods sparingly or not at all untilthe baby reaches his or her first birthday. Smaller amounts are in carrots,broccoli, peas and root vegetables like potatoes and turnips. These vegetablescan be given to babies 6 months of age and older. Don’t use the cooking waterof these veggies to liquefy baby food. Organic produce can help reduce theamount of nitrites in these vegetables.

Eggplant

1.Wash and peel eggplant.

2.Cut into 1 inch pieces, steam until tender and mushy, OR slice eggplant inquarters and bake in oven at 375ºfor approx. 30 minutes or until tender.

4.Place into your choice of appliance for pureeing and begin pureeing.

5.Add liquid as necessary to achieve a smooth, thin consistency

FRUIT AND YOGURT (for 12 months and older)

1/4cup plain organic yogurt

1/4cup cooked, unsweetened fruit

Combine mashing lumps of fruit, if necessary.

You can combine different vegetables together and different fruits together aswell. Only combine 2 or 3 items at a time. Avoid combining veggies with fruit.Meats can also be combined with vegetables. Be creative! You are limited onlyby your baby's age and food allergies (if any).

This is a general guideline for adding liquid. Remember you can always add breastmilk or formula for an extra nutritional boost!

Resources

http://www.foodshare.net/train03.htmfor workshops on making baby food, training is right here in Toronto!

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/lightfoot78.html

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

http://www.nncc.org/Nutrition/make.babyfd.html

http://www.healthunit.org/children/feeding/makeownbabyfood1.htm