DIY Baby Food

GiGi has finally hit that six month stage where she starts to enjoy the wonderful world of solid food!

Being a cloth diapering-breastfeeding family, when Curly Girl hit six months I felt the sense of “perfect mom” pressure to stay all crunchy and make Curly Girl's baby food at home. What I discovered was that it is surprisingly easy and realized, hey, if I can look like one of those amazing moms without that much effort, why not? (Not that motherhood should have anything to do pleasing anyone outside your nuclear family…but you know we all feel it.)

It’s not about perfection. Making your baby food at home allows you to see the food that your baby is consuming. I know how the food was prepared. I know that there are no additives. I know the quality of the produce. I know that it’s the same food my husband and I are consuming. When our CSA is up and running again, I will know the ground that my baby’s food came from and exactly how fresh it is. I don’t have to buy food in hundreds of tiny containers that need to be disposed of. If it’s quick, easy and better for your family, why wouldn’t you? Try it!

Here’s How:

• Cut up your fruits and vegetables into small pieces.
• Steam your produce. Vegetables will need to be soft, of course, to puree. I steam fruits for a few minutes to soften but also to eliminate anything that they may have picked up between being picked and being fed to my baby.
• Toss it in a blender. (I used the Magic Bullet with Curly Girl. Now we have a Ninja Blender.)
• Puree until smooth.
• Put about a tablespoon of the puree into ice cube trays for easy freezing.           

That’s it! When I see produce on sale or am making something for dinner, I just make a little extra to blend up for GiGi and pop it in the freezer.

One of my very FAVORITE mom resources is an awesome website Momtastic. They do such a great job of laying out all the nutritional benefits of foods for your baby and a timeline of when to introduce them to your tiny tummy.

Timeclock: This process took me less than an hour to do two three trays of butternut squash (which I bought cut and cubed at Costco) and three trays of fresh pears (which I cut up myself).

fresh pears 

 fresh pears cut

my butternut squash I bought pre-cut (I cooked this

while I cut up my pears. Multi-tasking during naps!)

 cooked and thrown in a blender

all pureed up!

put into ice cube trays. I usually serve two cubes as a 

meal with cereal or other produce

the finished product! I'll pull a couple of cubes

out in the morning and in the fridge for dinner. 

bag it up and date it. these were off to daycare so

I packaged in a set of 10. 

adorable curly girl enjoying some homemade

blueberries. (GiGi is still in that ravenous phase 

where stopping to take a picture is unacceptable. 

I'm sure I'll be posting pictures soon!)