Jane's Posts

April 17 1998

Hello - I'm a new mom of a 6 month old little girl, Kelsie. I didn't get any replys the last time i posted something about crawling- but I'll try again- this time, the question is about preparing your own baby food. I have tried to puree green beans, peas, carrots (cooked) in our blender, and it didn't seem to be a smooth as the jarred baby food. Kelsie gagged on most of it. Does anyone have any suggestions? or do i just have a bum blender? should I cook it longer (I've heard this takes out all the vitamins)...

Keep trying. I had the best luck with making my own baby food. It was cheap and easy and my baby loved it. I didn't have to carry all those bottles. It was great.

For some reason orange food worked best:

1) Wash and prick some yams. Bake them in a pyrex dish until they are very soft. Take them out and peel them. Mash them in the juices that leaked out into the pan. You can add pineapple unsweetened in its own juice, too. Puree.

2) Halve butternut squash and remove seeds. Bake until very soft, maybe an hour. Add some apple juice. Puree.

3) Wash young carrots (not the gnarly 3 inch thick ones). Cut them into 1 inch chunks. Boil until tender. Puree with some orange or lemon juice.

4) Wash and core apples in a pyrex dish until very soft. When they are cool enough to touch, remove the skin. Mash them in the juices in the pan. Puree.

5) Wait until the day after you would eat bananas. Puree.

I found that a food processor worked better than a blender. Adding a little juice thins the mixture and makes it easier to process. I just pureed the hell out of it, but you could use a sieve. I never added salt or sugar, but I did add juice. As my baby got older, she liked a little fresh dill or tarragon.

Also, I made batches of food once a week and froze portions in little plastic containers. I cooked it all at the same time. It took about an hour and a half. On my way to work, I took out "dinner" and left it on the counter. It was the perfect temperature when I got home.

jane

P.S. I never had any luck with pureed green vegetables, so I introduced them when my daughter was old enough to eat them steamed. She likes them fine now.