Tips/ books/recipes etc for making homemade baby food

[Dr.Worm]

   I would like any info you guys can give on making my ownbaby food including what tools you use; books; etc.  thanks!

[mum5]

for my first 2 babies I used Super baby food by Ruth Yaron. I took some tips and kind of made them fit our lifestyle. Now though with baby#3, he seems to prefer self feeding. It is great for their motor skills, and he loves it. We do give him what we eat,( minus the salt and yucky processed stuff )  and also it is way way easier.

Soft pears, sweet potatoes, kamut puffs eggs, soft cheese, brown rice, bulgur, kiwi's, yoghurt, lentils,beans broccoli etc.

[Knitting Mama]

We went the self feeding route too. Baked sweet potato chunks, butternut squash chunks, avocado slices, pear slices, etc. Then we introduced other soft cooked veggies and fruits, and then when she was proficient at those we added softer meats. At 10 months she now eats most things we eat, though we purposely haven't introduced some things yet (wheat, dairy).

[zakdat]

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/index.htm

Love this site - especially for interesting food combinations.

[Dr.Worm]

Thanks guys!!!

[ProtoLawyer]

I've been letting my son (almost 7 months) self-feed, but he does seem to prefer mushy stuff to finger food stuff. So, my baby food recipes have been as follows:

1. Take healthy soft food we are eating (that doesn't contain the major allergens, but we're not going too strictly) and put it on his tray.

2. Squish it up with a fork.Leave a couple of finger-sized chunks for self-feeding if he really wants to.

3. Put some of it on a spoon, then hand him the spoon (or, more typically, have it grabbed out of our hands).

[Dr.Worm]

Originally Posted by ProtoLawyer 

I've been letting my son (almost 7 months) self-feed, but he does seem to prefer mushy stuff to finger food stuff. So, my baby food recipes have been as follows:

1. Take healthy soft food we are eating (that doesn't contain the major allergens, but we're not going too strictly) and put it on his tray.

2. Squish it up with a fork.Leave a couple of finger-sized chunks for self-feeding if he really wants to.

3. Put some of it on a spoon, then hand him the spoon (or, more typically, have it grabbed out of our hands).

Thanks ProtoLawyer!  Yeah we have only tried mushy so far(some cereals) and I smashed him a banana.  He likes to try to take the spoon and try to feed himself also lol and put his hands in his bowl.  Of course most of the food ends up everywhere but his mouth ha ha.

 

[Mawood]

I like "Feeding the whole family" from Cynthia Lair. Loaned it from the library. Great and healthy recipe with a paragraph at the bottom for the baby!

[Dr.Worm]

Sonds great..thanks!
 

Originally Posted by Mawood 

I like "Feeding the whole family" from Cynthia Lair. Loaned it from the library. Great and healthy recipe with a paragraph at the bottom for the baby!

[Sharon Sarles]

I recently found a hand-powered grinder for baby food just like the one I used (after she wanted food, supplementing breast-feeding after 6 months, I guess). I immediately bought it and sent it to my daugther for my new grandson! What a blast! 

[yummus]

I also work from Feeding the Whole Family by Lair. I use a coffee grinder to grind toasted sweet brown rice and will do the same for millet and quinoa, then put a couple of tablespoons in with 3/4 cup of water (this makes a TON btw). She also has tried sweet potato- baked and mushed with a fork, banana- mushed with fork, carrot- mushed with fork, couscous, applesauce, and some well ripened avocado, mushed with a fork. 

She mainly just likes teething on the spoon 

[Dr.Worm]

Thanks guys!!!  Sharon Sarles where can I get one of those??? Sounds great!!  yummus, lol about the spoon....he is usually more interested in teething on his too. 

[Laurski]

Originally Posted by yummus 

I also work from Feeding the Whole Family by Lair. I use a coffee grinder to grind toasted sweet brown rice and will do the same for millet and quinoa, then put a couple of tablespoons in with 3/4 cup of water (this makes a TON btw). She also has tried sweet potato- baked and mushed with a fork, banana- mushed with fork, carrot- mushed with fork, couscous, applesauce, and some well ripened avocado, mushed with a fork. 

She mainly just likes teething on the spoon 

Could you share a little more about the grains?  Do you toast all the grains first in a dry skillet, then grind them?  Do you add cold or warm water?  Do you heat up the grain/water mix after?

(Sorry so many questions...we're soon to start solids and I'd like to have some ideas for grains down the road...thanks! )

[SeattleRain]

I just got the book Love in Spoonfuls and I really like it. The recipes are great and range from first eaters to 2 year olds with great puree recipes and great finger food recipes. Some of the ones we like are the P.E.A (Peas, Edammame, and Apple) puree and the Apple-Blueberry puree. I'm making the baby chicken soup tomorrow!

[yummus]

Originally Posted by Laurski 

Could you share a little more about the grains?  Do you toast all the grains first in a dry skillet, then grind them?  Do you add cold or warm water?  Do you heat up the grain/water mix after?

(Sorry so many questions...we're soon to start solids and I'd like to have some ideas for grains down the road...thanks! )

Most certainly - no need to apologize! 

Yes. You can do a whole batch like a cup or 2 or 3... it all depends on how much you buy/use. Rinse the grains if needed, (Lair states that brown rice, millet, and quinoa should be rinsed to remove "chaff, dust, or other debris") then toast them in a dry skillet, while stirring constantly, on medium/medium high heat, it depends on your stove top. We have a pretty well used electric so it may be lower/higher for you. They will start to pop (this is fun to watch  ) and give off a toasty/nutty aroma. If you do bigger batches, since the grains are wet from rinsing when you throw them in the skillet, it may take longer to do a batch then say if you were to do a 1/2 cup or whatever. Lair states 5-8 minutes but mine take longer so... just use your best judgement. 

As far as grinding goes, you do this right before you are making the cereal as grains that are ground start to lose nutrients within a day or so. So you grind a tablespoon or 3 (it all depends - if you want some of the cereal I would do 3 tablespoons, if you don't just 1 because it makes a lot!)

So let's just say it's for the wee one:

1 TBS of your ground grain

1/2 C of water, warm or cool, I don't know that it matters - we use water from a filter pitcher so it's cool/room temp.

A pinch of salt - some people will say no salt - I put just a shake so ... it is up to you. (It is in Lair's recipe which I am going off of...)

Bring it to a boil then cover and lower the heat and simmer for about 5 mins until the water is absorbed

She also has a soaked cereal where the grains are placed in a yogurt water mixture the night before in a blender then blended in the A.M. and then cooked I can post that too if you'd like... I have never done this although I have read in her book and in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon (which is an AWESOME book about nutrition/food http://www.amazon.com/Nourishing-Traditions-Challenges-Politically-Dictocrats/dp/0967089735 ) improves digestibility of grains. 

Also - completely unrelated - we have 2 pugs. 

[BirthIsAwesome]

I would love the instructions for soaking and blending the grains! My lo is just 4 months, so no food for awhile, and I'm going to delay grains till after a year anyway, but I'm already doing research. Thanks!

[CBEmomma]

If you go to Barnes and Nobles or Borders there are a lot of good ones, many of them have the same things in them. I have 3, but ds2 doesn't like to be fed, he likes to feed himself and he's not all that into eating yet.

[Laurski]

Yummus:  Thanks so much for the info!  I am super excited to save this for when E gets a little older.   Sounds like Lair's book may be something I should check out...is she very veggie-friendly? (DH and I are vegetarians and are planning to raise E one as well...)

And aren't pugs just the best?

(Sorry to threadjack, Dr.Worm!)

[yummus]

Originally Posted by BirthIsAwesome 

I would love the instructions for soaking and blending the grains! My lo is just 4 months, so no food for awhile, and I'm going to delay grains till after a year anyway, but I'm already doing research. Thanks!

Sure thing.

Again this is going off of Lair's, Feeding the Whole Family

This makes 2 adult portions - tons-o-baby portions

So you toast the grain like above:

1/2 C of the toasted grain

1/2 - 2 tsp plain whole milk yogurt (use less for 6-10 months, a bit more for older babies)

1 C of water

Pinch of sea salt

Put the grain in the blender. Mix the yogurt and water and pour on top. Put in the fridge overnight (8-12 hours)

Blend in the morning until smooth and add more water to get porridge-like consistency. Warm this in a pan on low. Add a pinch of salt to add flavor.

Originally Posted by Laurski 

Yummus:  Thanks so much for the info!  I am super excited to save this for when E gets a little older.   Sounds like Lair's book may be something I should check out...is she very veggie-friendly? (DH and I are vegetarians and are planning to raise E one as well...)

And aren't pugs just the best?

(Sorry to threadjack, Dr.Worm!)

She is very veggie-friendly, but there are meat recipes which you can adapt or ignore. 
 

Ah pugs - gotta love 'em. 

[McGucks]

The only "tools" we used were a small food processor and an ice cube tray.  Actually--we also used (this might sound weird, but it worked great for us) a bottle warmer.  It is the kind where you put water into it.  We would take a frozen food cube (sweet potato, applesauce, whatever) and put it in a glass baby food container.  We put the water in, then the glass container with a frozen food cube...two cycles would usually get it to a good room temperature.  That said, he ended up not really liking being spoon-fed...but it worked for awhile for us.  As far as books, we checked out several from our LLL library that were great.  I think one of the titles was Whole Foods for Babies and Toddlers.  Homemade baby food is pretty easy, much cheaper, and--to my understanding--way more nutritious than store-bought.  And believe me, I am not a super cook or a fantastic earthy-type...but this was easy.  Good luck!