Food Mills and Puree-ing Veggies...

[SHK]

My daughter is a couple of months away from trying food, but I wanted to start thinking about how to puree veggies for her. I saw a little food mill, but didn't know if they work very well. Does a blender do a good enough job or is the food mill the way to go?

[GoodFairy]

I bought one of those manual Mouli's? with a handle that you turn on top and blade that is supposed to smoosh the food through the holes to puree it - I only used it once - all the food used to squash back up instead of down through the mesh. I thought it was laborious, messy, wasteful and not very efficient.

I tried a blender (tall thing that makes milk shakes) but found it only pureed what was at the bottom it never got near to blending the full container.

I ended up with an excellent "oscar" food processer. As long as there is enough moisture it takes the food right down to smooth for when they are really little and you can stop the blending earlier to make it with more texture when they get older.

Don't be tempted to but a tiny one like a coffee bean blender size because before you know it baby will be eating large quantities and you'll have to go out and buy a bigger one.

You can make bigger batches and freeze in ice cube trays for other days if you have a big blender.

Half a day in the kitchen with the help of a food processer and it is possible to make the whole weeks food for the freezer.

You'll love making your baby's food. I found it very satisfying and never considered those tinned alternatives. Good luck with it.

[hopesmama]

My daughter is 7 mos old today. I started out making her baby food. I love it! It is so easy to make large batches and freeze them in ice cube trays, then you just pop out one or two for a meal. Super easy. I use either my food processor, or I have a small 2 cup chopper from GE that holds about two cups, I just add water and this is sooo simple to use. There is a great book out called Super Baby Foods, it is a wealth of information, on how to make your own cereal, a month by month guide to new foods you can introduce to baby. This book was very informational, and I highly recommend it to anyone making their own baby food, it has such great ideas!

[mommymoose]

i agree, super baby foods is great!! we used a braun stick blender and loved it!!!

[cathe]

For the first purees, a blender works the best to give you a smooth consistency. When your baby moves on to chunkier food a food processor or a little hand held baby food grinder work fine. Even just mashing with a fork is often enough. I wouldn't spend money on fancy equipment just for baby food.