Feeding baby the right food is a big challenge in any mom’s life. You want to make sure your baby is getting the best, most nutritious food possible to ensure a good start on a healthy lifestyle. You also want to give them a wide variety of food to expand their growing palate and catch any potential allergies early.
Making baby food at home lets you do all of this and more, because you’re in total control of what your baby is eating. Still, many moms shy away from doing baby food at home, because they’re concerned about not doing it correctly.
In truth, making your baby’s food at home is fast, easy and intensely rewarding as you introduce them to a whole world of tastes and flavors. Black & Decker wants to help with
this easy guide on getting the best baby food at home.
Step 1: Select & Prepare the Best Produce
Visit your local grocer or a farmers market to find the best seasonal fruits and vegetables. One of the great things about making baby food fresh is that it allows you to introduce baby to seasonal flavors and even local produce that’s unique to your area.
You can also use canned fruits and vegetables if you don’t like any of the produce that’s in season, but you get more nutrients when you go fresh so use as many fresh ingredients as possible.
Step 2: Prepare for Purée
Wash everything thoroughly and make sure to remove labels, then place it in a food steamer to soften to the right consistency. If your baby just started on solids, steam thoroughly to ensure a smoother texture. For babies that are farther along (a few months on solids), you can steam a little less to get a thicker consistency.
You can also boil the produce to soften it for pureeing, but we recommend steaming since it allows the food to retain more of its nutrients over other cooking methods.
Step 3: Purée for the Perfect Texture
Place the produce in your blender or food processor. If you’re using a blender, you can use a lower speed—purée if your blender speeds are named or around speed 3 if they’re not—to get the right texture at the touch of a button. On a food processor, you’ll need to use the Pulse button and watch progress carefully to ensure the right results.
nce the purée is done, strain it to remove any leftover peels or chunks that are too large for baby to eat.
Step 4: Freeze & Store
Take the prepared purée and spoon into an ice cube tray to place in the freezer. Once frozen, you can remove the cubes and put them in plastic bags or containers to keep—make sure to label everything with the type of food and dates.
When it’s time to eat, simply thaw a healthy portion (on the counter or in the microwave) and your fresh baby food is ready in a snap!
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