Making My Own Baby Food

I waited until my daughter was 9 months old to introduce solid foods. She was more than ready - enthusiastic even. I want to give her a healthy start to life, so I am trying to be conscious about what I am putting into her body. I have been making my own baby food for that reason, and it is cheaper too. The vegetables pictured in this post are carrots and peas, respectively.

 

My theory about baby food is that if I cook it as little as possible, it will have more nutrients than if I cook it a long time. I steamed the carrots on the stove until I could stick a fork through them, but not so long that they fell apart when I picked them up with a fork. I transferred them to the blender as soon as they finished cooking. I added water from the steaming process to the blender until it had enough liquid to blend well. I didn’t try to get a smooth puree like store-bought baby food; I wanted to preserve the integrity of the vegetable's texture to some degree while also preventing choking for a baby with no molars or experience.

 

When I felt that the food was sufficiently blended, I poured and scooped it into my two Tovolo silicone ice cube trays. These trays each have 15 cubes, and each perfect cube is 1 ounce. My Pampered Chef skinny scraper fits perfectly in each cube to release any air bubbles. Then I bounce the tray a little to make sure the food is down into the corners. After smoothing with a spatula, I place them on a cookie sheet in the chest freezer. These silicone trays are more sturdy than I thought they would be, but they are flexible.

I have read online that food from these trays can take on a weird flavor if it is left in them too long, so once the food is frozen solid (overnight) I pop them out and store them in quart freezer bags. The beautiful thing about perfect cubes is that they stack very neatly. Some reviews online stated that the cubes are very difficult to remove. I did not find this to be the case. With my first batch of food, I warmed the bottom of the trays by placing them in a sink that had about 1/2inch of warm water in it for about two minutes, being careful not to get any on the food. I was then able to pop each cube out individually. With my second and third batches, I left the trays on the sideboard for about 5 minutes before popping them out and had no trouble. I found that each quart bag fits 16 cubes (16oz) very well, so one tray makes nearly one bag of food.

I am not certain that it is a wise idea to eat microwaved food (still researching that), so I am avoiding it for the time being for my daughter. To warm her food, I remove her supper cube (she is eating one ounce per meal right now) and place it in a bowl. I allow it to warm to room temperature on the stovetop or sideboard. If I am using the oven, I will sometimes place the bowl near the vent to allow it to warm the food. She likes her food luke-warm.

I was surprised that the process was so easy. I have heard many of my friends say that making baby food isn't worth the time invested, and maybe I will feel like that with subsequent children, but right now it is totally do-able!  I like having her food right in my freezer, ready to go! I highly recommend the Tovolo perfect cube trays for making baby food - they are so easy to use!

Do you make baby food for your babies? What kinds to you make?

It is important to note that I purchased the Tovolo Perfect Cube Trays myself

and was not in any way compensated for this review.

My opinions are my own.