Since my son started eating solid food, I have saved lots of money by making my own "baby" and "toddler" foods for him, armed with my blender, a few ice cube trays, self sealing freezer wrap, and some reusable freezer containers.
I have been making my son's baby food and I noticed that the baby food on the market uses ascorbic acid and citric acid with the jars that contain fruit. I know ascorbic acid is vitamin c and that reduces the browning that can occur with fruits.
Julia
I would not worry about adding anything - the only reason they add it to the commercial foods is for cosmetics. If anything, you can use a little orange or lemon juice.
Are you jarring or freezing your foods? I made mostly veggies and fruits for my son, and froze them with no additives at all.
hope this helps.
Regina
Not only is making your own food less expensive, it's safer (if you use organics, even more so). They only add the ascorbic acid to keep the food the right color. You don't even have to add that, do you think the baby cares that the nanas are a little brown?
If you want to avoid the brown color, you can simply add a little lemon juice to your fruit mix. Not enough to make it taste tart, just a bit will do (I haven't done this with bananas, so I'm not sure how that would work, but it's great with other fruits like apples and pears). When your baby is old enough to eat slices of fruit, you can precut fruit like apples and sprinkle them with lemon juice too so they don't turn brown.
i just love it when i know a mama is making her own baby food; i did, too, and my baby just turned 18. in vicki lansky's Wonderful book, feed me, i'm yours, she says to freeze everything and add nothing, and that babies prefer the natural sweetness of fruit with no additives. the plop method was to drop fruit or vegetables into single serving plops, freeze hard and then store in a ziploc in the freezer.
Don't add anything! The best, healthiest, foods are the ones that are natural with out all the chemicals and preservatives. Just like fresh fruits and veggies without added butter, salts, etc., is the healthiest for you to eat, the same is true with your baby. I agree with the post about freezing the prepared fruits and veggies in the ice cube trays or whatever so your food stays fresh. Good for you for making your own baby food. I wish I would have.
What is the best baby food? How can I make it myself?
The best baby food is that you make yourself. I have a blender that has a small 1 cup jar in addition to the regular sized one. If you don't have one like that you can use a regular blender. Just put a tiny bit of the food from your table and some broth, juice, or water (tiny bit!) and blend until smooth. All three of my boys almost totally ate food from the table this way except when we had pizza or something else they couldn't have.
I feed all my kids off the table.. I had a small grinder on the table. They ate everything we did. They are grown now and they still love all foods. And they are all still healthy. I think it is the good start in life they had. I am raising my great grand daughter now, and I am doing the same with her. She loves every thing. The other grandparents has her sister and she is real picky.
The best foods for baby are the simple ones, especially those already prepared by nature. Simply cut an avocado and wa-lah instant baby food, chop a tomato, a peach, smoosh some pears, banana, blend some apples, squash etc. this doesn't have to be complicated, God made food easy for us to enjoy in the simple form.
If you're talking about beginning foods, you can puree fresh foods in a good blender. You will need to add just enough liquid to allow them to blend easily.
You can precook meats and hard vegetables first, but most fruits can be pureed raw. It's best not to add spices or sugar to baby's food.
I agree with all the other posts but I would add that after having 4 children in under 3 years I learned to make a bag of split peas in the crock pot and freeze in small containers. I also froze large amounts of cooked/mashed squash, potatoes, asparagas, beans etc in small containers.
I never believed in baby food that was made somewhere and not fresh, so I made my own. Then, I made them for the Grand-kids. I think I am done!
Babies love these! Combine ingredients and stir only until smooth. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour or until firmly set.
Tips and recipes for making your own baby food. Post your ideas.
This serves one baby for days. In a blender or food processor process the gelatin and milk for 30 seconds. Add the cream cheese and lemon juice (if using) and process for 10 seconds.
For babies 8 months or older. Combine oats and 1/2 cup formula. Bring to a boil, and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, mash banana and 1/4 cup formula. Combine banana and oatmeal mixtures.
Cut each fruit into quarters, then put into a bowl and cover to microwave for about 4 minutes. Chop fruit with an electric blender or chopper. You can use immediately or store by freezing in ice cube trays.
With the right ingredients and kitchen equipment, making your own baby food can be very easy. This is a page about making your own baby food.
Blend up some fresh peaches to make a delicious baby food that can be stored briefly in the fridge or frozen. This page contains a peach puree baby food recipe.