What do you think of when you hear that "Linda, down the street, makes her own baby food!" If you are like most people, you will think that Linda has more time on her hands than sense. In fact, Linda is saving money and helping her baby to grow up healthy, without wasting her valuable time. Making your own baby food is very simple, cheap, and nutritious.
If you own a fork, a sharp knife, a sieve, and a blender, you can easily make your own baby food. A blender really is not necessary, just nice to have.
Somewhere between baby's fourth and sixth month, your pediatrician will recommend that you start having her eat solid foods. Dry cereal mixes are cheaply and easily available from your local supermarket or health food store. The first fruits and vegetables that your child eats, however, do not have to be in those cute (and expensive) little jars.
If you choose to buy the pre-processed baby foods, check out the labels. If the label mentions artificial colors, artificial flavors, sugars, fillers, starches, sodium, preservatives, or anything that appears to be an unnecessary ingredient; you could make your own baby food and increase the nutritional value of everything your baby puts into her mouth.
Making your own baby food can save money. For the cost of 6 apples ($1.00), you can puree enough applesauce to equal nine to twelve servings. Nine jars of baby applesauce could easily cost you $4.00.
A ripe banana takes a few passes of a fork to mash to a very fine consistency. Steamed carrots, peas, squash, apple, pear, or peach can all be easily mashed for baby. If you find that the sauce is too thin, thicken with a little of the dry baby cereal. Too thick?, thin with formula, water, or the juice the food cooked in.
When baby gets older and is ready for more mixes & meats, portions of the family meal are easily chopped and blended. (Any foods you plan to have for baby too, should be removed from the adult portions before the seasoning, especially salt, is added.) If the food you eat is nutritionally complete, baby will enjoy a healthy diet also.
Too often, the manufacturers of baby foods pressure us to use their products by promises of convenience and nutritional necessity. How inconvenient is it to chop some beans and a piece of chicken in the blender? If you like to plan ahead, how hard is it to spend an hour preparing all of baby's food for the week? Freeze the results in ice cube trays; one or two cubes can be defrosted and heated for baby's meal with very little fuss.
The nutritional necessity of manufactured baby foods is advertising nonsense. Freshly prepared fruits and vegetables (especially steamed ones), preserve the natural vitamins and minerals. When you make your own baby food, you decide how much sugar is necessary. You determine what to add to your baby's food. Baby cereals are nutritionally adequate when purchased directly from the store because they have few added ingredients except vitamins and minerals.
Unnecessary ingredients such as added sugars, starches, colors, and sodium, are included so that the PARENT likes the look or taste of the baby food, not for the baby or her nutrition.
We all have a few jars for emergencies or traveling, but it can feel good knowing that what she is eating, you made, and is the best for her.
Consult with your pediatrician before adding solid foods to your baby's diet.
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