Homemade Babyfood | Imamother

luppamom

Wed, Feb 25 2015, 4:54 pm

I need help.

I have a 7/8 mo. old (difference in calendars) w/ no teeth. She prefers purees, but will eat small pieces depending on her mood.

What do you make for your baby? How do you store the homemade food? How long does it last in the fridge?

Basically, I find freezing food and having to remember to defrost it in time for it to be ready for the baby to be a huge nuance. (Especially since I can't defrost it quickly especially if it's chicken) I'd rather make a small amount and keep it in the fridge, but I don't want to give her anything that's not fresh.

I love the convenience of jars. It makes it easier for me to feed her and measure the food. But, jars are expensive and I'm in Israel and cannot find much of a variety. Do you think it's practical to wash out jars and reuse them? Any other tips?

MagentaYenta

Wed, Feb 25 2015, 5:07 pm

I would make about 10 quarts at a time. I used lean organic chicken breasts, organic yellow and green squash and carrots. I'd process the batches in the FP and then freeze them in recycled containers in 8 oz batches. I did the same with apples and other fruits. Neither of our families had food sensitivities but even so before we started we introduced the veggies/fruits one at a time before we started batch cooking. The baby food phase didn't last very long so this practice didn't become overwhelming.

smss

Wed, Feb 25 2015, 5:11 pm

honestly, it is quite a nuisance. reusing the baby jars is actually a great idea and a much better alternative to plastic containers. what I did was I made a bunch of containers at once and froze them, then just put one in the fridge every night. so it was defrosted by the next day (or maybe you'll have to take it out first thing in the morning and leave it at room temp till feeding time, you'll see) and I wasn't having to constantly make food. I really don't know how long this stuff can last in the fridge- ask ra_mom, I feel like she would know.

ETA: I don't know if you can freeze those glass jars, actually. I know the company Bell makes 4 oz canning jars that you can freeze, but I don't know if you'll be able to get them in Israel. silicon ice cube trays is another good option.

SorGold

Wed, Feb 25 2015, 5:36 pm

I make baby food for the week on Sunday and put in silicone ice cube trays. I pop out 6 cubes (per meal) to equal 4 oz, at night, for the next day. It is defrosted by morning.
I have frozen the cubes on Sunday after cooking the food from chicken soup on Friday with no problems but I am sure many would say that is too long Very Happy

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I do think that the longevity of the food would depend if it was protien based or fruits and veggies based. Protien would last shorter and cooked apples would last longer.

amother

Thu, Feb 26 2015, 3:14 am

Hey, I have an 8 month old. He managed big pieces of food fine when he had no teeth! Their gums are great at chewing. He has 4 teeth now but he it's the back teeth that he doesn't have that usually do the chewing, so his gums still do most of it. He can manage everything, meatballs, cooked carrot, sweet potato, tangerine segments (cut in half and de-seeded) being his favorite!

I work everyday - I give baby breakfast before I leave, and he has lunch with me at work, so both those meals have to be pretty instant. Then he his dinner at 5pm when I'm home, this usually is the only meal that takes a little bit of prep.

Here is our very simple basic meal plan:

Breakfast: Porridge or baby cereal with milk. Half a banana or a soft pear as finger foods (could be mashed into the porridge). Prep time - 2 mins.

Lunch: Yoghurt with the following mixed in: 1 vitamin A rich orange veg (either carrot or sweet potato - I steam these every few days, a mixture of both, and keep them in the fridge. They can be mashed with a fork)., a sprinkle of wheat germ or nutritional yeast, sometimes avocado too. Prep time - 2 mins in advance, 2 mins at the time.

Dinner: Whatever we had for dinner the night before, blended with a hand blender. Usually try and include either fish, meat or egg, then a carb (potato/pasta/rice/instant couscous), and a veggie. He's even had chicken curry, babies like flavors. In the event that dinner was entirely unsuitable for him - microwave or bake a potato or make instant couscous, microwave or steam some frozen veg, scramble an egg, mash together or hand blend. Then a vitamin c fruit for dessert (kiwi spooned straight from the skin, or tangerine segments as finger food). Prep time maybe 5 mins at most? I also give him his iron drops at this meal - so I don't give dairy and make sure to give something w vitamin c.

Sometimes if I am busy but able to watch him, I give him just finger foods for dinner and let him play with them. It keeps him occupied and he eats most of it eventually.

I find the time it would take to freeze and defrost, much easier just to mash a few things together.

Maybe I spend 10 mins hands on every day making his food. At the very most.

luppamom

Thu, Feb 26 2015, 6:34 am

amother wrote:

Wow! What a menu! So well balanced. I might take a few ideas Smile

My baby is not such an eater (she eats a few spoonfuls and enjoys it, but then gets bored), but might enjoy it more if I let her feed herself. (I just can't handle the mess... I don't have a drier and it's been taking a long time for things to dry. Maybe now that it's getting warmer)

luppamom

Thu, Feb 26 2015, 6:37 am

MagentaYenta wrote:

For me, freezing is very hard. I guess I could try to figure out s/t that works. You're right, it's a very short stage. I just need to be organized about taking it out of the freezer. The plus to freezing is that I can get the purees that she's more likely to eat, but the minus is that I have to remember...

luppamom

Thu, Feb 26 2015, 6:45 am

smss wrote:

I could try to get more ice-cube trays. I just find remembering to be such a nusiance and I'm scared to defrost chicken at room temperature. Not supposed to be healthy.