One of the things I really wanted to do for Isla was make her baby food. I have been pretty strict about not giving her anything sweet, so she has mainly eaten vegetables, although we are introducing fruit as well. I started out by buying whole, raw veggies (sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, etc.), but I did eventually decide that was one step too far, and ended up buying frozen (organic!) veggies and then pureeing them. This method is much more time efficient, and still keeps out all the additives and preservatives found in some jarred baby food.
Here's the process I used:
1. Cook your frozen veggie of choice - I just cooked them in the microwave for about one minute longer than what the package said. Usually I would do two or three bags at a time, making a big batch.
2. Put all the cooked veggie of choice into whatever kind of food processor you prefer and have at it. When I was first starting her out on solids, I made the puree pretty smooth, but the older she got, the more chunky I left it.
3. When it's puree'd to the consistency of your liking, spoon it into ... ICE CUBE TRAYS! This makes for super easy portioning at meal times. For lunch she usually has three cubes of veggies, for example: 1 cube sweet potatoes, 1 cube peas, 1 cube squash.
4. Freeze in the ice cube trays and once frozen throw into gallon-sized storage bags.
5. At meal times, all you need is to thaw out as many cubes as you would like!
At first it may seem like a daunting task, but I usually just did a whole big batch during one of her nap times and it lasts several weeks or more, depending on how ambitious you are.
Let me know if you have any tips or tricks about making your baby's food - I'd love to hear!
-Emma
