How to Make a Weeks Worth of Baby Food in ONE Hour
A few weeks ago Chickadee turned six months old. Half a year already and we are almost to month 7! It is amazing how quickly time is flying by…sometimes I just want to freeze time! On the eve of turning six months baby girl tried food for the first time. It was bananas, and she wasn’t sure what to think. Now she can’t get enough.
So I decided to “make” her baby food for three reasons. 1. I have the time 2. It’s inexpensive 3. I know exactly what she is getting
If you decide to make your child’s baby food great! If you decide to let Earth’s Best do the work for you, great! However, if you are in the first group or unsure what you plan on doing keep reading. I’m about to share how I make a week (or more) worth of baby food in one hour!
You will need a colander, Fresh Baby Trays
Okay…here we go. ONE HOUR starts now.
1. Bananas & Avocados can be eaten as is….just mush up with a fork!
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. Wash everything.
4. Cut the butternut squash in have lengthwise, scoop out the seeds. Place face down on a baking dish & fill with 1/2 an inch of water.
5. Poke the sweet potatoes with a fork & wrap in aluminum foil.
6. Place both the sweet potatoes and butternut squash in the oven. Let bake for 40 minutes.
7. Fill your steaming pot with water and set over medium to high heat.
7. Peel the apples and pears and cut into thin (1/4 inch) slices
8. Cut the ends off the green beans & then snap into 1-2 inch pieces.
9. Now you will steam each of these items…start with the green beans. Steam for 12-15 minutes until tender.
10. Dump green beans into the food processor.
11. Put apples in the pot to steam. (10 minutes)
12. Process the green beans and then place in freezer trays
13. Rinse food processor and dump in apples.
14. Place pears in the pot to steam. (10 minutes)
15. Process the apples and then place in freezer trays.
16. Rinse the food processor and dump in pears.
17. Process the pears and then place in freezer trays.
18. Take the sweet potatoes and butternut squash out of the oven.
19. Scoop the butternut squash out of the skin and process. Place in freezer trays.
20. Scoop out the sweet potatoes and process. Place in freezer trays.
PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK! You are almost finished!!
Once all of your cubes are frozen place then in freezer ziplock bags and mark with what it is and the date. The food will be good in the freezer for about 3 months. Each cube is about 1 oz, so your baby will probably eat 2-4 cubes for lunch and dinner (ex. 2 cubes of pears & 2 cubes of sweet potatoes). I usually put Chickadee’s food for the day in the fridge the night before to give it time to defrost and be ready to eat the next day. Occasionally, I heat it up in the mircowave if I forget to defrost over night. Make sure and heat in a glass container and not plastic (it takes about 45 seconds) and then allow it to cool before feeding your little one.
Also for those of you who are curious, Ziplock products are bpa free, so you don’t have to worry!
Thanks for sharing!! Can’t wait to try!
I’m a 1st time mom and I love & enjoy cooking for my baby girl & us. I started her with solids after she turned 6 months & feed her only home made. I was cooking and freeze it up to a week at a time since I work full time. I bought 2 trays for baby food from Amazon so I can freeze her veggies and fruits. For food with meat I used the 6 jars that comes with the baby bullet I received at the baby shower and some glass jar I had that I bought some fruit puree when we were traveling. I only used few jars of fruits while we were on the plane /airports traveling otherwise only puree fruits and vegetables made by me. From like 8 months I started making her chicken soup which she loves. I would buy organic chicken from Costco split a chicken in half, take the breast & cook it for us and use the rest to make chicken broth. (chicken, 4-6 carrots, 2 sticks of celery, 1 small onion) all organic. All veggies clean and cut into 2-3 pieces. I would put the chicken in the pot covered with water and let it come to boil on Med-high, when it starts to boil put it on mid-low take away that foam with a large spoon and add the veggies. Let it cook for a good 30min or until the meat comes easily off the bone. I liked to use dark meat like a full leg (chicken breast could be a little dry), most veggies except the onion I used a quarter of it. I would start with the chicken put it in the bullet, add 2-4 carrots, 2-3 pieces of celery (cut it very small on a cutting board before put it in the bullet otherwise you will end up with long strings in your puree from it). I have to say I never used the microwave to warm or defrost my baby’s food. I always boil water or warm up the water in the microwave put it in a cup and put my baby’s food jar in that boiling water. I actually have hot / boiling water by the sink but if I’m not home I just did what I said above. Using microwave it not too healthy not even for us adults. I actually got my microwave in the garage for now and purchase a little oven to replace it. I would do this soup & I would come up with something else like chicken/ broccoli/ rice and rotate each day until gone. Around 11 months I started her with fish also. I hope my baby food experience would help someone. Good luck mama and know you are doing your best. God bless you
I cannot wait to make food for baby, it’s still too early for us, but I completely agree it’s so much better for them. I mean we don’t eat food out of jars all day, why should we expect our babies too?!
Nice! It really is so, so easy to make your own baby food in a short amount of time that I’m not sure why everyone isn’t doing it. Thanks for spreading the word!
Just came across this article! I am working on making some baby food for my little girl and was curious if when you transfered the frozen purees from the ice cube trays to ziploc bags if they froze together in the ziploc bags, making it difficult to separate one piece at a time for a feeding? My husband thinks this will happen, but I am not sure so I thought I would ask!
You married a smart man :) They will slightly stick together. To prevent this I spread the cubes out in the ziplock and make sure I lay flat when freezing!
How long will these foods last in the refrigerator in the beech but glass containers? I don’t really want to freeze it all.
Here is a website I reference for all things baby food…http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/waystostorehomemadebabyfood.htm
Could I use a mixer instead of a food processor or blender?
You probably could, but I would think the puree might be a little chunky!
DId you have any problems with the bananas or avocados turning brown? someone mentioned that they would when you freeze them. Is that bad? What about the apples? Just curious. I am excited to try this in a few month when my baby starts solids!
I mashed up the avocado and bananas as I gave them to Chickadee, didn’t freeze those! Apples didn’t brown. Good luck! Let me know if you have any more questions. I’m about to gear up and start cooking for baby #2!
Hi,
I have some advice about preventing any fruit (apples, bananas, avacado etc) turning brown. For apples, once they are sliced, rinse in a little bit of lemon juice water.
For mashed banana & avacado, add a little squirt of lemon or lime juice.
The acid in the citrus will help minimize browning, as will keeping everything in airtight containers.
This is GREAT! I can’t wait to try this for my little one.
Great post! My husband and I found a brandy new Baby Bullet for $15 at a garage sale last summer just before we found out we were pregnant and bought it because I was already excited about the idea of making baby food. We just had our little girl 10 days ago. I will definitely visit this post again when she’s old enough for solids!
Rachael recently posted…DIY Bohemian Inspired Art For Under $1
$15 is an awesome price! I really enjoyed making her baby food. We actually had our second little one 10 days ago too :)
Great post! How many trays does it take when you cook all of this?
I actually do it with only two…store the purees in tupperware while I”m waiting on each one to freeze!
Do you do your own proteins/meats? Can you send me the link if you have posted something like this post but in regards to meats? I never thought I would make my own baby food(first time mom here) but I kind of enjoy it ;). And I hate being in the kitchen, so much so that my husband actually cooks our meals but I have been the one doing the baby food!
I never pureed meats, however I suppose you could! I did feed her hummus and other beans pureed to try and get protein in her :)
We make our own baby food and have puréed chicken. We just boiled a chicken breast and used some of the water to help purée it. I’ve found a couple recipes for turkey too. We didn’t season the chicken, and our little guy will only eat it if it’s mixed with something else he likes. However, a couple recipes I’ve found have noted that you can sauté some onions and add them and a bay leaf to the water for flavor when cooking the meats.
My little one is just beginning solids, and I want to avoid store bought baby food as much as I can! But do you have any advice on feeding when going out? Is it safe for it to be in baby food containers at room temp? If so for how long, or does it need to stay cold until you are ready to feed to baby? Thanks :)
I would take it with us when we went out. Depending on what it was (meat, had milk puréed in, etc) I would throw a cold pack in. Other times if we were just going to dinner from home I figured it would be ok for 30 min to an hour. Hope that helps!
I did this last night but this morning the cubes won’t budge from the trays! Please help!
Try dipping the bottom of the trays in warm water for a few minutes! That should loosen things up.
Quick question, do you add anything to make it pureed more? Such as water or breast milk? I know some say to add bm?
I did occasionally add breast milk or water if I thought the puree was too thick!
I am Laura Beth too! We have so much in common :) I love making baby food for my sweet little girl and am about a southern as they get. Geaux Tigers!
Awesome! Aren’t little girls the best!! I must say Go Tigers though so no one thinks I’m pulling for LSU :o) War Eagle!
THIS IS WONDERFUL! I really like to make by 5 month old son’s food myself, but it’s time consuming and sometimes impractical. This is such an easy and fast way to do it. I do have one question, did the avocado initially make your little one constipated? I’ve tried giving it to him twice now and though he doesn’t have a reaction right away, he cries a lot at bedtime that evening, as if he had a stomach ache and then his stool is hard. I know they are so healthy but I’m afraid to try it again, Did you have this experience? How can I offset the constipation? Also, do you feed her a fruit and a vegetable together in one meal or do you do them separately?
My little one didn’t have any problems with avocado. I can say one thing that helps constipation though are prunes. I’ve steamed dried prunes and then mixed them with whole milk yogurt, cleans her right out :o) I do feed her a fruit and veggie at most meals, but don’t mixed them together.
that’s a great idea! thank you!
Avocado seems to make my little one constipated as well… I hadn’t put two and two together until now. I haven’t fed her avocado alone, its always mixed with something else.
This is great! But, all of the lessons I’ve read, including yours, end right before you get to the part about ‘serving’. Do you serve everything cold right from the fridge? I’d like baby to have certain veggies warm. How do you warm ’em up?
I do serve right from the refrigerator usually. If I heat the cubes up I make sure to place the cubes in a glass container and microwave for about 20 seconds. Make sure and stir to disperse the heat & then test before feeding baby to make sure it’s not too hot. If you are heating frozen cubes I usually heat in 15 second increments, repeating until it is soft and then allow it to cool before feeding Chickadee.
I loved making baby food for my boys!
Vanessa recently posted…Milk and Tea Bath Party Favors
Excellent posting. I had my children a long time ago when money was scarce – I used to make my baby’s meals from our meals. I always cooked too much and then mashed the leftovers up for the next day. I am so pleased to see you loving and protecting your baby like this, no preservatives or additives just all fresh food. I hope more mother’s take note. You’re wonderful.
xx
Thank you!!
I am SO impressed that you made all of that in an hour – healthy and practical! Way to go, momma!
keri @ shaken together recently posted…Wake Up Orange & Honey Body Wash
The first time around took a little longer, but now I can get it done in an hour flat (as long as baby girl stays asleep!)
Brilliant! Whenever we have kids I’d love to make my own food, so I’m pinning this for sure!
Jessi @ Practically Functional recently posted…How To Make Paper Flowers: 3D Paper Tulips
It is a lot easier than I though & saves money for sure!