The Basics {Baby food}

One of my very favorite things to do in my kitchen is make baby food. You can be so creative and extremely productive at the same time. Homemade baby food was the right choice for us for many different reasons. It's much healthier than jarred baby food, not to mention it TASTES better. People seem to forget that baby food should taste good too. Have you ever actually tasted jarred food? BLAH! It's awful. One reason people don't choose homemade is because they are worried it will be hard to make, but it's easy peasy! (& fun!!)

Things I use for making homemade baby-food 

• A ninja blender. I don't use any special baby food blender just a normal blender that I use for everything else. I really love this specific one because it comes with multiple containers and it's really easy to wash. You can buy one here.
• Storage containers for the fridge. I love these little guys because they hold the perfect amount, are great for the diaper bag and stack. *I write on them with dry erase to tell them apart* You can buy some here. 
• Storage containers for the freezer. After pureeing, I transfer the baby food to a freezing container and eventually dump the cubes into ziplock bags. When I first started I used regular ice cube trays *Each cube is 1 oz* I was wrapping the trays with press and seal, but I discovered that they make ice cube trays with lids! I'm buying some! I also use these awesome little silicone trays.
• Like I mentioned earlier, ziplock bags
• Steamer bags

The basics

Baby food purees are all basically made the same way. You bake/steam your food, then puree it. *Meats puree best cold* Then either refridgerate for up to 3 days. OR Freeze it for up to 3 months. 

Freezing - To freeze purees pour into freezing tray (ice cube tray), cover and freeze for 24 hours. Then remove baby food cubes and place in Ziplock bags.

Pureeing - Add food to blender, pulse several times.

Steaming - Really depends on what you're making, but basically you place in a steamer bag with water and microwave until soft. You can also use a pot and a little bit of water, boil until soft.

Baking - Also depends on what you're making, but most things (Butternut squash, acorn squash, sweet potatoes) bake for about an hour at around 400. Before placing in the oven poke several holes in vegetable with a fork to help cool. If you're making a squash be sure to cut in half and remove the "guts".

That pretty much covers it! If you have any questions, feel free to email me lindsay.havens@yahoo.com or comment on this post. :)