Baby food

[YorubaQueen]

Peace...
Hey fam..some of you all may know that I'm having a little mini me..and I am trying to prepare myself for things that are not going to happy for another yaer lol. But I wanted to know from the parents, mothers especially, did you make baby food for your newborns? And if you did, do you have recipies?
I'm a procrastinator to the FULLEST lol and I need to start preparing myself and writing down recipes and getting items and machinery ready for this.

So if you have any baby food recipes, please post them so I don't ahve to have a gerber baby!

YQ

[JemChi]

CONGRATS QUEEN ...I didnt know you were with child, its a beautiful thing!! With my children I brestfed for the first four months strictly, no food. I started with sweet potatos, squash, peas, potatos, apples, pears, bananas and oatmeal. I just peeled the sweet potatos, cut them up, boil them for about ten-20 mins, mash um up and feed um to them. I basically used that method with all the above ingredients. Because they're so young, I advise not to put any seasonings or sweeteners in it, just have the baby get use to the natural flavors of the foods. Extra seasonings could be damaging to the young seed. I just advise Sistah, dont get caught up in all the hype about get'n a bunch of stuff for your seed, its really not that deep. Simplicity is the key, keep it simple...peace Sistah

[Mamazen]

Originally Posted by YorubaQueen

Peace...
Hey fam..some of you all may know that I'm having a little mini me..and I am trying to prepare myself for things that are not going to happy for another yaer lol. But I wanted to know from the parents, mothers especially, did you make baby food for your newborns? And if you did, do you have recipies?
I'm a procrastinator to the FULLEST lol and I need to start preparing myself and writing down recipes and getting items and machinery ready for this.

So if you have any baby food recipes, please post them so I don't ahve to have a gerber baby!

YQ

Hey its so easy (and hella cheaper!)

Get a blender (unless you want to pound and mash by hand)
coffee grinder that will NOT be used to grind coffee
Containers/packages for the baby food...make sure they are freezer safe.

I set aside a weekend day (Saturday) for baby food production.
I would go to the market and get produce (both fresh and frozen) bring the stuff home and start making a weeks worth of meals.

For instance;

Breakfast- oatmeal and bananas mixed with breast milk

Or poi and smashed over ripe bananas

Get a container of oatmeal...the type YOU would eat
Put a 1/2 cup in the coffee grinder and grind down to a fine powder.
Mix with smashed overripe bananas and 1/2 of warmed breast milk (warmed in a warmed water bath NOT microwaved.

Lunch and dinner- Food combinations. Trust that your child will not care what it looks like. Presentation is not something you are striving for here. I took great efforts to gross out the baby sitter though.


You will need the blender for this...
Base is Sweet potatoes (puree them or mash them)
Mix them with steamed mashed (consistency gets chunkier the older the child gets)
peas
Green beans
carrots

Optional (I did it starting at 9 months)
Steamed and finely shredded chicken
Steamed and finely shredded turkey

I would do enough on that Saturday for 14 meals.
Considering that a Jar of baby food goes from $1.00 a jar (for the really cheap stuff) compare that to a pound of frozen carrots for the same price or, a 2 pounds of fresh carrots for $2.00.

The effort is well worth it.

[Fenix]

Not that I have kids...but what Mamazen mentioned about the oatmeal, you can also prepare rice in the same way. I guess it's the equivalent of storebought rice cereal.

[Jalili]

Get a breast pump.....some added impute

[YorubaQueen]

Peace...
Hey y'all!
Thanks for the info...I want this seed to have a better diet than what I have NOW (I'm trying to change but damn if a Big Mac don't call my name sometimes LOL). I was blessed enough to have parents that put damn near every veggie in front of me and I enjoyed them all and I have been a big girl but healthier than some of these 98 lb malnourished children we see walking around today. I remember even having to tell kids about different types of lettuces and REAL spinach (They had never seen it).

But I've always said taht I wanted to have a natural, more holistic diet for myself and my child...so now is the time to start. Thank you all so much for the info...and MZ esp for the poi link. And JA, the dr. that I go to gives free breast pumps so I do NOT have to buy one thank goodness....

YQ

[MamaDahomey]

Sis you may want to invest in a food processor. Not a blender but a food processor. I havn't any children of my own but I would make baby food for my neices and nephews and enjoyed doing so. Don't buy anything to fancy, just a regular food processor will do. You will have to spend between $25-$40. Also, try and buy organic fruits, vegetables, potatoes, cornmeal or oatmeal for your local farmers market where you can get produce in bulk for cheap. For younger children, first time spoon fooders you want to use part liquid with the solid produce and proccess it till it gets very smooth. This requires a few minutes, about five or so. Bannas can stand on thier own in the food processor after a minute. Carrots and peas as well. You will need to cook the carrots and peas slightly but not to much at all because the food processor will give you the texture you want and if you cook them to much alot of vit and min can be lost. So once you slightly stem them, the veggies will be hard but 5-7 minutes in the processor is just like they are fully cooked. Ill post some reciepes to give you an idea. Potatoes (sweet yams) work as well and remember you don't have to fully cook them because the blades will do most of the work as far as smoothing out the rough texture. Cornmeal and oatmeal can be used as thickening agents but I prefer oatmeal because the corn is rough on stomachs and intestines of young babies. You come out cheaper making your own baby food and you may want to make some soups or stews as well. Like slightly steamed beans and potatoes, with carrots and peas. Oh yes, peas work well in the food processor as well. They havn't yet deveoped a tast like us adults so it is not necessarily to add salt and I wouldn't even suggest garlic or any natural seasonings for young babies, but thats just my opinion. I don't know how old your youth is now but as he or she gets older you could benefit from making fresh soups and stews with a bean or lentil base, add plenty of veggies and simmer. The only thing I don't recommend is corn, until they are older. How old is your baby? Are you a vegetarian? Meats are a whole other story, you will need to use part liquid. Ill post some receipes if ya let me know.

[Rekhati]

Before a certain age most fruits are peeled, pits always removed. I steamed instead of boiled, to retain nutrients and simply used the blender. Dont mix to many fruits and veggies at first. Cook/blend/freeze seperately.

Use freezer bags to freeze, not sandwich bags. You can freeze the food in ice cube trays, that way its an automatic serving size. And you can pull out a cube or more, its up to you. Or you can just freeze a certain amount.

But, what is most important the first 6 mths-year of life is breatsmilk. Dont feed children anything other than breastmilk the first 6 months of life. This includes water, IF BREASTFEEDING. Formula is another story.