Hey-o! Let’s talk about how to make homemade baby food!
I freely admit to knowing next to nothing about babies before having one my own, but one thing I did know was that when the time came I wanted to make my own baby food. I prepare Ben’s and my food everyday, so why should it be any different for my sweet baby boy?
First a little background: we attempted rice cereal when Lincoln was 4 months old but whether he was too young, or rice cereal just wasn’t for him, it didn’t agree with his tummy. We waited two months then tried again with Earth’s Best Organic Whole Grain Oatmeal Cereal, which you can find in all major grocery/baby stores. Ding, ding, ding, we had a winner and have been serving it to him ever since.
After figuring out the iron-fortified grains, we started incorporating real foods into his diet in addition to oatmeal. I can’t tell you how excited I was for that day to come – it was so hard to wait 6 months! Ben wanted to feed him spring rolls but I suggested we start with sweet potatoes, which has remained his favorite food to date.
We started with 1 Tablespoon pureed food with dinner then gradually added more volume and variety. After a few weeks, we gave him real foods with breakfast as well. Around 8 months, we added a small lunch. Right now, at 9 months, Lincoln eats real food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in addition to oatmeal at breakfast and dinner.
Now, what do I mean by “real food”? I mean REAL FOOD! Here’s the pureed and/or chopped foods he’s currently chowing down on:
- Sweet potatoes
- Green beans
- Peas
- Spinach
- Bananas
- Avocado
- Carrots
- Butternut squash – we get those giant clamshells from Costco
- Blueberries
- Cheerios
- Applesauce
- Peaches
- Prunes
- Pears
- Broccoli
- Black beans
- Eggs, usually scrambled
- Well-cooked pasta
- Watermelon
- Summer squash
- Asparagus
- Salmon sauteed in olive oil
(Lincoln has shown signs of a dairy intolerance so right now we are not feeding him cheese, cottage cheese, or yogurt, which are typical in the diets of a 9 month old. I have not had to cut dairy out of my diet though.)
Currently Lincoln prefers finger foods over pureed foods (seriously kind of a divo about it!) but that certainly wasn’t always the case. As the title of this post implies, I made all his baby food using a blender starting at 6 months and I’m going to show you how to make homemade baby food too. Here’s what you need – I’m sure you have most if not all of the supplies already!
- A big pot to steam food in
- A steamer basket to steam food on
- Ice cube trays to freeze baby food in
- A strainer for extremely pulpy/fibrous foods
- Blendtec Designer Series Blender + Twister Jar
Start by choosing the food you want to puree. Soft foods like pears and avocados you can blend without cooking, but harder foods like sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, green beans, etc, you’ll need to prep first by washing, peeling if necessary, then chopping.
Add a couple inches of water to a big soup pot then place a steamer basket inside. Bring the water to a boil then add the raw food to the steamer basket and place a lid on top. Turn the heat down to medium and then steam until tender. How long will that take? Well, it depends on what you’re cooking and how small you chopped it, but foods like sweet potato and butternut squash could take 10 minutes, while peas and green beans will take just 3 or 4.
Pop the steamed food into a blender then add enough water from the pot to blend until smooth, or breast milk if you’ve got extra on hand. These juicy pears didn’t need anything at all!
Blend the food until smooth – I use the “smoothie” setting on my Blendtec – then pour into ice cube trays.
If the puree is thick, like avocado, scrape into a Zilock baggie then cut the tip off and squeeze into ice cube trays. Cover with plastic wrap, I like Glad Press’n’Seal wrap, then freeze.
FYI – homemade baby food is measured in “cubes” which is 2 Tablespoons (1oz) a cube, aka 1 standard-size ice cube. Do not be tempted to buy cheap-o ice cube trays, by the way. I guarantee they’ll snap in half after your second time using them then you’ll just have to buy another set. Spend an extra couple of dollars for thick plastic ones like these or if it’s in the budget, splurge for silicone ice cube trays.
Once the cubes are frozen, pop ’em out then stash in freezer bags. Heat in the microwave or thaw in the fridge overnight if that’s how you roll. Either way – that’s it!
I know a lot of Moms and Dads go on food making benders on the weekends, making a month’s worth of food in one afternoon, but I prefer to make batches here and there. It fits my schedule better…and my freezer!
To recap: wash, peel, chop, steam, blend. Easy peasy. You can totally do it!
Don’t be afraid to blend foods that aren’t “obvious” either, like soups (my sister-in-law religiously blended my Homemade Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup for my niece,) and steamed or sauteed meat. Pureed chicken, sweet potato, and green bean cubes, anyone? Lincoln is on the tiny side so I have been adding a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to his reheated purees, too! As always, make sure you are feeding your child age-appropriate baby food and check with your doctor if you have any questions or concerns. My biggest piece of advice is don’t rush the process. Your baby will eat real food when he or she is ready so don’t force it.
Time-Saving Tips:
- Buy frozen fruits and vegetables. They’re just as healthy as fresh, and are frozen at the peak of ripeness. I buy frozen organic peas, green beans, and spinach then steam them according to package directions before blending.
- Buy store-bought when it makes sense. Nobody says that since you make some of your own baby food that you have to make all of it. I feed Lincoln store-bought organic unsweetened applesauce cups, which are the perfect portion size, as well as chopped peach/pear cups packed in 100% juice. Avoid the chopped fruits that are packed in syrup at all costs!
- Mix foods in the blender after you know your child isn’t allergic or have an aversion to it. I used to only blend/freeze foods by themselves, but found myself opening 3 or 4 bags of food cubes to mix up his dinner. Now I blend sweet potatoes and green beans together, for example, and only have to open 1 bag to make a meal.
Now go forth, and blend your own baby food!
Blendtec Blender Giveaway!
Having my Blendtec Blender for making baby food has been invaluable. I tried making purees in my food processor at first but the food just never got smooth enough. The Blendtec whips everything I throw into it until it’s silky and whippy – and does it fast. Heck, it’s so appetizing that I sometimes sneak a swipe or two out of the blender for myself!
Blendtec would like Moms and Dads out there to experience the same blended bliss as I have, so they’re giving away a certified refurbished Designer Series Blender plus a Twister Jar for small batches to one IGE reader! (Note: I have the signature series blender, not the designer series which is why they look different.)
Enter to win the Blendtec Designer Series Blender plus a Twister Jar by using the voting widget below (may not work in Internet Explorer.) To enter, click the “+1″ button then click “Enter” by 12pm central time on Friday, May 9th. Gain an additional entry by Liking Blendtec on Facebook. Good luck!
*** PLEASE NOTE: the voting widget below may take up to a minute to load and may not work in Internet Explorer. The winner will be chosen randomly via Random.org and will be contacted directly via email. ***
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Your little boy is growing up so fast! I had no idea they could start eating real food so early! I really look forward to your posts as I am 34 weeks pregnant and sure am learning a lot! Thank you!
When my munchkin was teething, I would give him frozen peas, without thawing them. He loved them.
Thanks for this post! My baby is 2 months old today and I’ve always known I wanted to make her food when the time came. Looks super easy and I know exactly what I’m giving her. Lincoln is such a cutie!
My first two children are twins and I did a lot of peeling and chopping to make their food. With my 3rd I realized it was way faster for me to just bake the sweet potatoes whole and then scoop out when baked rather than peeling and chopping and steaming. And all of my kids have LOVED sweet potato so I’ve processed a lot of sweet potato. When it came to the third child I did a lot more of just taking whatever the rest of the family was eating and blending or mashing it up.
Is baby’s hair getting kind of red? So cute!
Great article! I have a 9 month as well. We haven’t done any whole foods besides banana. How big of chunks do you give him to eat of the items you pointed out?
I cut the banana in half lengthwise then into about 1/2″ chunks if it’s really soft. I guess I cut just about everything into 1/2″ chunks – green beans, sweet potatoes, avocado, etc.
I did my own baby foods too because it was just sooo easy to spend an hour on Saturday or Sunday steaming, chopping, blending etc. and freeze it for the week. My little was in daycare from 12-weeks on, which also worked great – I just pulled what I wanted for him to eat the night before and it was thawed by the time he ate it at daycare. YES to blending stuff together – I did pears and peas or green beans a lot, or peas and sweet potatoes. Also, if you’re getting canned fruit, watch out for the “no sugar” options and make sure they don’t include artificial sweeteners (because too many seem to, darn them). Above all DON’T judge yourself if you choose to buy baby food. Making it worked for us but it won’t for everyone.
Exactly! Every parent does the best they can for their children – no judgment if you do or do not make your own baby food! :)
I LOVED making my own baby food, and am looking forward to doing it again with number 2…if I can find the time with 2 boys! :)
Oh Yeah have a grandbaby on the way. Need this!
My youngest is 11 months old now and has only really been enjoying real food for the last six weeks or so. He was much slower to come to eating than his older brother, but also has far fewer teeth. If you’re looking for some good recipes for homemade baby food, plus charts on what is appropriate by age, check out http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com
We have made our own for both kids, but I like some of her recipes because it’s something I can make for the whole family and then blend up for the baby.
Fingers crossed for the new blender, mine went kaput before the move and I’ve been borrowing a mini food processor from my brother-in-law ever since. Doesn’t make very big batches of anything.
Yes I love this site too! And Kristin- it gives some good info on introducing dairy and why cheese and yogurt are absorbed differently than other dairy…. Like eggs. Does Lincoln tolerate egg whites or just the yolk? I’ve just introduced yolk to my youngest and am trying to be creative on how to prepare it for her.
He eats both the white and yolk – though if it’s of the hard-boiled variety he just mashes the yolk up in his hand and makes a huge (HUGE!) mess. That being said, I usually give them to him scrambled. :)
I was hoping you would post on this! While we are past the puree point, I made my food too and people don’t realize how easy it is! I still make finger foods for him today-so many less additives.
Good luck with the dairy thing. At 18-mo my guy is still very sensitive but luckily grocery stores have expanded their assortments. We do coconut milk & coconut milk yogurt and also goat cheese a lot as a sub.
Do you season his food at all?
I wish I had the tastes of a baby. I’m corrupted by sugars and fats and flavorings!
I don’t, though this summer I want to experiment with adding herbs so he gets used to some different flavors!
So awesome! I’ve been ogling a blendtec for some time. I love making my own baby food-have you tried the DIY squeeze pouches? I did a bunch up in applesauce and if I’d had a better blender it would have been so much better!
I’ve got a post on those coming up in a few weeks!
Cool. I’ll be interested to see which one you chose. I did the non-reusable bags with a squeeze station, so you don’t have to spoon anything in. The sauce that i peeled was easy-peasy..the sauce with some peel was a little more muscle-intensive ;) I’ve got a much smaller blog and am posting about it as well. Love your blog!
I’m no where close to having kids, but I loved this post and pinned it right away! You made making your own baby food look so easy! I’m all on board for doing at least some of my own baby food now. Plus, your little guy is seriously the cutest boy ever! Thanks for sharing your tips.
Our 4 kids ate food from our table, the way we ate it, as soon as they were able – we used a handy hand-grinder that mushed it up. I have to say our kids are all good and adventurous eaters.
There are no babies in my immediate future, but lots of my friends are just starting to have kids. Being the home cook in my circle, this is awesome to be able to share with them! I somehow had it in my head that, when the day came, it would be a much more complicated process.
Lincoln’s food looks so bright and fresh.
Yay! I was hoping you’d post on this. I made our son’s baby food and it went really well in the puréed phase, but got harder to keep him interested in as many different kinds of foods as he moved out of that phase. With baby #2 on the way I’m excited that you’ll be a few steps ahead of us and hope to pick up more tips.
Kristin,
You really shouldn’t eliminate a food group from the diet of a baby unless you have an intolerance confirmed by a paediatrician or GP.
By the way, did you know that the part of the milk that some babies react to simply is not present in most hard cheeses? A lactose intolerant person can safely eat most cheese. I was diagnosed as this by a qualified HCP and I can eat hard cheese. I still eat ice cream even though it plays havoc with my system too .
What other proteins do you give Lincoln? Does he have chicken or any other meats? I realise that it is legal for American meat to have growth hormone in (In the UK our meat is not allowed to have stuff like this in) so can understand why you wouldn’t feed that to a baby but is there any safe meat?
He breaks out in hives when we give him dairy so we are avoiding it all right now. No meat yet – just beans, salmon, and eggs for protein!
Lincoln is absolutely adorable! What a sweet little face and that is such a mischeivious look!
[…] How To Make Your Own Baby Food + Blendtec Blender … http://iowagirleats.com/Let's talk about homemade baby food! I freely admit … If you're looking for some good recipes for homemade baby food, plus charts on what is appropriate by age, check out http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com. We have … […]
I LOVE my Blendtec that I recently purchased. It is amazing!
Thank you for the post. I am a first time mom of a 3 months old girl and I really appreciate the help that you present. I am afraid of the right decisions I am about to make concerning my daughter health when the time comes. Eating habits start development from the first spoon and it will be little easier when there is somebody to show you this important first steps. Thank you again.
My mom follows your blog and sent me the link because she knows I’m thinking of making food for my 5 month old. You make it sound really easy! Quick question- how do you heat up the food when it is time to eat? I know you shouldn’t use the microwave if the food is mixed with breast milk.
I use the water from the pot to blend my purees so I just microwave them when it’s time to eat. If you’ve used breast milk you can let the cubes thaw in the fridge overnight then feed it to your child cold (Lincoln’s eaten cold purees before and hasn’t seemed to mind.) Alternatively you warm it slowly in a sauce pan on the stove!
Awesome! Loved making my own baby food! Although I don’t have babies anymore, I can make all kinds of good stuff with this!!
Does Lincoln have any teeth yet? My 8 month old doesn’t and when I read that you give him some whole foods I wonder how he does that! Sometimes, I’ll give my daughter some food and it might have a chunk in it and she’ll gag or choke. Didn’t know if that was just my child. That’s why I haven’t even thought to give her anything whole yet.
No teeth yet! He just gums everything. :) At first with things like blueberries it was hard for him to eat the skin without any teeth – he’d spit a few of them out – then they just kind of figure it out. He just slammed a 1/4 of them cut in half this morning!
Then there is hope!!
I love this post!! My second child is 8 months and I’ve been making most all her baby food. I was working out of the house full time with my first and just couldn’t find the time to get it done. It is really easy, just can be a bit time consuming. I haven’t tried spinach yet, I’ll have to give that a try. Some new puréed veggies and fruits that I just tried are zucchini, yellow squash, cauliflower and mango (I bought the frozen chunks at a Trader Joes). Thanks for this post, you do a fantastic job!
love this post! i am definitely planning on making my own baby food (although it will be a while…baby isn’t even here til august). it just makes sense to make food out of what we eat for the baby.
Did you ever mix your purees with breastmilk? Do you only use water and e.v.o.o. on the veggies?
I don’t just because I don’t have that much extra to spare for his food. If I did, I probably would, but water works just fine!
[…] How To Make Your Own Baby Food + Blendtec Blender … http://iowagirleats.com/As the title of this post implies, I made all his baby food using a blender starting at 6 months and I'm going to show you how you can do it too. Here's what … Well, it depends on what you're cooking and how small you chopped it, but foods like sweet potato and butternut squash could take 10 minutes, while peas and green beans will take just 3 or 4. How To Make ….. Subscribe to Daily Posts by Email. Iowa Girl Eats Weekly Update Email · 15 10 Fresh Salad Recipes … […]
I made all the food for my first two, but I will say this last time around baby food has come a long way and I love some of the organic pouches too. So many great combos and options available. I especially love the Plum world baby ones!
We did this for both our kids and I would do it all over again. The only snafu we hit was when we were traveling one time and we bought some food for our daughter and she refused to eat it. I really hadn’t expected that! I also would recommend Anabel Karmel’s website – she has some meat/fruit/veg combination puree recipes that were really great.
Ive been dreaming of getting one. Thank you for the opportunity.
Bookmarking this now, using it someday! I’m not even pregnant but I already know that I want my babies to eat real, whole foods, made by me!
Awesome post! I’m gonnna need this information by the end of the year.
Love this post! I didn’t make my food with my first, but am planning on making it for my second. How does the pureed avocado do? Do you still blend it in the blendtec and then freeze without any browning?
Yep! It freezes and reheats perfectly – you would never know it wasn’t fresh!
My little guy is 4mos and I cant wait to start this! Thanks for the tutorial!
You mention Lincoln is on the tiny side and so it my guy – 3rd percentile! Have you found real food has moved him up the weight and percentile charts!? I feel super uptight about it :(
It’s only moved him up 1%. I’m short, 5’2, and my husband was super short until high school, so I think he’s destined to be on the tiny side for awhile. I worry about it too, but know that there’s also nothing I can do to move him up. Hang in there, he’ll be just fine!! :)
Hmmm. I just tried to register for the giveaway, because in the post it says it’s open until today at 11:59pm, but the widget says that the contest is over??
Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I must have set it to end at 12pm instead of am. I will manually add your name to the list of entrants!
Aw. Thanks so much, Kristin! :)
[…] How To Make Your Own Baby Food + Blendtec Blender … 8 months, we added a small lunch. Right now, at 9 months, Lincoln eats real food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in addition to oatmeal at breakfast and dinner. How To Make Homemade Baby Food | iowagirleats.com. […]
LOVE this post!! So helpful! Can you also share about how often you are nursing him still? Now that my daughter is eating foods…just not sure how often/how much to keep nursing her! Not sure we have a good “schedule” down with that. I know it’s important for her to keep getting the milk, but sometimes she doesn’t seem hungry enough for it and I’m worried she’s not getting enough and that my supply might run out!!
oops…submitted a wrong email with the last comment (left the “l” out of gmail… :)
We are still nursing 4 times a day. We also had some trouble with him being too full from meals to nurse so we scaled back until his appetite revved up a bit more!
We also made our own baby food and I solo wish i would have kept track of how much money I saved by doing so! I would spend a Sunday making large batches at a time. We were lucky to have a grandma with a large garden so his beans were fresh from the garden. It was great!!
[…] How To Make Homemade Baby Food | Iowa Girl Eats ! Let's talk about homemade baby food! I freely admit to knowing next to nothing about babies before having one my own, but one thing I did know w. […]
I love the idea of the peach/pear cups packed in 100% juice but haven’t had any luck finding them. Where do you buy yours? Thanks!
I get mine at Hyvee in the health food section but I’m sure Trader Joe’s and/or Whole Foods has them too!
Thanks! Oh how I miss Hyvee! I did find some at Whole Foods. What kind of black beans and pasta do you buy?
I use canned organic black beans and regular white pasta. I’ve also found a frozen mix of black beans and brown rice at Whole Foods that I just scoop out, add a dash of water to then microwave for 20 seconds. It works out well!
Thank you immensely for the awesome post! After reading it, it inspired me to make my own baby food for our 6-month-old. After I made peas, carrots, butternut squash and sweet potatoes in very little time, I couldn’t believe how easy it was to prepare everything. I loved how everything looked so fresh and bright, too. Now, I regret not doing it for my 4-year-old when she was an infant. Better now than never! :) Thanks again!
Have you heard about BLW:
http://pregnant.thebump.com/new-mom-new-dad/baby-food/articles/baby-led-weaning.aspx?MsdVisit=1
What do you think…?
We kiiind of follow this but right now we don’t eat at the same time (Ben and I eat after he goes to bed) so it’s not as easy as just giving him something off our plate. Additionally he has no teeth yet so meat is pretty much out. I also don’t feel comfortable handing over a whole cheese stick or banana, for instance. All that being said, he let us know when he was done with purees and we haven’t gone back, and are getting more adventurous with what we feed him. It’s just not exactly 100% always what we’re eating!
[…] How To Make Homemade Baby Food […]
[…] Baby Food: I highly recommend waiting until baby is truly ready before giving anything other than breastmilk/formula and looking into Baby Led Weaning. All of my children nursed for at least a year, but I did BLW with the twins & they are the least picky eaters in the world! I have yet to find a single food they do not like & very few combinations – almost 7 years later! […]