Making Your Own Baby Food Cooking International Guide
Making Your Own Baby Food With Fresh Ingredients For A Better Tasting Meal
By Julia Taylor-Fernandez
Making your own baby food is the first step in getting your child
on the road to healthy eating habits. As with adult foods, pre-made
baby foods contain a lot of extra salt, sugar and preservatives.
You wouldn’t live on a steady diet of packaged foods, so why should
your baby?
Safety and cleanliness should always be your first priority when
making your own baby food. Always wash your hands frequently while
preparing food and use clean cooking utensils, preparation surfaces,
and pots and pans.
Bacteria can easily hide in cracks and crevices so make sure
all of your cooking tools are cleaned with soap and hot water.
The next safety concern to keep an eye on is choke hazards.
Remove All Lumps To Help Prevent Your Baby Choking
Seeds, peels and large chunks can all make your baby choke. Even
small foods like peas can get caught in your baby’s throat.
To prevent choking, review your options and strain your baby food
after you puree it, to remove all lumps. The third concern is
allergies.
Never give your baby honey because it can cause botulism. When
introducing your baby to solid foods, introduce one new food a
week. This allows you to identify the source of any allergy.
Avoiding Over Processed Packaged Baby Foods
You are what you eat, so it’s important that your baby eats healthy,
nutrient rich food. This is why making your baby’s food is so
much better than buying commercially prepared baby foods that
lack a lot of vitamin and mineral content because the food is
so over-processed.
The jarring process requires very high heat and this destroys
much of the vitamins in the food. Pre-made baby foods can also
contain preservatives like partially hydrogenated oils or trans-fats,
which are linked to diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
Fresh Food Always Tastes Better
Besides being healthier, fresh baby food will obviously taste
better. The fresh ingredients will introduce your baby to flavors
and textures that will be enjoyed. Cereal is usually the first
solid food given to a baby because it contains lots of iron. You
can prepare your own by running oatmeal through your blender.
Cereal is often followed with introducing fruit and vegetables.
With the exception of soft bananas, you’ll have to cook and mash
fresh fruit and veggies to make them soft enough for your baby
to eat and digest.
Steaming fruits and vegetables is the best method of preparation.
This softens them, makes them easier to chew, and preserves more
of the vitamins and minerals than with boiling.
Making Your Banana Rice Pudding
Banana rice pudding is one of the quickest meals that you can
make and it can be served to babies as young as six months old.
You’ll need 1 cup of cooked brown rice, 1/4 cup of warm milk,
a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg, a drop of vanilla essence and
1 small, ripe banana that has been sliced.
Put all of the ingredients into a blender and puree them. Add
a little more warm milk if you want a thinner consistency. Making
your own baby food doesn’t get much simpler than that!
Meal Times With Your Baby
Fresh food always tastes better, so using fresh ingredients will
help you to introduce solid foods to picky eaters. Making your
own baby food also allows you to incorporate foods into your baby’s
diet that aren’t usually used in commercial foods.
If you’re not sure about an ingredient, speak to your pediatrician.
Meal times should be fun, so enjoy discovering great new foods
with your baby.
About the Author:
Julia Taylor-Fernandez has written a number of articles on baby food,
cooking and dieting including
General Nutrition,
Meal Plans,
Teapot Cake,
Low Carb Cheese Cake,
Fresh Fruit,
Nutritional Information,
Healthy Appetizers,
Low Carb Dinners,
Health Food Store.
Keep a lookout for more of her articles on this website.
Did You Know?
Do you really trust the prepackaged foods that are found in the
baby food aisle? You know that there are additives and preservatives
and if you, yourself, are conscious about what you are putting
into your body then you are equally as worried about what goes
in your baby’s body.
The right baby food recipes are easy to make and healthy for
your baby. You just have to find the right ones that fit your
needs and your baby’s taste buds.
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