yummy homemade baby food

One of my great joys when little Guy started to eat solids was making my own baby food.  I think in total he ate packet or jar baby food twice in his life.  He just really didn't like it after eating my yummy concoctions.  Now as I've previously stated I am by no means a good cook, my lovely Hubby does the bulk of the heavy cooking in our household, although now that I'm officially a stay at home Mum I am doing more of the cooking.  My skill I must say though lies as a providor and thinker of ideas for food.

running through New Farm Park on the way to the markets

Anyway my Mother in Law called me on my slackness the other day (in a nice way!) asking what delicious delicacies I'd been making for Amelie.  I had to answer 'none'.  Mashing a banana was as good as it had gotten.  So at the markets today I made sure I stocked up on mashable fruit and veges for making baby food.

Making baby food is really easy, especially if you make it in bulk lots and freeze it in baby-sized portions.  You can buy special trays and little jars for this, or ice cube trays work just as well.  It's easy to take a little frozen portion with you if you go out and it will defrost in your bag just in time for lunch usually.

Today I made steamed pumpkin.  A 1/4 piece of a pumpkin which cost us about $2 made about 12 portions of baby food.  I just cut it up into smallish cubes and steam it on the stove.  Steaming is great as it adds a little moisture and is a super healthy way to cook.  I just then fork mash it up. (If you don't have a steamer you can microwave or boil)   Amelie had some for lunch and loved it.

portions of pear, apple & raspberry puree ready for freezing

I also love making my own fruit purees.  Just cut up your apple or pear into cubes and place in a saucepan with just a dash of water, just enough to stop you burning the bum out of your saucepan.  Today I did 3 old mangey pears that had been kicking around in the fridge for weeks, plus 2 apples and a handful of frozen raspberries.  You just cook it on a low heat, stirring frequently so it doesn't burn or stick, until you can fork mash it up.  The raspberries made this batch smell delicious, sweet and very red.  I didn't bother to strain out the little raspberry pit thingys but you could if you were really concerened.  Amelie had a little sample of this one too and thought it was excellent.

If you are stewing or steaming slighly harder veges or fruit like parsnip, carrot or peas, I just use a little hand mixer and give it a quick blitz.  It just cuts it up a bit easier for you.  Once your bub is used to single flavours like pumpkin or sweet potato, try combining them for a bit more of a taste sensation.