Blogging Baby Guide to Making Your Own Baby Food

Quick show of hands - who's opened up a jar of baby food peas and thought, "Yum, yum! I gotta eat me some of those!" That's what I thought. Cheryl Tallman thought that jarred baby peas smelled disgusting too - she thought they had gone bad. So she decided to do something about it. She invented a system to make it easier for parents to make their own baby food.

Now, I made most of my kids' own baby food, because I just thought the jarred stuff looked nasty. But I never had a system — a SYSTEM! — to make it easier. Tallman's company, Fresh Baby, makes a product called the Easy Baby Food Kit.  The kit costs $34.95. But wait — what do you get for that $34.95? You get a recipe card and video for how to make the food, a nutrition information card two ice-cube trays with snap-on lids. You'll need a blender or food processor to make the food.

Kids, I'm gonna help you out here. I'm going to give you - for the amazing price of "FREE", the official Blogging Baby Guide to Making Your Own Baby Food. Here it is:

Get food.

Mash it or blend it in a blender or food processor.

Feed it to your baby.

There you go. Your very own Blogging Baby Guide to Making Your Own Baby Food. From us to you. No, seriously. Okay. Maybe you want a little more information than that.

You don�t need special equipment or videos to make natural baby food. A blender, a food processor, or a fork work fine. You�ll need containers to put your baby food in to freeze it, if you�re making in advance. Small baby-food jar size plastic containers work well; or you can use a regular ice tray to freeze small portions, then store in freezer bags.

Buy food you think your child will eat, or use whatever is on the table that the rest of you are having. Your child wants to eat whatever you�re eating.

If your child is a wee little baby, just starting solids, do a single food at a time, mashed very well and diluted to thin it a bit. Good first foods include bananas, cooked mashed apples, cooked mashed carrots, cooked mashed sweet potatoes, avocado.

Don�t add spices or sweeteners, let baby learn to like food in its natural state. NEVER use honey as a sweetener for a baby under 12 months, as it can cause botulism. If you really want to use a sweetener, use organic (evaporated cane sugar).

When introducing new foods, only introduce one at a time for several days, so you can make sure your child doesn�t react.  In general, it�s a good idea to avoid high allergen foods, including strawberries, wheat, citrus, nuts, until your child is past age two, especially if you have a family history of food allergies. Some experts also suggest holding off on introducing dairy until 12 months or so - this includes yogurt and ice cream.

Once your baby has a couple teeth in there and is handling single foods well, you can mix it up a bit. Mix two things together. Add foods with different textures. Here are some easy natural baby foods you can make for your child:

FIRST FOODS - Cooked carrots, sweet potatoes,  and apples. Mashed banana. When introducing first foods, it�s helpful to mix in breastmilk or formula to thin it out a bit. Add a little of the baby oatmeal or rice cereal if you like.

SECOND FOODS - Once baby has mastered a few foods, you can start adding other things: mashed potatoes, prunes, plums, peaches, green beans, blueberries. Hold off on peas and corn until baby has more teeth, unless you are willing to squeeze each pea indivually to remove it from the tougher outer hull. 

THIRD FOODS - Now that baby has a full repertroire of single foods, you can try mixing them together some. My kids loved sweet potatoes or carrots mixed with a little apple. Around 12 months, you can introduce yogurt, which a lot of kids love. I just give the plain vanilla when they�re babies, so they don�t acquire a taste only for the highly sugared brands.

AND BEYOND - When baby is handling single foods and mixed foods well. the sky�s pretty much the limit! Soups (mash up bigger pieces), pasta, casseroles, pretty much anything the big people are eating, your baby will probably like to try.

There you have it, Blogging Baby readers. Our Blogging Baby Guide to Making Your Own Baby Food. Yours here, for FREE! Just for being a Blogging Baby reader. We just saved you $34.95 and, hey - that�s like, 10 venti lattes! Enjoy!