How to make baby food

by Cousin Sarah

Hello there friends, family and fans of NGCO!

I’m Sarah, Josh and Jessie’s cousin. 

Jessie asked me awhile ago if I wouldn’t mind sharing some baby food recipes and tips with you all and I said sure!  I love making baby food.  I like knowing exactly what is going into my little guy’s mouth and how it was made. 

Let me start by saying, I reference this website for almost everything: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

I usually have a day that I designate as "Baby Food Makin’ Day"  cuz, I’m not gonna lie, it makes a huge mess of your kitchen… or at least I do… it could definitely be just me.

I make large batches of whatever fruits and veggies I can find at the stores here and then freeze them in ice cube trays or glass jars.

The last time I made baby food I did oatmeal, squash, sweet potato, green beans and broccoli. I’m sharing two things today: Oatmeal and squash.  They’re both pretty easy and standard, but they’re faves of my little guy, Ziggy (aka Isaac).

Oatmeal. 

I’m a big fan of keeping things natural, so I make my own cereals in order to keep away from everything that is added to fortify commercial cereals.  I do oatmeal, brown rice and barley.  The day I took photos I was doing oatmeal, but the other grains can be substituted and prepared in the same way.

I use the desired quantities on the oatmeal container.

First, I start a proper amount of water heating to a rapid boil.

While that’s going, I grind the oats in my food processor (you can also use a coffee grinder) into a fine powder.*This oat powder can also be used to substitute flour in many baby baked good recipes if you like to stay away from bleached and wheat flour.

Next, I get my whisk out.

Once the water is at a rapid boil, I add the oat powder.

The key to avoid clumping is to whisk whisk whisk!

Cook for the suggested amount of time.

When done cooking, you can stir in a bit of extra water to thin it out if desired.

I let the oatmeal cool for a minute, but not too long or it gets thick and hard to work with, before dividing it up into labeled jars or ice cube trays.

You can also make oatmeal as you normally would, and then process it after it’s done cooking, but I find that it’s much smoother this way.

Finally, I date and freeze the jars.  Or, if I use trays, I freeze them until the cubes are good and hard (usually at least two hours) and then I break them out and put them into a labeled and dated plastic bag and store in the freezer.

Then, I just take out a cube or two and thaw as needed and add to fruits or vegetables!

Squash.

Acorn squash works the best as far as freezing goes, it retains it’s texture the best.  My 9-month old would eat squash all day, every day if I let him.  LOVES it!

First, wash the outside of your squash.

The hardest part to me is cutting the bugger in half, length-wise. I start on the bottom with a heavy-duty knife and go through the stem last.

Remove that sticker, of course.

And then scoop out the seeds and guts with a spoon (I save the seeds to roast later… yummy!).

Then, place the halves, skin up/meat down in a baking dish and add an inch or two of water.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.  I usually check after a half hour.  When the skin starts to pucker and your finger leaves an indentation when pressed on it, it’s ready.

Let cool for a few minutes and then scoop the meat out into a blender or food processor. 

Puree, and if needed, add a little water until desired consistency.

Divide into dated and labeled glass jars or ice cube trays and freeze.

Cubes will take at least two hours to freeze entirely.  (If you take them out too soon and put them in baggies, they’ll stick together.  Not fun.)

Break cubes from trays and place in labeled plastic baggies.

Hint: If you’re having a hard time getting the puree from the trays, put a bit of hot water in a baking dish and let the bottom of the trays soak in it for just a minute to loosen them.

Then remove from freezer and use as needed. 

The thing I like about cubes, is you can start out with just one or two when baby first starts on solids, and increase as you go along (my guy was up to four, until he just recently decided he was too cool to be spoon fed purees anymore, now I’m experimenting with making him finger foods).

Also, I like to combine say a cube of oatmeal with a cube of squash and a cube of green beans… they make it easy to make different food concoctions.

Anyway, there you have it!  (I was going to include an "after" shot of my kitchen, but it was just too embarrassing). ☺