Tips on preparing your own baby food

It has almost been a month since I started preparing Milly's food. I've totally ditched the ready-to-eat fruits in a jar and sweet rice oats because I want to cook Milly's food my way. One benefit of cooking your baby's own food is you know what are the contents of the food you're giving your baby. Ready made fruit jars contain sugars and preservatives to prolong its shelf life, and I don't want my daughter to suffer its long term side effects.

I go to the market every other day to buy fresh vegetables and fruits that I will need to prep Milly's food. I do not store her food by batches because I always want to give her fresh pureed fruits and vegetables. The maximum days I store her food in the fridge is 3-days already. Good thing my daughter isn't a picky eater and she eats whatever I prepare her. 

What I also love about preparing her own food is I can experiment the ingredients I want to give her. This way I would know what are her favorite fruits and veggies and what type of food she has allergies with. 

Here are some tips I want to share if you plan to make your own baby food. 

* You do not need the high end food processors out there. As long as you have a fully functional blender in your kitchen, you're good to go. You can make purees out of blender! 

* Buy BPA free  food storage for babies. You do not need the expensive ones (like avent or other brands). A storage is still a storage, what's important is its BPA free and safe for freezing too. 

* If you do not have a blender, you may use fork to mash certain type of vegetables and fruits.

* Buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Make sure the fruit is already ripe because some unripened fruit can cause constipation. 

* If you have a budget, you may buy a non- electric food processor. Mostly, these processors are already complete - It already includes the masher, juicer, food puree, spoon and bowl. If you want an electric one, you can buy Magic Baby Bullet. 

* Do not change your baby's food everyday. If you want to offer her different types of fruits and veggies, do this every 3 days. That way you would know if your baby will have any allergic reaction to certain foods. This is really effective because from this, I learned that my daughter is allergic to OATMEAL. 

* Taste first before you give any food to your baby. 

* Never return unfinished food in the fridge.

* Use a serving spoon and her own bowl. Do not put too much food on her bowl. Try 3-4 tablespoons first and check if your baby is in the mood to eat. In my case, I've noticed that Milly has different eating patterns. There are times that she eats a lot and there are days when she can only consume 4 tablespoons of purees fruits and veggies. 

* Do not afraid to experiment and combine different types of fruits and veggies. I didn't know that squash, apple and banana is a good combination until I tried it! ;) 

* Enjoy making food for your baby. It surely is fulfilling if you see your little one enjoy the food you prepare for them. Remember, Mommies Make the best food ever! 

Milly's first solid foods

Since Milly turned 6 months, we've been very consistent on giving her solid foods.  Mark and I didn't have a hard time introducing her to solid foods; her pedia was ri Though there are times that she would reject the food I'd prepare for her, I am still thankful that she doesn't get any allergies even if I kept on transitioning from one food to another. (This isn't advisable though because offering different type of foods is much better if you do it every 3 days). I was too excited and always looked forward to feed her during breakfast and lunch time. Milly doesn't eat dinner because she usually sleeps at 5PM. 

Before giving solid foods to Milly, I've always wanted to try the Baby Led Weaning method, but since my husband is so scared & doesn't want to believe me that Milly can do it, I am left with no choice but to prepare mashed veggies or fruits. And here's the guilty part of me, I hated myself for having her taste Gerber. I bought some gerber stuff online that says its organic and NO PRESERVATIVES. Just like what other moms would say, babies would love this type of food because of its flavorful taste. Scared with the long term effect of Gerber, I committed myself to prepare Milly's food; as in cook, mash and puree veggies and fruits (I'm completely saying goodbye to junk foods) . I discarded the boxes of pre-made cereals and baby food and replaced them with fresh fruits and vegetables. Well, surprisingly, Milly loves every bits and pieces of fruits I prepare for her. Mommies really  make the best food ever. :) 

Here are her first batch of pureed fruits. I'll share the recipes one of these days. 

Milly's first ever pureed fruit. Banapapple (Yes, you read that right! It's a combination of Banana + Apple + Papaya) I added papaya to prevent constipation. Based on my observation, Milly would have kambing like poopoo every time she eats bananas and would have a hard time pooping. 

Since she enjoyed her first pureed fruits, I made another batch.
It's a combination of Mango + Carrots + Papaya + Apple

That's her, trying to eat her silly bib with pureed fruit on it. :D Gutom lang! haha!