Homemade Baby Food

Nutrition experts will tell you that it's never too early to start healthy eating habits at home. And that goes for baby, too!  Cara Munson makes her own baby food. As a mother - and registered Dietician at the Utah Department of Health - she believes in feeding her baby the healthiest foods she can find. So, she makes her own baby food instead of buying the pre-made kinds that come in a jar.

Not only does homemade baby food cost less - commercial baby food can cost as much as 20 cents more per ounce than homemade baby food - she knows she is giving her kids the real thing. "To save on cost and get more profit, they will often add more fillers,” says Cara, “things that you wouldn't add to your baby food, but they use them to stretch it out a little bit, and that results in less nutrition for your baby.”

Getting started is easy. The first step is to make sure your working area is clean, and your hands and tools are washed. Step two involves cleaning, peeling and de-seeding fresh fruits and vegetables. Then, it's time to start cooking.

“With fruits and vegetables, you don't have to cook all fruits, for those that you would have to cook, those would be like apples, things that aren't as ripe or tender, you would want to cook those until tender,” says Cara. “As for meats, make sure to cook them to appropriate internal temperature, I always use a meat thermometer, to make sure I'm not guessing on that, make sure it's safe for baby to eat.”

When all the prep work is done, Cara adds carrots and some of the cooking liquid to the blender. After adding peas and a little more juice, she's ready to blend! A few seconds later, the pureed peas and carrots are a perfect consistency for an older baby. But Cara prefers a thinner baby food for her little ones, so she adds a little more water to thin it down.

Each batch makes more than one meal, so Cara freezes the excess in individual servings to use on another day.

“Freezing is really the best way to keep your baby food. And it's easy. I pour it into an ice cube tray so it can freeze. Once it's frozen, you can pour them into a zip lock bag and reheat with just a few seconds of time.”

Cara cooks chicken breasts with the skin on because it makes a rich broth that contains a small amount of fat. She says the fat makes the meat easier to puree. This time she's using a baby food processer to break it down.

“They don't recommend introducing meats for most babies until they are about 6 months of age.”

Mashing the banana is simple - just takes a fork and a few minutes.

“Sometimes you can get a lot more value for your money without going to the extra work of making certain baby foods. For example, applesauce: If you buy what you find on the shelf, the adult version of the applesauce, it's a lot less expensive than the baby version, and as long as it's the unsweetened kind, it's just as appropriate for your baby.”

To save time, you can use un-salted canned vegetables to make your own baby food, although the frozen or fresh varieties contain more vitamins and minerals. You can find the instructions, recipes and links on making you own baby food at http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ . Watch Cara make baby food online at connect2Utah.com.