How to Make Homemade Baby Food

Hi, I’m Kate Yerxa, extension educator with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Today, we’re going to talk about making your own baby food. With a little planningand some kitchen utensils, you can make foods for your baby at home. Homemade baby foodwill help cut food costs, provide your baby with nutritious foods and make your life justa little easier. Some of the materials you can use to makeyour own baby food: a cutting board and knife for food preparation; a cooking pot, steameror baking dish for cooking; a spoon, fork, potato masher, blender, food mill or strainerfor pureeing; and an ice cube tray, cookie sheet, wax paper, plastic wrap and freezer-gradecontainers or bags for storing homemade baby food. Canned or frozen vegetables and fruits also may be used to make homemade baby food. Whenusing commercially prepared canned or frozen items, check the ingredient label to avoidextra sugar, salt and fat. Ways to prepare foods for homemade baby foods:Steaming or boiling are acceptable for fruits, and microwaving, steaming and boiling areacceptable for vegetables. To minimize vitamin loss, boil fresh vegetables or fruits in acovered saucepan with a small amount of water, or steam them until just tender enough toeither puree, mash or eat as a finger food. For meats, baking, boiling, broiling, braising,stewing and steaming are good cooking methods, but frying is not. Cook meat until it is softand tender and reaches a safe temperature according to a meat thermometer. Do not addsalt, seasonings, sugar, butter, margarine or oils to foods for babies younger than 1year old. Foods taste differently to your baby than they taste to you. With clean hands, equipment, work surface and fruits or vegetables, you are ready tostart. Today, we will be preparing peaches. First, wash the peaches, then cut in half,remove the pit, peel and place cut side down in a baking dish. Next, we’re going to add1½ to 2 inches of water to our peeled peaches. Now, bake for 20-25 minutes in a 400-degreeoven. After cooking, the next step is pureeing. Pureeing food means that you put it through a sieve, grinder or blender to make it intoa pastelike or thick liquid with a smooth texture. If you are making baby food for immediateuse, use within one to two days. Store in a refrigerator at 40 degrees or less in aclean container marked with the date the food was made. To freeze in single-serve portions, try using either an ice cube tray or a cookie sheet. For the cookie sheet method, drop 1-2 tablespoons of cooked, pureed food in separate spots ona clean cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil andput in the freezer. When cubes or cookies are frozen, with cleanhands put them in a clean plastic freezer container or a bag, and store in the freezerat zero degrees or less. Write the name of the food and the date on the container, anduse within one month for best quality. Once frozen, homemade baby food can be thawedor defrosted in three ways: in the refrigerator, under cold running water or as part of thereheating process. Do not thaw baby food on the counter at room temperature or in standingwater. When you remove baby food from the freezer, label it with the date and time removed. Store thawed baby food in the refrigerator, and use it within 48 hours or throw it out. Meat, poultry and fish should be used within 24 hours. Do not refreeze baby food that hasthawed.