baby in diaper smiling
Many parents in Southwest Florida want to provide fresh, whole foods to their babies but shy away from making their own baby food, certain it’s too much time and trouble. However, the process of making your own baby food is relatively simple and can be done days and even weeks ahead of time. Lots of families in our area have made their own baby food for each of their children, and they have lots of advice and tips to share.
Why make your own?
There are lots of products available to parents of little ones, including baby food blends, squeeze pouches, and puffs that take the guesswork out of feeding babies. These products are easily accessible in a variety of flavors, and almost all are available as USDA certified organic products. Why, then, make your own baby food? Our family chose that route to save money. Even though many of these products are $1-$3 each, babies go through lots of food when they are just beginning to eat solids, particularly after they reach the one-year- old mark. We were able to create baby food squeeze pouches and small containers of food for much less per serving than anything we could find at the grocery store. Buying fruits and vegetables in season and freezing them in easily accessible small containers made it possible for us to feed our baby fresh, whole, organically grown food.
Another reason families choose to make their own baby food is so that they know exactly what they are putting into their children’s bodies in terms of nutrition. “Jarred baby food is cooked at high temperatures in order to preserve its shelf life, which removes many of the nutrients and can change the taste of the food,” explained Ashley McLean, a Naples mom of three. “I love that I’ve been able to give my babies whole food nutrition, and that their taste buds are growing accustomed to what the rest of our family is eating.”
Making baby food also is gentle on the environment. Reusable container systems (either specifically made for baby food or regular food storage) offer eco-conscious parents the opportunity to reduce the amount of waste created. Additionally, parents using whole foods to feed their babies are not relying on others to make, process, and ship food; rather, they are completing this process themselves. Making baby food is, in short, an efficient use of resources overall.
Homemade purees created out of what your family already is eating allow your baby to get used to the taste of your family’s food and makes the transition from purees to table food easier. Pureed broccoli, bananas, avocado, spinach, and sweet potatoes are staples in our home – our daughter was already accustomed to the taste of those foods before we put them on her plate in their whole form.
applesauce
Tips and tricks
As parents, many of us need ways to make our lives easier, not more complicated. Making your own baby food on a regular basis would seem more time consuming and difficult. But here are some tips from local families to make the process manageable.
• “When my boys were babies, I made big batches of soup for our family. I would puree portions for them. It made it easier on me to only have to make one meal.” Freedom Teague, Naples.
• “I made a lot of smoothies for my kids when they were babies and put them in sippy cups. I made steamed zucchini, spinach, and banana smoothies, and I always tried to be sneaky and add in leafy greens whenever possible. ” Therese McLean, Naples.
• “I used two books with my first: The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet by Karin Knight and Ruggiero and Starting Solids by Annabel Karmel. With my second, we didn’t do purees for very long; she ended up eating mostly what we ate.” Jenna Shaffer, Naples.
• “I take whatever fruits or vegetables we are eating that meal and blend them up for my babies.” Sally Carpenter, Naples.
• “The Vitamix blender is the best; it can make baby food, soups, and smoothies; it makes life easy when trying to accommodate an entire family.” Skye Leber, Naples.
• “When babies get bigger, make big batches of baby food and freeze them in tiny mason jars; they’re much bigger and more convenient than ice tray portions.” Adriana Gammiero, Naples.
• “Rather than making purees, we fed my daughter soft foods we already had in the house – bananas, avocados, peas, steamed vegetables, etc.” Ashley Justice, Naples.
• “The Beaba Babycook Pro is life-changing. We make purees of all kinds and freeze in ice cube trays. We keep the cubes in freezer bags in the freezer. My son loves everything because we just blend up whatever we make for dinner.” Amy McGowan, Naples.
• “The website wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com was really helpful. I got silicon ice cube trays to freeze purees. They’re a lot easier than plastic trays to get baby food out once frozen.” Sandra Jean, Naples.
Taking it one step further
For families in Southwest Florida looking to take advantage of our extended growing season and who want to be even more eco-friendly and self-reliant, building and maintaining a backyard garden is a no brainer! Emily Denlinger and her fiancé, Gabe Green, planted a large vegetable garden in their backyard after the birth of their son. “We started a vegetable garden after Wilder was born (now 14 months old). We spend time in it with him every day. He loves digging in the dirt and helping water the plants. We feed him some of the food we harvest, but I want him to make the connection that we are growing food. Occasionally when we are playing in the garden, I let him pull off a piece of kale or lettuce leaf and take a bite,” Denlinger said.
Josh and Alex Chaney have two girls, Willow (two) and Charlie (seven months) and wanted to make fresh, whole food nutrition available to their children from the very beginning.
“We’ve begun our own garden with lots of veggies and some fruits that Willow loves to tend. It’s pretty cool to see her learn the process of growing food rather than buying it at the store. One of her favorite activities was collecting cherry tomatoes,” Alex Chaney said.
However you choose to feed your babies, know that there are options and ways to make it even easier on yourself. Enjoy your meals together as a family this summer.