Homemade Baby Food Recipes

(I'm excited to present today's guest blogger, my friend and fellow first time mom, Chelsie. She is the mother of a 10 month old sweet little baby girl and is sharing her daughter's 6 favorite recipes with us today!

As always if you would like to guest blog, just shoot me and email with your idea. Firsttimemomanddad@gmail.com)

Hey there mommas! As our little bundles of joy become big, insatiably hungry bundles of joy, our pocketbooks are becoming noticeably lighter. One of the wonderful things about First Time Mom And Dad is the ability to share tips, tricks, rants, and… recipes!!
Like April, I make the vast majority of my daughter’s food. In the beginning, I purchased jarred food. After a few weeks, however, I realized that it just didn’t work for my family. My daughter simply didn’t like the taste and they are expensive!! Breast milk alone wasn’t cutting it, though, so I decided to try making a few dishes for her myself. After making that first batch of baby food, my baby girl gobbled it up and I was hooked. And, compared to jarred versions, I found it to be much cheaper too! My secret? I make it in bulk and freeze it. It doesn’t take much longer to make and I feel that it saves me time, which equals more playtime with my love! So, without further ado, here are a few recipes and some tips to help you if you decide to give making your own baby food at home a try. Good luck and have fun!

Four favorites for 6+ months … Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Peas, and Bananas
​All recipes will last 2 days in the refrigerator or 6 weeks in the freezer

How to Prepare:
Sweet Potatoes
Preheat your oven to 400’F. Take two (approximately 2.5 pounds total) sweet potatoes. Wash well and prick the skin all over. Place on a baking sheet or aluminum foil and place in the oven (Wrapping sweet potatoes causes them to steam and they aren’t as sweet). Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until soft. Let rest until they are cool enough to handle, then peel. Blend or mash with apple juice, formula, or breast milk until desired consistency.
Yields ~ 5- 3ounce portions at around $0.50 a portion.
Tasty combinations as your baby gets older: apples, peaches, pears, carrots, green
beans, peas, pumpkin, zucchini, squash, rice, chicken, beef, and yogurt.

​Apples
Peel, core, and dice a pound of apples (and kind other than Granny Smith – they’re a bit too tart). You’ll end up with about 2¾ cups. Put in a sauce pan with one cup of water. Bring to a boil and cover, reducing the heat to low. Simmer 10 minutes or until the apples are soft. Add more water if needed. Allow to cool slightly, then blend the apple and water in a blender until desired consistency.
Yields ~ 11- 2ounce portions at around $0.20 a portion.
Tasty combinations as your baby gets older: avocado, bananas, blueberries, pears,
sweet potatoes, carrots, zucchini, squash, chicken, beef, and yogurt.

​Peas
Place two cups of peas (fresh or frozen) in a microwave safe glass dish. Add ½ cup water, cover, and microwave on high to 5 minutes or until the peas are soft. Allow to cool slightly, then place in a blender with ½ cup formula or breast milk and puree 1 minute or until smooth. * An interesting fact: Peas cooked in the microwave contain twice as much vitamin C as commercially produced baby food peas. If you’d rather cook them on the stove, use the same amount of water and peas, place in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Puree as you would if microwaved.
Yields ~ 6- 2 ounce portions at around $0.17 a portion.
Tasty combinations as your baby gets older: apples, grapes, carrots, green beans,
potato, sweet potatoes, zucchini, squash, rice, chicken, beef, pork.

​Bananas
This preparation is simple and yet so much fun… take two or three bananas. Place them in a Ziploc baggie. Squish. J
Yields ~ 4- 2 ounce portions at around $0.28 a portion.
Tasty combinations as your baby gets older: avocado, blueberries, kiwi, peaches,
pears, apples, sweet potatoes, yogurt.



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Two confused parents=One amused baby Hopelessly we are trying raise a baby who is clearly smarter than both of us. April is an award-winning writer and blogger. Her work has been published in over ten countries and four languages. From books to newspapers, to print/online magazines and everything in between, you can find her work. For more on April, Visit AprilMcCormick.com