STEP 1: Buy this recipe and instruction book (or borrow it from the library)
Real Smart Baby Food: Make 3 Months of Homemade Purees in 3 Hours
I had fun using this book’s recipes and calendar of menus. The instructions were easy. The book explained the reasoning behind introducing certain foods in order and provided information on common food allergies. My baby loved the variety of foods. My favorite part of this book is the day-by-day menu calendar for the first three months of solids. Amazing!
I printed photos of the menu pages and put them on the fridge and wrote individual dates on each day. That made it super easy for me, my husband or our nanny to make sure our daughter was having a variety of healthy foods. It also meant any one of us knew what was on the menu for that day without having to consult with one another.
The book has tons of info on what to introduce in what order, allergy foods, etc.
STEP 2: Gather the baby food accessories you need for making and serving the food
- It is useful to have 4-5 silicon ice cube trays for freezing the purees.
- And a little set of food jars to use. In the morning I would place each item from the menu in the jars in the fridge or on the counter so the food was ready for mealtime that day.
- I like these spoons.
STEP 3: Fill your basket at a farmers market or grocery store, go home and make some clean, nutritious baby food
A couple of friends came over to my house and we made an afternoon out of it. The instructions in the book are very simple to follow – often blending produce directly (e.g. pear), or steaming and then blending (e.g. green beans). Pretty soon I had a freezer full of three months of baby food.
Good luck! It is fun to watch baby faces when the little ones are trying new flavors. Also, my baby would need to try the same thing a few times before she really liked it. Don’t be deterred if your baby doesn’t like it the first time – keep trying!
I loved knowing exactly what was in the food I was giving our baby – fresh, organic produce made at home with love and care. I hope you will enjoy this process as much as our family did!
And, here’s a little something you can listen to during kitchen time! Eat Like The Rainbow