My late teen years, very early twenties were a product of the 90’s. I didn’t question the substances I experimented with. I took them without any knowledge of where the substances might have come from, or who made it, or even what was in it. Ode to the 90’s. Thank goodness those days are long behind!
Today, as a 40-year-old mom to a tween and a toddler, I am the furthest person from that girl in the 90’s. It’s like a dream, that part of my youth. My best friend of 25 years and I never imagined being the mommy’s we are today. Just the memories of my flannel wearing, ripped jeans, combat boot self gives me serious anxieties, but back then it was organic…in the most inorganic of ways. As a mother now, I need to know where most products I buy for my family are made, what’s in them, what the ingredients even are and what (if anything) do they do to harm, or improve our well-being.
Seeking to find out justwhat was in the products we bought for our baby Maya started when she began to really eat meals, around 18 months to two years old. Prior to that I believed Gerbers baby products packaging, because it was a household name and I was a brand spankin new mom (AKA- I knew shit). I started to research more about certain ingredients on the labels for Mayas baby food, and other prepared items on the market in our grocery store. Back then, just 12 years ago Google was newly on the rise. I remember getting annoyed, like it was invaluable when my husband said “Google it” excitedly. Or “Order it from Amazon”.
I felt like it wasn’t legit enough to do these simpler ways of finding out information, or shopping. OH how times have changed! I can’t imagine life without being able to google things today, or order things I need from Amazon!
I google every ingredient I am not sure what it is, and within seconds have a well of information aiding my decisions of what to safely and confidently give our children.
I wanted to know what our daughter was putting into her body by what we were giving her. It mattered so much to me, to us, to know because you care so deeply for your babies, you start to read every label, and when you have no clue what the ingredient list is, you start to google them. We had a basic understanding of processed foods and junk, we had already knew the harmful truths of high fructose corn syrup luckily, but we were ready to learn more. As we learned more and more it began to feel super depressing because almost every product out there was filled with some sort of chemical and shelf life enhancer, carcinogen, dye filled body pollutants and behavioral disruptors. Organic lines were the obvious way to go, and yet the single income we were living by at the time didn’t seem obtainable. We were feeling forced to decide between giving our child, brand new to this world, the cleanest and healthiest start there is to nutrition and well being, or not to, because we couldn’t afford the high cost of organic?
We were just starting on our first discoveries of organic products and different lines out there in the market and we felt defeated by our budget. Today I am well versed in the many affordable options of organic, or healthier non GMO selections because of the years of reading labels and looking up ingredients and their nutritional values, or lack thereof. Thank you our Maya! You have given us the thirst for knowledge.
I remember my Mother in law suggesting so nonchalantly that I just make my own baby food when Maya was first beginning her solid explorations, and that I make her snacks and such when she was a toddler. Man, I remember feeling so very annoyed by her suggestions, thinking to myself and complaining to others…when would I have the time to make baby food??? Even though I was home with her….and probably actually did have the time… I was defensive and inexperienced and let my fear of the unknown call many of the shots.
The truth is I was intimidated AF back then. I could barely cook back in the new mommy day, none the less make baby food. And so one of the things I want to share today is how to! With baby number two, Evan, I just did it. And couldn’t believe how so very easy it truly is!
Just use caution and do your due diligence of reading about solids before introducing them. We learned how harsh rice was this time around on developing babies digestive system, and that it is the root of many digestive and allergy issues for babies. But of course we have our moms and grandmas and aunties telling us to add rice cereal to their bottles because they’ll sleep better. Our Evie would eat a huge bowl of mashed potatoes at dinner and still wake up 4-5 times a night. Because he loved to be held and snuggled. Not because of hunger, which he did too though, but definitely wasn’t the case after a bowl of mashed potatoes.
Ultimately, there’s just no one size fits all, and the baby product industry hopefully will market that better in the years to come, instead of targeting new and exhausted parents into outdated methods because it sells products instead of real nutrition. There’s so much information today it can make you feel incapacitated trying to decide which path to go. My insight? Take your time. If your baby is healthy and happy with formula or nursing there’s no need to rush. Try introducing a little oatmeal or puree steamed fruits when you feel that your little one is ready….whether that be 4, 5 or six- even 7 months old.
Just know tho that you have options! That you CAN make your own baby foods! YouTube is a great place to start to watch videos of how others prepare and create baby food… it definitely helps get over the anxiety of I don’t have time for that nonsense, or I have no idea how to even begin to make baby food….you definitely can and will feel inspired by many videos on YouTube while saying to self- oh! I can do that!
and NO you definitely do not need one of those baby food making bullets, or tools. There’s nothing wrong with them, but if your budget doesn’t fit those types of tools, no worries, a good old fashion pot and steamer will do just fine too, if not better! See my method below! Please email me with any and all questions…..oh…and like and share too….if you like my way 🙂 Thank you!
So here’s my very basic and simple how to make your own baby food steps, and photos of one of my first baby food creation- apple sauce.
You can do this with whichever fruit or vegetable you prefer. I started with applesauce because it was to me one of the more milder of fruits to introduce. I did the same process, with pears, or green beans, or peas etc. Either you steam or boil. Fruit is boiled till it’s soft and ready to be puréed. Vegetables are steamed.
I used the old school method of steaming by using the double pot method similar to the photo below except I used a colander as my top pot. If you have a steam pot set, great! Go ahead and use that. Steam whichever vegetable of choice until cooked.
With fruit and potatoes, peel, cut and boil in enough water to cover the fruit or potato. A good way to tell if they are soft enough is to stick a fork in one of them, and if the fork goes through easily they are ready. Sweet potatoes and mash potatoes are a great new food to introduce too. Here’s how I made the applesauce. Please forgive me, I must have deleted the photo of the finished product! I can’t find it on my phone anywhere.
Steps for applesauce:
Step 1: peel and cut apples.
Step 2 : boil apples till soft
Step 3: Put steamed apples into a blender or other puree tool. I like a blender because it’s what I had on hand. I do not own any baby pureeing tools….hence this post 🙂
Step 4: save some reserve apple water to add to blender
Step 5: add reserve water to blender for consistency and more flavor. Make sure to add just a little at a time as to avoid making the food to watery. You can also save the remainder apple reserve water and set it aside to use with a green bean puree, which again will add flavor and other nutritional value. And Viola! You will create an apple and green bean baby food purée of your own. 🙂
I would make a few different purées in one afternoon. I used left over breast milk storage bags to store the baby food in to freeze. You can chose any storage container you would prefer. When ready to use you can set in the fridge for a day or until ready to use. To use immediately from frozen, place frozen baby food baggie in a bowl of luke warm or cool water for a few minutes to defrost.
Evan loved these fresh purees. I added the purees to a variety of things. I added the apple sauce to oatmeal, I added sweet potato puree to quinoa or mashed potatoes. It’s incredible how sweet and delicious food is in its natural state. We would use a touch of pure maple syrup or cinnamon for added flavors too. Depending on how you store the purees they are really easy to travel with too, to restaurants or relatives houses. We save so much $$$$$$$ too, and we knew exactly what was in our baby food! So I did it, I was successful in making baby food, even though it was 11 years later. You can do it too! Happy pureeing!
Simply tipShe 