If you’re expecting your first baby, or if you’re expecting a child and have not made your own baby food before, then this post is for you.
Quick Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to products I’ve used for making my own homemade baby food.
Fair warning, I *AM* trying to convince you to make your own baby food with the intent of saving money and giving your child quality nutrients, knowing exactly where your child’s food is coming from. That being said, I intend absolutely no shame on mothers who decide to feed their children something I personally don’t feed my own littles. There’s too much insensitivity and judgement in motherhood… and we have enough to deal with on a day-to-day basis to also deal with that shade from other mamas. Hear me out: Make the decisions you believe are best for your family, but please ensure that you’ve researched a variety of options so you are comfortable with what you settled on. In the end, you are the gatekeeper of your family, so inquire about other options but stand by your choices and don’t allow shame and guilt because so-and-so mom does it differently than you.
Hey, if we haven’t met yet, I’m Dorothy. Grateful mama of two under two, Registered Nurse, and a sinner saved by God’s grace. I try to save my family money by DIY-ing certain aspects of motherhood and splurging on quality time together as a family.
Let’s get into it.
Why I Made My Own Baby Food
We all know how expensive those tiny jars of baby food can be, and with the economy in our post-pandemic world, there’s no chance of that changing anytime soon. I won’t beat a dead horse on this one, store-bought baby food, whether in glass jars or sippy pouches, are just plain expensive, especially when you compare it to the cost of making your own baby food.
Beside the cost of store-bought baby food, my main concern that lead me to make my own baby food was the concern over the exact ingredients in the baby food. I was very concerned about what was in my child’s baby food, if it was prepared properly, and if I’d later find out that a recall was placed on the product I had faithfully fed my vulnerable little one in the very early phases of their lives. I hear so much about recalled products used with infants, particularly infant formula and baby food, which always made me concerned when I had children that they’d become ill from a product’s quality that went sideways.
So, that being said, again, there is no shame on mothers for any decision they make when they have the most positive intent for their child. We all make mistakes, so we should all have grace toward one another, especially when we’re just trying to do what’s best by our children! I share my baby food experience to help other mamas who may be curious about it and to encourage that mama that DIY baby food is not all that scary, and you CAN do it!
Quick and Dirty of Homemade Baby Food
Basically, to make your own baby food, you prepare and cook the food, blend it, and freeze it into small portions (baby food size portions!). Then, when you prepare to feed your baby with that food, just thaw and reheat the baby food over a double broiler on the stove, or a baby bottle/food warming device, or if you’re not opposed to the microwave, you can microwave it gently.
The Step-By-Step on Making Your Own Baby Food
Before preparing any baby food, and if this is your first child, I’d recommend reading more about baby food for infants so you have a greater understanding of the how/what/why/when when it comes to baby food for your little one. I love this book when it comes to all things motherhood in the early years — there’s so much to learn when it comes to the health and wellbeing of your baby. The book highlights natural and alternative methods to nourish your child well, and it has particularly helpful sections regarding feeding your infant. Also, I personally asked a lot of questions to my sister-in-law who raised many children and was just a chapter ahead of me in her motherhood journey, so it was all still fresh in her mind. You can also talk with your pediatrician about nutrition for your newborn and the steps involved to introducing foods to your little one. Again, make sure you’re inquiring about various methods and trusting your gut when it comes to decisions that affect your children, especially their nutrition in their vulnerable early years. Fuel is necessary to our car engines and without the proper fuel your engine will malfunction, and food is necessary to our bodies so without proper nutrition our bodies can suffer from preventable disease.
First Step – Determine Baby’s First Food
Once you’ve understood the who/what/why/when of baby food more, you can dive into making a plan on how you’ll make your own baby food. Once you’ve determined what foods you believe are vital for your child’s wellbeing, you can more confidently move forward with making your own baby food. Pick one food to make your first batch of baby food. I tend to over-achieve and therefore become over-whelmed by it all, so, learn from my mistakes and try to start simple!
Second Step – Prep Your Time and Supplies
Determine the time that you’ll make your baby food. During a nap? Or if you have childcare/a mommy helper/your spouse to assist you? Or while you’re already making dinner? Just take this into consideration since making baby food can be a big undertaking, especially if your little one is not sleeping well or struggles with colic or other health concerns. Prep the foods you’re going to make by planning when you’ll buy it fresh from the grocery store, local farm if in season, or a local butcher shop to get cuts of meat with quality that you trust.
Next, make sure you have the supplies for success. You’ll of course need a blender/food processor of some sort. They make these little baby food kits that includes a small blender and containers for the food, but you certainly don’t need to purchase a separate system just for the task of baby food. Next, you’ll need a silicone mold to freeze small portions of baby food. You’ll need a storage method to heat your baby’s food in, like small glass jars. Lastly, a heating method, like a baby bottle warmer or a double boiler if you need one. I used my Ninja blender and a small silicone mold/ice cube trays to freeze the baby food, and I used these glass jars someone gifted me to heat the food in and serve to my infant. Just make sure that your heating method (ie baby food warmer), silicone freezing mold, and glass jars all fit together. You wouldn’t want to get a mold only to find out that the frozen piece of baby food can’t fit into your glass jars, or the glass jar not able to fit into the baby food warmer! So just double-check those dimensions before purchasing.
Go Time!
Prep your food! Are you making a batch of steamed vegetables? Or preparing roast beef perhaps? Just make sure you’re cooking the food well so that it is easy for baby to digest — vegetables steamed until mushy, not al dente. And ensure that temperatures on your meats are cooked according to USDA standards to maintain food safety for your newborn. For me, I did roast beef and sweet potatoes as my child’s first foods. I added celtic salt and when they were a bit older, added a bit of pure grassfed butter to this concoction. Again, follow your heart and the sage advice of others you trust when it comes to ingredients in your child’s food.
After your food is properly cooked, allow it to cool, then add it to a blender. I never add hot ingredients to my blender since it contains plastic and I don’t want to risk microplastics added into my child’s baby food (…which would sort of defeat a major purpose of making my own homemade baby food!). Once it’s blended, I spoon it into either the silicone mold or an ice cube tray and pop it into the freezer. I liked a small silicone mold to begin with, (like one you’d use to make chocolate candies with, like this one) since when I started baby food with my little ones, they didn’t eat a lot of it, they were just kind of getting used to the taste and the feel of something in their mouth to swallow that’s not milk. Basically, they were “sampling” the baby food, so I made it into very small portions at first to prevent a lot of waste. Once frozen, I pop it out of the mold/ice cube tray and store it in a labeled ziplock freezer bag.
And There You Have It!
That’s essentially the whole process from start to finish! I did my best to go over what a new mom or a new-to-homemade-baby-food mom would need to know, but if you’re still left with some questions, please feel free to send me a message! Once you get started, you’ll realize it’s not as daunting as you might have let yourself (or others) believe! You’ve got this, mama!
Thank you for stopping by! Happy baby-food-making!