The Basics
When my baby started grabbing my plate … drooling when anyone around him was eating … opened his mouth eagerly when anything resembling food caught his attention I knew it was time to start solids.
I really didn’t want to give him the ready made baby food as he was not 6 months old and I never really trusted in what has gone into the food. My niece was really hooked on to her ready made baby food that it took awhile for us to get her to eat normal homemade food. I was sure I didn’t want to try that on my son. After a lot of research on home made baby food I tried a very basic Ragi (Millet) Milk Porridge as per my mother’s and aunt’s advice. It definitely was not a hit with my son as it was quite diluted.
I then tried steamed apple sauce that I made after referring http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com, which he loved.
Wash, core and cut an apple into four wedges. Place the cut pieces in a vessel. This vessel has to be kept inside a steamer or cooker and steamed for 10 minutes. Once ok to touch (wash with soap/handwash and clean water before handling baby food) peel the skin , try to get as much or apple from under the skin as possible as most of the nutrients are found right below the skin. Blend in a blender. The resulting fruit puree can be passed through a sterilized metal sieve for a smoother texture when introduced as first food for the baby. One apple makes one cup. Choose a pesticide free variety.
Note: Sterilize all cups, spoons, blender, sieve, knives in boiling hot water before every use.
Well I thought I’d experiment with one more ingredient and steamed some fresh carrots alongside the apples in a separate vessel and pureed it with the apple and lo! behold I got the most beautiful natural beloved baby food for my darling baby. It was thicker than the regular apple puree but good to eat I guess! He simply smacked it up and wanted more. Now that I got my wonderful base… I decided to play around with more veggies and grains so as to make things easy for me and my baby.
Orange+Red= Orange
Steamed carrots + Steamed Apple = Magic baby food
Peel the carrots ( a couple of medium size ) with a thin peeler, give a quick rinse and cut it into thick sticks. Place it in a container in the steamer. Steam until carrots are soft . Puree along with the peeled apples. Straining the resulting mixture is optional as I stopped straining after about three days of starting him on solids. However make sure that there are no bits or grits.
Two weeks later I felt a strong desire to add on more vegetables in his diet but the rule is always one new ingredient at a time!
I found some beautiful pumpkin at the store near house and I bought one for my baby.
It was the first time I handled a pumpkin. The recipe is however simple. Cut the pumpkin to make a small piece about 2 square inch. Peel the skin off and remove the seeds and hairy fibers. Cut the piece into smaller portions. Place it in a separate container and steam along with the carrot and apple. Pumpkin lets out a lot of juice and this juice can be incorporated while blending the baby food. Pumpkin cooks to a softer consistency when steamed alongside apples and carrots.
Well my baby loved it and now he eats pumpkin every day!!
Pruning it UP!!
Soak a couple of prunes in warm water until nice and soft. Grind it up along with the steamed carrots and apples for a lovely sweet and sour taste. My baby’s expression changed at the first couple of spoons and later he enjoyed it.
I don’t include pictures of the pureed baby food as it surely doesn’t look very appealing!
Popsicle 