I've bee making Sunny's baby food since she started solids at 4 months old. It's just recently that I've started adding spices and allowing the consistency to be slightly firmer and less mushy, stage 2.
Sunny has never had commercial baby food, and I'm proud of that. There is, of course, nothing wrong with commercial baby food, in fact its great from what I hear. However when I was pregnant with Sunny I had a vision of the kind of mother I wanted to be, and believe it or not homemade baby food was a part of that vision.
I figured that since I would be a working mother I could still be home in spirit giving her organic homemade/mommy made food, a little Mama at home, even if technically I wasn't. It's challenging & can be pretty time consuming, I put a lot of thought into her menus and I enjoy shopping for her fruits and veggies. I don't add sugar, honey, or milk. I do add formula or breast milk, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, and oregano. I would like to start adding mint leaves to her peas, cilantro to her avocado, and cream to her peaches when the time comes. I have hundreds of ideas and combinations I can't wait to try and use. So far Sunny enjoys everything. She is not picky, though she prefers peaches and pears to apricots and mango's. She loves zucchini and squash, peas and carrots, and sweet potato's. She adores brown rice, oatmeal, and barley. Sunny is a foodie, I suppose, a girl after my own heart.
I make her food in batches intended to last for about 3 weeks worth of feedings. If I had a larger freezer I would make two months worth in one afternoon. I'll add two basic veggie recipes here and our homemade barley recipe.
BEETS:
2 Small Beets
3 cups of water
Freshly grated ginger
Bring water to a boil. Add beets. Cook for about 45 minutes or until tender. Puree beets to a soft mush and a dash of cinnamon. Serve.
ZUCCHINI & SQUASH WITH OREGANO AND GARLIC:
2 small zucchinis
2 small yellow squash
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon of oregano
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
Peel zucchini and squash. Cut into small pieces. Bring water to a bowl ( I use a double cooker) add sliced zucchini and squash. Steam until tender, about 5 minutes. Use food processor to blend the steamed zucchini and squash into a fine mush. Add oregano and garlic. If mixture is a bit thick add cooking water, breast milk, or formula. Taste and serve.
SUPER BARLEY
1/4 ground pearl barley
1 cup of water
1 hard boiled egg
1/2 teaspoon of salted butter
Grind pearl barley in food processor or blender until it's a fine powder, usually about 2 minutes. In the meantime heat water on stove top to boil. Add ground barley to the boiling water and turn down heat. Whisk constantly for about 10 minutes or until barley and water become one. Once complete you can now add the egg yolk and butter. Serve!
I also just completed a batch of pears & nectarines with fresh ginger and cinnamon. It's good enough to eat, I should know because I just a had a few spoonfuls of it.
