Making your own baby food

By Goodluck Ugwumba

BABY food doesn’t have to come in jars You can make your own at home and it’s not difficult. Baby food is simply strained, pureed or mashed adult food, just a different version of the food you prepare for yourself.
Three good reasons for making you own baby food are:
(1) You know what’s in it
(2) You can tailor the texture to your baby’s taste preferences
(3) You can shape your baby’s tastes and help her learn what fresh foods taste like.
Tips for making your own baby food
-Buy organic fruits and vegetables. Your baby deserves pesticide – free foods. Scrub fruits and vegetables extra well with a vegetable brush. Trim stringy parts and remove any part of the food that could cause choking such as pits, peels and seeds. Trim excess fat off poultry and meat.
-Steam vegetables. This softens them, makes them easier to chew and preserves more of vitamins and minerals than boiling.
-No need to add salt or sugar. Try a bit of lemon juice as both a preservative and a natural flavour enhancer.
-Avoid deep frying, which adds unhealthy fats to foods.
-Don’t feel you have to prepare separate meals for your baby. You can simply take portions of your adult food (before you add any strong seasonings) and grind or mash to a stage appropriate for your baby.
-Make enough for several meals at a time and pour freshly cooked and pureed food into an ice cube tray. Cover with cellophane wrap and freeze. Then, remove the frozen food cubes from the tray and store in air-tight freezer bags. Remove one serving size cube at a time when needed.
-When baby graduates from cube-size portions, store the home made food in baby food jars or small, plastic, freezer containers. Be sure not to fill the jars to the brim, as food expands as it freezes.