Easy Steps for Making Your Own Baby Food Purees

There is no doubt that makers of baby food have very high standards and that their products are safe to use. However, as a parent, there are other factors that need to be taken into account like cost, and dietary requirements. For this reason, many parents toy with the idea of creating their own. After all, they will know exactly what ingredients are going into them and what will fit their child's tastes perfectly.

This might seem like too tall an order for busy parents, but we gave it a try, and this is what we discovered.

Make sure you pick the best ingredients

As you want to create the most nutritious meals possible, you must select your ingredients carefully. Visiting a store like Waitrose or booking an Ocado delivery might seem like a good first step but other supermarkets will also have premium or organic produce available.

We found that before making our own baby food in bulk it was better to only cook small batches while perfecting the process so there is no need to buy masses of ingredients right at the start.

Creating your baby food

Of course, you will ensure that all of the equipment and utensils you will be using will be clean and sterile in accordance with NHS guidelines and that all the fruit and vegetables are well washed. After that, you can start the cooking process, and we found that steaming was the best option as this retains more nutrients in the fruit and vegetables you will be using. It is also advisable to keep some of the steaming water for the next part of the process.

This involves blending your steamed ingredients into a puree. We found that adding a little bit of the steaming water here will help to achieve a smoother consistency. This can be important if you are doing this for really young children. You may even need to strain the puree to get rid of any lumps.

Storing your baby food

Once you have your baby food, you must divide it into portions and store it – many purees can be stored in the freezer which can be super convenient for busy parents. You might want to use small individual Tupperware containers for this, but another easy solution is to use ice cube trays, which you can decant into frozen freezer bags.

We found that it was difficult to differentiate between one puree and another once made. To help with this don't forget to label your purées before storing them, we like to use freezer labels from Label Planet, which you can simply write on. You will want to write on the label when they were created as well as the ingredients used so you can rotate them and provide your child with a varied meal plan.

To wrap everything up

Creating your own baby food does not have to be difficult, but you need to be organised. This will start with picking your ingredients carefully, washing them thoroughly, and sterilising everything you will use. After steaming and pureeing the ingredients, you need to label and store them carefully when cool, so you can use them at your leisure.

Finally, make sure you take the time to enjoy this process with your little one. Exploring new flavours can be a really exciting experience for you and your baby as you both discover their likes and dislikes.