The Benefits of Making Your Own Baby Food

It’s funny how we cannot wait for our child to get here and then it seems like we can’t wait for them to grow up. Excitingly and eagerly waiting for the next stage of their lives to come about - their first smile, words, steps, and food.

Introducing your baby to food can be exciting, but did you know that there are so many great benefits to making your own baby food?

We understand what our child eats is so important to their development both physically and mentally. Food is important and making your own food is a step in the right direction. 

At first thought, this probably sounds like way more time in the kitchen then you’re capable of at this point in your life. Truth be told, it’s not really that bad and the benefits will far exceed the small amount of time you’ll spend preparing.

Let’s just look at this deeply for a moment -

Less Processed

We all know how bad processed foods are for us. Well, baby food is no different! While jarred foods are not as processed as our foods, they are filled with ingredients such as starch for thickening. An unnecessary ingredient that offers no nutritional value to your child and is filling. 

Expand Their Pallets

When kids are younger, what they are taught eating is directly tied to what they eat as adults. When you feed them processed food, they will develop a pallet for processed food. There are no limitations to what they will eat when you make their food; which means you can prepare them for a life of eating healthy non-processed food for them a head start!

Feel free to prepare an avocado with some basil and ginger. Don’t be afraid to add flavor from foods that will protect your children, such as fresh herbs and spices!

Cost-Effective

Jarred baby food isn’t cheap and lots of time, it gets wasted. When you prepare their food, you don’t necessarily need to purchase any extras - what you make for dinner can be pureed into their meal. The best part is you are in control of the quality of ingredients that are going into your baby’s food!

How Hard Is It To Make Your Own Baby Food

New eaters only eat only about 1 to 2 tablespoons of food. You’ll simply mash a piece of a banana, steam an apple or peaches and create a puree, smoosh cooked sweet potatoes with a fork and begin introducing them to these yummy clean eating foods. And since they eat so little, you will have a few days worth of food from just a single apple. 

As you can see, it’s not hard at all and not very time consuming either. The best part is, even if you don’t know how to cook, you’ll be able to throw together the perfect food like a master chef with the help of a steamer and a blender, grinder, or food mill!

It’s as simple as steaming the food and throwing it in your blender with some breast milk to get the right consistency, and there you have it - homemade healthy baby food.

Don’t forget the bib. You’ll want to be sure you have a silicone bib around your baby's’ neck to catch all of the food that will fall as they demand you to pile it in their mouth, perfect for easy cleanup!