Posted by tntmck on Jul 22, 2010 in
Batch By now, you’ve learned about cooking and storing your foods for baby. So, what comes next? Serving and enjoying the fruits of your labor, of course. Well, baby gets to enjoy the food, but you get to enjoy the delight and satisfaction of the healthy, nutritious food he is eating.
Planning
The first thing to do is to plan a few days at a time. At first, you might start with two days. Think about the times and amounts of foods that you are feeding. Write it down by meal per day and decide which foods you want to offer. Remember to add more cubes as baby grows.
Thawing
Now, that you have your list, just open the freezer and remove the cubes that you will feed your baby over the next two days. Put them in dishes, cover, and place them in the refrigerator the night before. So, if you’re planning for Wednesday and Thursday meals, then put food in the freezer on Tuesday night. It will be thawed and ready to go Wednesday morning and you don’t have to worry about meals for 2 days. Do the same thing again Thursday night so you have food ready for Friday and Saturday.
Serving
Finally, the time has come. Remove your first serving from the refrigerator, grab a spoon and go for it. You can warm the food slightly if you want, but be sure to stir well and make sure there are no hot spots. Many babies aren’t particular and you may not even need to do this.
You may be interested in reading Parts I and II of this series as well.
BATCH PREP METHODS: Part I – Cooking
BATCH PREP METHODS: Part II – Storing
Here are some great ideas for easy food cube preparation.
Crock Pot Basic Recipes
Just make and follow the 3-step cooking, storing, and serving process.
Stay tuned for an upcoming series on amounts of foods for babies and toddlers.
Tags: batch, Freeze, process, puree
Posted by tntmck on Jun 5, 2010 in
Grains, Beans, Legumes and Nuts,
Purées
24% (13) avocado
16% (9) banana
0% (0) barley cereal
9% (5) oat cereal
0% (0) pear
51% (28) rice cereal
3% (2) squash
9% (5) sweet potato
3% (2) other
Total Votes = 54
Wow, it’s obvious that most people fed rice cereal first, but look at the wide variety. If you chose other or have any comments about the food you chose, please share in the comments.
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Tags: cereal, first food, puree, results
When you’re making food cubes to store in the freezer, save yourself some materials. Freeze them in regular ice cube trays, but put them inside of large freezer bags that you will use for storing in the freezer once you pop them out. This saves the extra piece of foil, cling wrap, or wax paper that you would have used to cover each tray.
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Tags: baby, Freeze, process, puree, tips
Posted by tntmck on May 25, 2010 in
Purées,
Tips
There are many reasons that you may want to thicken for for your baby or even toddler. For baby you may have just made it too runny or might be trying to transition to a thicker consistency with a little more texture. When your baby is learning to eat from a spoon or if you have something for your toddler to eat from a spoon and want to keep things neat, then thickening might be helpful.
To thicken, try mixing in some of the following ingredients as long as they are age-appropriate and you have given them before with no reactions.
- mashed potato (sweet potato is best)
- yogurt (whole, plain)
- wheat germ
- grains or cereals
- pureed lentils or beans
I mostly added ground grains or cereals when I was thickening, but there were times when I had potatoes or beans handy and used them as well. Wheat germ often helps to thicken the oatmeal that I tend to get a little too runny in the mornings.
Please share your thoughts and ideas.
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Tags: baby, puree, tips
