Homemade Vegetable Baby Food
with
Rachel Edelman
Do you want the purest and most nutritious baby food possible? Make your own! Learn how to prepare, cook, and create baby food made of vegetables, as well as which vegetables are best for different ages.
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Transcript: Homemade Vegetable Baby Food
Hi, I'm Rachel Edelman, for About.com Food. Today I'm going to show you how to make home made baby food.Homemade Baby Food Ingredients
- 1 broccoli
- some green beans
- 1 sweet potato
When Can Babies Eat Vegetables?
I'll be talking about different vegetables to try and how to prepare them. Babies between 4 and 6 months old are ready to start integrating solid food into their diet. Be sure to check in with your pediatrician before making any of these changes.Prepare Vegetables for Baby Food
When preparing baby food, be sure to wash your hands and use clean equipment and tools.Broccoli, turnips, green beans, spinach, and carrots, are some of the most nutritious vegetables to start with.
Be sure to introduce new foods at the rate of once per week, so you can pinpoint any allergies.
Today I'm going to make a puree of broccoli, green beans and sweet potatoes. The potato will make this puree a little thicker and sweeter.
Always completely peel your vegetables. Next, chop up 1/2 sweet potato and cut slices. Chop the slices into small chunks.
Thoroughly wash the broccoli and green beans. Cut off the tips of the green beans on both sides. Then cut the beans into smaller pieces.
Separate the broccoli into smaller florets.
Cook the Baby Food Veggies
Boil enough water to cover the vegetables. Some vegetables will take longer to cook than others, so first boil the potatoes for 2 minutes.Then add the broccoli and green beans. Let the mixture cook together for another 3 minutes until tender.
You can use many different vegetable combinations and cook them in this way. You could also steam or microwave the vegetables.
Remove the vegetables from the pot and save some of the cooking water for later. Pour the vegetables into a blender, food processor or food mill. Puree or blend them until smooth.
Depending on the equipment and the type of vegetables that you are using, this may take some time. If you want to be especially careful not to have any skin or seeds, put the mashed vegetables through a sieve. This is most important for younger babies.
You can add the reserve cooking water to the food and mix it together to make the puree thinner. You can add rice cereal to make it thicker Once cool, serve the baby food and discard any leftovers.
Store the Homemade Vegetable Baby Food
Store the baby food in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can also freeze it in an ice cube tray, and once frozen store the cubes into a plastic bag and for up to 2 months.Thanks for watching. To learn more visit us on the Web at food.about.com.