Hey, Baby! Let’s Eat!

Making your own baby food sounds like a big undertaking, but if you have a blender, you can easily make your own baby food.

When my daughter was at the age to start eating food outside of breastmilk and formula, I knew that I wanted to make her food. And not just because I’m a chef. I had a few problems with the baby foods on the grocery store shelves:

1. They’re mostly single ingredient foods.
   You’ll see pears, apples, squash, and peas, but no complete meals. No balance of protein, nutrients, carbohydrates, and fats. Baby food is a companion to milk or formula and babies are still getting the bulk of their nutrition from formula or breastmilk, but that wasn’t what I wanted to do for my daughter.

2. They contain meat and dairy.
   We don’t eat meat or dairy. While we do consume eggs and honey and are definitely not vegan, meat and dairy are off the menu in my home. I wanted plant-based, whole food nutrition for my baby. Even if you do consume these things, ground up turkey and yogurt just doesn’t sound appetizing.

3. Food recalls are everywhere.
   Even the organic and natural foods are at risk of food recalls. When my daughter was at this age, I remember a massive recall from the most popular organic brand and it’s definitely scary to think about feeding your precious child contaminated food.

4. I wanted a mix of raw and cooked food.
   Raw foods contain the best nutrition, except in some cases. For example, spinach and mushrooms actually benefit from a light cook on them because it increases the body’s ability to absorb their nutrients. Other vegetables like zucchini squash and carrots are better raw. Food on the shelves has to be blanched and pasteurized to meet food safety requirements, so you can’t find raw foods for baby on the grocery store shelves.

5. I chose not to do baby led weaning.
   Feeding your child and all of the parenting decisions we make are incredibly personal and I respect whatever people choose to do. Baby led weaning? Rock on! Formula? Yes, please! Breastmilk? Go girl! But, for me, baby led weaning wasn’t right for us for many reasons. Mostly, it just didn’t provide the volume or variety of food necessary for complete nutrition.

Making my own baby food was the right choice for us and, for parents who want to do the same, it’s a lot easier than it may seem. It’s also less costly. I would make large batches and just pop them in the freezer. I would make a few different flavors/meals and just thaw them in the fridge overnight for the next day. I only had to actually make the food once every couple of weeks.

I used these containers, but there are a ton of options on Amazon if you just search for “baby food containters.”

---

Recipes

---

The options are infinite, but I’ve listed a few to get you started. If you have special dietary needs or restrictions or if you do want to incorporate animal products, just reach out to me and I can give you some recipes and ideas to help you along the way.

Cashew Apple Cream

This one was a favorite and I actually ended up using this recipe for private chef jobs as a sauce for a breakfast quinoa meal I made. I’ve used this as a sauce many times and both babies and adults love it!

Ingredients:

Raw Cashews, soaked for 4-6 hours (about 1 cup)
Apples (1-2)
Cinnamon (to taste)
Nutmeg (to taste)
Agave (to taste)
Hemp Seeds (1/4 cup)
Raw Summer Squash/yellow squash (about half of one)

Method:

The amount of cashews you soak really controls how much this recipe yields, so I’d start with 1 cup. You can always make more!

Start with the soaked cashews and raw apple (peel on!) and raw squash. Blend those in the blender and add cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. Then add hemp seeds, remembering that these guys pack a powerful punch of fat, protein, and nutrients, so you’ll only need about 4 tablespoons or 1/4 cup. Finally, add some agave nectar a little bit at a time, tasting it to get to your desired level of sweetness. I stop when the flavors are balanced and tasty and before I would describe it as “sweet.”

Nutrition:

This contains ample protein—hemp hearts alone contain 10g of protein per 2 tablespoons and cashews contain 20g of protein per cup.

Also, rich in healthy fats, hemp hearts contain 16 grams of fat per 2 tablespoons and cashews have around 50 grams of fat per cup.

But the best news is the overwhelming amount of nutrients in this recipe. Each serving is high in:

Manganese
Antioxidants
Magnesium
Phosphorous
Niacin
Iron
Thiamin
Potassium
Folate
Fiber
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Vitamin B6

Go Go Greens!

I was actually shocked by how much my little one loved this recipe. When I made it, I wasn’t sure, but she gobbled it up!

Ingredients:

Spinach, lightly steamed (one small bag or container)
Chef Blend or Baby Bella Mushrooms, washed well and lightly steamed (one container)
Navy Beans (about 1/2-3/4 of one can, drained and rinsed)
Peas (about 1/2 of one can, drained)
Yellow Onion, raw (about 1/2 yellow onion)
Nutritional Yeast (to taste)
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Fresh Garlic (to taste)

Method:

Blend up the steamed spinach and mushrooms, onion, and beans. You always want to get your food in first and then season, because the volume dictates how much seasoning you’ll use. So get the food prepared before adding salt & pepper, garlic, and nutritional yeast to taste.

Nutrition:

This is another nutritional powerhouse. High in:
Protein (from beans, peas, spinach, and nutritional yeast)
Iron
Potassium
Vitamin B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, and B12
Vitamin C
Potassium
Selenium
Phosphorous
Choline
Antioxidants

---

I hope you enjoy making food for your little one as much as I did! Your freezer will be stocked in no time at all and it’s a lot less work than you might think. If you want more recipe ideas, guidance, or if you have any questions at all, just reach out! I’m here to help!