Baby Food DIY

Faith has been developing very fast recently. Spending everyday with her makes us forget the world sometimes.

Friends have been asking how I make the vegetable and fruit cubes. K, this is how I do it.

Spinach

1. Cut and wash.
2. Steam for 3-5 min.
3. Puree in food processor till smooth. Add boiled water, a little at a time as you deem fit according to the required consistency while blending.
4. Stand to cool. Freeze in ice cube trays.
   

* Do not add water retained from steaming spinach to puree to limit the level of nitrate. Check out http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/nitratearticle.htm regarding Nitrate and Blue Baby Syndrome.

Prunes

1. Wash. Cut into halves to remove pit.
2. Cut prunes into cubes (I retain skin for more fibre cuz Faith always have constipation due to being a breastfed baby).
   
3. Steam for 3-5 min. Check if fruit is done by testing with a fork. It should poke through easily when done. (The idea is to have the fruit or vegetable soft and smooth enough to be swallowed by the babies easily.)
   
4. Blend in food processor till smooth. Add prune juice retained from steaming or boiled water, a little at a time as you deem fit according to the required consistency while blending.
5. Stand to cool. Freeze in ice cube trays.

* Each vegetable or fruit cube is equivalent to approximately 1 oz. Faith usually has one vegetable cube with brown rice cereal and one fruit cube for dessert or combined with vegetable and brown rice cereal at each meal.

* Do not use too much water for steaming, otherwise nutrients get diluted in the process of evaporating and condensing with the water used to steam. Steam with just enough water that you won't burn a hole in your wok/steamer/pan.

* Mine is a Kenwood mini chopper/mincer, not a blender. My mom complaint that she couldn't get the consistency as smooth as what I've got using a blender and my nephew could still get choked or would spit out fibre from the spinach. If you're using a blender, you might like to sieve after blending to get rid of potential choking hazards.

* I usually move the vegetable and fruit cubes into Ziplocs when they're well-frozen and have them labelled, so I can re-use the trays to prepare other vegetable and fruit.

* I always choose the freshest produce (don't mind paying more at Cold Storage or Market Place) since we want to give Faith the best in nutrition and considering the fact that we're freezing to keep, then keep the best!

I ain't expert. Just sharing what I do for my darling girl.

Happy cooking!