Friday, June 8, 2007

Homemade baby food

I had always wanted to make my own baby food with my first son but just never did. Homemade baby food is more natural and much more economical. Not to mention I can ensure that only healthy, whole foods are used as ingredients. So, guess what I have been doing this week, making a homemade brown rice cereal for my 6 month old son! I have been surprised at how easy it has been and not very time consuming....which were some of the things that kept me from doing it with my first son.

What to do:
1) First measure a cup of water on the stove to boil
2) While the water is heating to a boil, measure 1/4 cup of brown rice into a blender. Grind it very well, for about 2 minutes. The blender will make a lot of noise and may get hot but rest assured your blender is meant to work like this.
The fine grinding is necessary for your beginning eater. (My first attempt left my little guy choking a bit because I did not grind enough)
3) When the cup of water starts to boil on the stove, turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Sprinkle the ground rice into the water and stir with a wire whisk. Cover and keep over low heat for about 10 min. You may need to stir frequently to prevent scorching on the bottom or to remove lumps.

The thickness is easy to adjust by either adding breast milk, formula or water. If it's to thin add wheat germ, ground oatmeal or commercially powdered baby cereal. The wonderful thing about this basic homemade cereal is the base could be changed (barley or oatmeal) or the older your little one gets the more things you can add to it. Such as lentils, split peas, tofu, cheese, egg yolk, fresh fruits and the list goes on. I am going to have a lot of fun with this....and will even attempt make this to replace the oatmeal my older son usually eats for breakfast.

3 comments:

Melody C. Bondurant said...

It's amazing how when we finally get around to doing something its not nearly the inconvenience we thought it would be : )
I did this with Justus and used a small coffee grinder to grind the rice. It grinds it really fine and isn't quite as noisy or take as long.

Tana said...

I was thinking of using a coffee grinder...good to know someone else has tried it.

Sadie said...

I love homemade baby food. You can make large batches and freeze what you don't use in 3 days. The best book for easy, nutritious recipes for your baby and toddler is... Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. This book has great money-saving and time-saving child care and kitchen tips, as well. I Highly Recommend this book! If you don't currently have this book, you must buy it immediatly!
~ Sadie :)

Eating nutritionally and living naturally on a budget is my vision for my family