How to Make Your Own Gourmet Baby Food

You read that right, Make Your Own Gourmet Baby Food.

It tastes better, it doesn’t have any dyes, preservatives, or other junk you don’t want, and for me, it is a perfect way to keep my child with Down Syndrome from struggling with constipation that he is prone to as a result of his low muscle tone. I want to show you what works for us and how to make your own gourmet baby food too.

First things first, it isn’t hard like you think. I have 6 children and I was so afraid of how hard it was to make my own baby food that it wasn’t until my 3rd that I started to venture into this arena. I discovered that it is also a huge cost savings for us so that was an added benefit to making your own gourmet baby food.

My favorite product that makes all if this so much simpler is the baby bullet. This little product is worth its weight in gold to me and in the course of making all of the food for my last 4 children, I have not found another product that I like better (not even my Ninja blender works as good).

I am going to start easy with you because I know myself that I was easily overwhelmed in the beginning.

Let’s begin simply, sweet potatoes and apples.

Grab 2 sweet potatoes and 1 apple at the grocery and then while you are cooking dinner toss them in the oven on a baking dish at 350 for 60-90 minutes (don’t forget to pierce them a few times with a fork to keep them from splitting). Once they are tender, simply pull them out of the oven, cool, cut in half lengthwise and scoop the potato guts into your baby bullet. For the apple, it will all but collapse in your hands so simple slide the guts out of the peel and scoop the seeds and stem out with a spoon. Add 1/2 cup of water (or apple juice) and a dash of cinnamon and you will produce enough to fill 6-8 small containers that you can now store in your freezer. That’s it!

Okay now for all of the gourmet stuff…

Think about flavor combinations you have seen at the store, or ones you enjoy yourself. Fruits and veggies pair well together and help you get plenty of vitamins and minerals in your little one as well as offering them so many flavor combinations.

Quinoa/apples/broccoli

1/2 cup cooked quinoa or brown rice

2-3 cooked apples (peeled and cored)

1 crown of broccoli (steamed) -*I throw the apple slices and broccoli in a saucepot together and steam.

Add all ingredients together and then puree. Put in individual serving size cups or ice cube trays and freeze.

Butternut squash/peas/corn

1 whole small butternut squash baked (just take the whole thing and put in a casserole dish, pierce it 4-5 times with a knife and bake whole until a knife slides into the thickest part like butter, then cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds before scooping out the “meat” of the squash to puree)

1/4 cup cooked peas

1/2 cup cooked corn

Add all ingredients together and then puree. Put in individual serving size cups or ice cube trays and freeze.

bananas/blueberries/oats

pureed quick cook oats (not cooked)

3 whole ripe bananas cooked in a saucepan with a small amount of water until tender

1/4 cup frozen blueberries cooked with the bananas

Add all ingredients together and then puree. Put in individual serving size cups or ice cube trays and freeze.

carrots/apples/peas

3 whole carrots cut and cooked

4 apples (peeled, cored, chopped)

1/4 cup frozen peas

*cook the carrots, apples and peas all together in a covered saucepan with 1/2 cup water over medium heat until all are fork tender then puree. Put in individual serving size cups or ice cube trays and freeze.

mixed berries and bananas

4 large ripe bananas

1/2 cup frozen mixed berries

*all all ingredients and 1/4 cup water to a covered saucepan over medium heat until fork tender then puree

sweet potatoes/corn/apples

2 sweet potatoes (pierce and bake for approx 1 hour or until tender)

1/4 cup frozen sweet corn, cooked

2 sliced/peeled/cored apples (cook with the frozen corn)

Add all ingredients together and then puree. Put in individual serving size cups or ice cube trays and freeze.

The sky is the limit when it comes to your imagination of flavor combinations. The only trick is to either bake or steam your foods so that they are soft and squishy (and any bacteria are killed off) then add as much water as you need to your puree to make it smooth. This is something I like to control as my baby gets older, I found with my child who has Down Syndrome we moved slowly from very liquid-like purees to thicker ones and then finally to chunkier blends. I love that I can control all of this with just the length of time that I puree.

I also make my own prune mixes for helping to battle constipation. I buy a canister of dried prunes and put about 1/2 of the canister into a saucepan with 3/4 cup water then cook over medium heat until the prunes are super soft and easy to mash with a fork. I then blend in the baby bullet and sometimes I add cooked apples or peaches to the mix for added flavor.