March 17: Contentment / Making Your Own Homemade Baby Food

CONTENTMENT SCRIPTURES

Psa. 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD,

Trust also in Him, and He will do it. 

Is. 46:3-4 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,

And all the remnant of the house of Israel,

You who have been borne by Me from birth

And have been carried from the womb; 

Even to your old age I will be the same,

And even to your graying years I will bear you!

I have done it, and I will carry you;

And I will bear you and I will deliver you. 

Psa. 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;

I will counsel you with My eye upon you. 

CONTENTMENT IN CHANGE

You can believe that a change will  harm you and resist it.  Or you can believe that finding New Cheese will help you and embrace the change.  (Spencer Johnson, Who Moved My Cheese?)


When we allow God to work out His plan for our lives, joy and thanksgiving will be present in our hearts. (Henry Brandt)

[excerpted from Contentment: A Matter of the Heart 
by Karen Horsey / Karen's Kreations]

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This morning I gave a demonstration talk at a Titus 2 Moms group from our church on how to prepare  homemade baby food, so here that same talk in a nutshell.  Before we begin, here is an excellent website [WholesomeBabyFoods.com] with some how-tos and great tips for the various stages of food for your baby.

The  basic equipment you'll  need or that is very helpful:

• a food processor and/or blender (I have a small processor and a VitaMix)
• small pot or a  small skillet, a sectional one is ideal  (to reheat on the stove)
• several ice cube trays
• small containers for food storage, clean baby food jars are handy
• sectional baby plate

First, prepare the foods as you would normally do.  I washed and peeled, processed and froze apples and bananas at home since I had a limited time to give the demo.  I prepared baby vegetables for Stage 1, so I just boiled basic vegetables together--summer squash, zucchini squash, carrots and potatoes-- for about 40 minutes.  

          Save some of the liquid from cooking.  Let them cool, then break or cut in medium-sized pieces.  The potatoes and carrots were peeled; the others were not.  Place in the food processor and pulse until they reach the desired consistency.    If you need to thin the vegetables, use some of the  cooking liquid you have saved.   For a 6-8 month old child I would not add any seasoning.   Fruits are even easier.  For young babies, peel the fruits (VitaMix owners do not need to do this) and blend adding a small amount of water to make the consistency you need.  Most fruits do not even need to be cooked if you have a good food processor.  Fruits can be added to cereal which you can also make yourself--rice can be processed into a smooth consistency, cooked oatmeal can be processed as well.  

Baby size portions are quite small.  The classic way to preserve these homemade foods is in ice cube trays.  Once frozen, you can sort them by trays or pop them into ziplock bags by type for use another day. [One of the moms said that clean, washed baby food jars can be frozen and thawed without breaking.  I would probably let them thaw in the refrigerator to be safe.]  One or two thawed cubes of each food makes a full meal for a baby.   Many moms do not want to thaw using the microwave.  I did with my children with no adverse effects that I can tell, but this may not be your preference.  You can thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then warm up by either setting the dish over a steamer, placing in a bowl of hot water, or using a skillet (a sectioned one is ideal for this).  Frozen fruits can just be placed in the diaper bag and taken with you on an afternoon outing and will probably have thawed by the time your child is ready for a snack.  I know I enjoy my fruits cool.

Today, in about 20 minutes (foods had already been cooked) I prepared 8 ice cube trays full of a variety of homemade foods--bananas & apples, potatoes, green zucchini squash, yellow summer squash and carrots--all fresh with no salt, sugar or additives.  The moms this morning said that baby jar food costs about $ 1.00 apiece these days.  Each tray holds about 7  jars (7 servings) worth  of food (but fresher), so $7.00 per tray.  The eight trays = $56.00 of baby food!  That's quite a savings.  

After 8-months to one year of age, season the baby food as you would for your family in general, watching the child for any allergic reaction.  For my own preference, I would not let a babysitter introduce a new food to a child, but rather give it to the child myself so I could watch for allergies. Thankfully, my own children did not have any.  Once children have been introduced to foods separately, then you can start combining foods to your taste and adding meats and dairy to their menu.   Utimately you will be processing whatever you serve for dinner into a consistency your baby can eat.  After about 18 months the children should be able to eat directly from the table. 

My first child was fed baby food from jars and consequently, was a very picky eater until about age 8.  Have you ever tasted baby food from jars?  Ick.  My second child was fed homemade baby food and from the beginning, has always wanted to taste and eat just about everything.  And by the way, neither has any weight issues. 

Try this new "mom" skill with your child and teach a friend to do the same.  It's really so easy, saves money and is more nutritious than what is on the market at this time.

Prov. 31:27 She looks well to the ways of her household, 

and does not eat the bread of idleness.