7 baby food recipes to change your life

One of the greatest concerns of a new mom or a to-be mom is what to feed their baby once their baby is old enough to ingest food that is not breast milk. Along with this concern arises the concern of the cost of baby food and the different ingredients in different baby foods and whether or not it has too many chemicals/harmful substances. To help you out with this matter, here are some recipes for homemade baby food that’s not too difficult to make, and relatively nutritious. It also helps with peace of mind since you know what is going into it and what’s not.

The first thing to note is what to avoid feeding your baby. Below is a list of certain food items which tend to contain common allergens/allergy causing substances:

1. Eggs

2. Fish

3. Shellfish

4. Soy

5. Wheat

6. Tree nuts

Organic products would be the best to use in your baby food, such as most fruits, and certain vegetables such as potato, sweet potato, cucumber, etc.

Here are some of the best homemade baby food recipes made by Indian moms. For 4 – 6 months old babies:

1. Milk Oats Porridge:

To make this, you will need ¼ cup of preferably gluten free organic oats, ¾ cup of water, sweetener (not sugar), and formula milk. For children between 4-6 months, the oats must be ground thoroughly and then mixed with water. Then cook slowly over a medium flame. Once cooked completely, add milk to the oats.

2. Pea purée:

This will require 3 cups of peas, preferably organic, and 2 tablespoons of water. Frozen peas must first be steamed for 2 minutes and then blended with the water until it becomes a creamy and smooth mixture.

3. Mashed banana:

This is probably the easiest to make. All you need to do is wash a couple of bananas, peel them, slice them up, and then mash them well, either by hand or in a blender. A blender is preferably as babies between the ages of 4-6 require food with a thin consistency.

4. Carrot purée:

In order to make this, you will need to wash and peel the carrots. Then cook them by boiling/simmering for about half an hour. Once they are tender and properly cooked, put them in a blender in order to attain the right consistency. Remember, it must be very thing for any baby below 6 months.

5. Avocado mash:

Similar to mashed bananas, all you need to do it wash the avocado, remove the seed, take out the avocado from the peel, and purée it in a blender. For older babies of about 10-12 months, the avocado can be mashed by hand and left slightly chunkier, but for babies between 4-6 months, it should be smooth and well blended.

6. Sweet potato:

Sweet potato mash/purée is tasty as well as healthy and nutritious for your baby. The first step in making this is to remove the dirt from the sweet potato, wash it, and peel it. Second, cook the sweet potato by boiling until they are very soft and squishy, and then drain out the water. The third step is to mash it using a blender so that it’s smooth and not thick.

7. Apple purée:

This is quick to make and delicious to eat (for both your baby, and you). First, slice the apples into 4 parts and remove the core. Then place the slices in a steamer basket and set it in a pot of boiling water and cover. Let it cook until it’s tender this will take approximately 10-15 minutes. Once it is cooked, let it cool, then remove the flesh from the peel and blend it until smooth. This can be stored by freezing or refrigeration.

For babies aged 1 year and above, you can make various other types of food such as baby-friendly stew, sweet corn soup, vegetable barley soup, etc. Remember to blend everything well. However, while feeding older babies of around 1 year, certain baby foods such as mashed avocado or banana or Apple purée needn’t be completely puréed. A small amount of lumps is permissible as your baby can mash them down with his/her gums.