solids....

[Melanie Marie Musumeche]

Hello- I'm a new mom of a 6 month old little girl, Kelsie. I didn't get
any replys the last time i posted something about crawling- but I'll try
again- this time, the question is about preparing your own baby food. I
have tried to puree green beans, peas, carrots (cooked) in our blender,
and it didn't seem to be a smooth as the jarred baby food. Kelsie gagged
on most of it. Does anyone have any suggestions? or do i just have a bumm
blender? should I cook it longer(I've heard this takes out all the
vitamins)...

Thanks,
Melanie

[Dawn Murphy]

I never made my own baby food but I've heard of ways to do it. Try
straining it after you puree them. That way any chunks or even little bitty
pieces that would gag her, will be strained out. I think on the Gerber
bottles it mentions that their food is strained. Good luck. My kids gagged
on theirs too and it wasn't home made!! If you ever taste it yourself,
you'll know why!!

--
Dawn (Taylor & Mackenzie's mom)
Melanie Marie Musumeche wrote in message ...

[gre...@concentric.net]

In <Pine.A41.3.95.980416...@tiger4.ocs.lsu.edu>, Melanie Marie Musumeche <mmu...@tiger4.ocs.lsu.edu> writes:
>Hello- I'm a new mom of a 6 month old little girl, Kelsie. I didn't get
>any replys the last time i posted something about crawling- but I'll try
>again- this time, the question is about preparing your own baby food. I
>have tried to puree green beans, peas, carrots (cooked) in our blender,
>and it didn't seem to be a smooth as the jarred baby food. Kelsie gagged
>on most of it. Does anyone have any suggestions? or do i just have a bumm
>blender? should I cook it longer(I've heard this takes out all the
>vitamins)...
>
>Thanks,
>Melanie
>

Babies have a natural gag reflx that they have to overcome
before they can eat lots of solid food. We started with the
baby cereals. Just mix up extra wet with milk. Don't expect
your baby to eat more that a few spoonfulls. If, after
a few days she doesn't seem to be getting over the gag
reflex, then she may just not be ready for solid food. So
give it a rest and try again in a few weeks. She will
get the hang of it in time.

Just my $0.02 worth.
Hope this helps,
Gordon

PS:
To reply: delete 'nospam' from the e-mail address.

[janelaw]

Keep trying. I had the best luck with making my own baby food.
It was cheap and easy and my baby loved it. I didn't have to
carry all those bottles. It was great.

For some reason orange food worked best:
1) Wash and prick some yams. Bake them in a pyrex dish until
they are very soft. Take them out and peel them. Mash them in
the juices that leaked out into the pan. You can add pineapple
unsweetened in its own juice, too. Puree.

2) Halve butternut squash and remove seeds. Bake until very
soft, maybe an hour. Add some apple juice. Puree.

3) Wash young carrots (not the gnarly 3 inch thick ones). Cut
them into 1 inch chunks. Boil until tender. Puree with some
orange or lemon juice.

4) Wash and core apples in a pyrex dish until very soft. When
they are cool enough to touch, remove the skin. Mash them in
the juices in the pan. Puree.

5) Wait until the day after you would eat bananas. Puree.

I found that a food processor worked better than a blender.
Adding a little juice thins the mixture and makes it easier to
process. I just pureed the hell out of it, but you could use a
sieve. I never added salt or sugar, but I did add juice. As my
baby got older, she liked a little fresh dill or tarragon.

Also, I made batches of food once a week and froze portions in
little plastic containers. I cooked it all at the same time.
It took about an hour and a half. On my way to work, I took out
"dinner" and left it on the counter. It was the perfect
temperature when I got home.

P.S. I never had any luck with pureed green vegetables, so I
introduced them when my daughter was old enough to eat them
steamed. She likes them fine now.

[Chase510]

>
>Melanie Marie Musumeche wrote:
>>
>> Hello- I'm a new mom of a 6 month old little girl, Kelsie. I didn't get
>> any replys the last time i posted something about crawling- but I'll try
>> again- this time, the question is about preparing your own baby food. I
>> have tried to puree green beans, peas, carrots (cooked) in our blender,
>> and it didn't seem to be a smooth as the jarred baby food. Kelsie gagged
>> on most of it. Does anyone have any suggestions? or do i just have a bumm
>> blender? should I cook it longer(I've heard this takes out all the
>> vitamins)...
>>

Melanie -
I made all of my son's food until he was 9 mo old, and saved lots of money! I
talked to my pediatrician, and he said it was fine to cook vegs until they are
very soft, and even to use canned or frozen fruits and vegs to save time.
Nutritionally, they are very similar to fresh foods.
I had the best luck with sweet potatoes, carrots, peaches, and pears. I was
able to use squash, zucchini, peas, green beans, and broccoli. I made big
batches every two weeks and poured then into ice cube trays. After they're
frozen, dump the cubes into freezer bags and then you can thaw then out
according to how many cubes your daughter usually eats (most cubes are about 1
ounce).
It might be your blender - I had trouble with mine at first. Try adding more
fluid, blending the food in smaller batches, and turning the blender up to a
higher setting.

Good Luck,

Darcie