Freezing Homemade Baby Food

With our twin boys getting ready to start solid food, I have beenreading about making and freezing my own baby food. It is veryeasy!

You can make up large quantities of baby meals and freeze themfor later use.

Green beans are in season and were on sale at the grocery store,so I bought several pounds to prepare and freeze. I steamed themin an electric steamer for about 20 minutes and then blended themin the blender with some water until they were pureed. I thenpoured the puree into ice cube trays. After the cubes werefrozen I transferred them to a reclosable freezer bag and labeledthe bag with the name of the vegetable and the date. These cubescan be stored in the freezer for 1-2 months.

One cube is approximately 1 ounce of food and can be thawed outin the refrigerator or microwaved for a quick meal. You can alsomix cubes together (e.g. one meat, one vegetable) for acombination meal. The cubes also travel well, just place afrozen cube in a sealed container until ready to eat...it will beall thawed out and ready to go.

Many types of foods can be prepared ahead of time and frozen. Try freezing cereals, pureed meats, vegetables, and fruits. Fruits (except bananas) need to be cooked before they are pureedand served to baby. Cubes of the same type (vegetables, fruits,meats) can be stored in the freezer together.

The possibilities are endless. When you have leftovers from afamily meal, puree it and freeze it for baby. I also pureed someleftover chicken I had on hand for a later meal. Just make surethat baby's portion hasn't had any seasoning of any kind added toit.

There are many resources that can help you get started. Here isa link to suggested meal plans for babies of different ages. Italso includes information about storing and preparing food:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babymenu.htm

Here are many easy recipes for making your own baby food,including teething biscuits:

http://www.recipegoldmine.com/baby/baby.html

Making and freezing your own baby food is very easy and I lookforward to exploring all the possibilities. It is healthier foryour baby and a lot easier on your grocery budget.

It's a good thing the green beans will keep in the freezer forawhile, because when I gave a bite of them to my 4-month-oldsthey looked at me like I had just fed them the most disgustingthing they'd ever tasted. Guess we'll have to try something elsefirst!

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author ofWhat's for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quickeasy dinner ideas. For more recipes, organizing tips, homedecorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit CreativeHomemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com

Community Digest Maryland Gazette Also, it is looking for donated items for babies. Toddler beds with mattresses, high chairs, car seats, cribs, and Pack and Plays. ...