Making Delicious Baby Food at Home – Guest Post by Ana, Author of Simple Baby Food

Making your own baby food at home is one of the best things you can do for your baby’s health and development. You control exactly what you put into the food and ensure baby is getting pure, clean food without any junk like preservatives. The bonus part of making your own baby food is that it saves you money and takes less time than a trip to the grocery store. In other words, you’ve made an excellent decision to become the personal chef to the most important little person in the world.

Your little munchkin is close to half a year now, which is huge news in baby world and surely in your world, too. This also means she’s going to start needing more nutrients and is also going to be curious about what you’ve got over there on your plate.

This is when all the fun of food in hair, food on face, food on you, and food on the cat and dog begins! It’s seriously great watching your baby try out flavors that are literally brand new. Imagine eating something that tastes and feels like nothing you’ve ever had – that’s what baby is doing. This is when you get a chance to see baby’s pucker face, puzzled face, delighted face, and wrinkle face. Which mean photo ops all over the place!

It can be confusing to know when and how you should start giving your baby solid food, and how.

Although most pediatricians recommend you start solid food at six months, there are exceptions, and some babies can be ready as early as four months. Although I’ve started my book’s recipes off at six months, you can start using those recipes whenever your baby is ready (but not earlier than four months).

Here are three golden rules when feeding a baby. Following them will help make your life (and your baby’s life) a lot easier:

1. Always trust your baby’s appetite! Never force her with food. A healthy baby will always eat when hungry.
2. Never punish a baby with food or because of food.
3. Stay calm when feeding. A baby will enjoy food only in a calm surrounding.

How do you know when your baby has eaten enough? Forming a proper meal is a daily TOP priority for a mom. The right meal plan must offer enough food. I could go into more details about calorie requirements, but it will make your life much easier to just use common sense and let you baby decide how much food is enough. If your baby’s growth is progressing normally, she has eaten enough.

Finally, here is a delicious recipe your baby will love! 

Harvest Apple Oatmeal

Serving Size: 1
Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oats
1/2 apple, peeled, cored
3/4 cup water

Grind your oats into a powder. Bring your water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Finely chop your apple as water comes to a boil. Add oat flour to water and whisk continuously for seven minutes. Add chopped apple and mix for another five minutes, until the oatmeal is nicely cooked. Let it cool until it is a warm temperature. Enjoy!

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Ana is a 34-year-old food lover and baby food master chef. Her mission is to share the best and easiest baby food recipes with other moms and dads. She’s the author of Simple baby food: Quick and natural recipes your baby will love, where you can learn from her experience as a mom and prepare delicious food your baby will love. You can find her on Twitter!