Homemade Baby Food

[mema]

How do you do meats? I typically didn't offer chicken or beef until they were able to chew it. I would give cereal or cheese. I have a little guy that can't do cereal or cheese. He has had chicken and beef tho. Any suggestions?

[butterfly]

I have a mini food processor. I puree everything for a while. I put the meat in there and run it until it's kinda mushy - Yummy. I do this until they have enough teeth to eat it safely.

[Willow]

Chicken breasts cooked with no seasoning, simply diced/shredded tiny. If they are brand spanking new to it I may run it through a food processor for a couple spins.

Same goes for roast meat and ground beef/turkey.

[mema]

All I have in the house right now is ground beef. I put it in the processor for a bit with a little formula-looks nasty, but mom uses jar food so it's smooth. He has a gag reflex. Well, I'll have to give it a try. Can't get to the store until possibly tonight if not tomorrow night. He didn't eat much breakfast, so not sure that lunch will go any better.

[MsLaura529]

I had the hardest time getting myself to make and serve the homemade chicken baby food ... I never tried any other meat because the chicken was so nasty to me, haha. It would help if I pureed it up with some sweet potatoes or something. When DD got a little older I would use our food chopper to mince up the ground beef with noodles and such.

[spud912]

I used to make a whole bunch of baby purees for my oldest daughter. The meats were not always the favorites, especially the chicken! It creates a funky texture that 99% of babies will reject. Here is what worked best for me to incorporate protein until the baby is old enough to self-feed small diced up meat:

• Plain Greek yogurt...full fat mixed with pureed fruit
• Boiled eggs, remove the whites, mash the yolks with a fork and add it to the Greek yogurt mixture above. You can't even taste the egg!
• The one pureed meat my dd would eat was beef pot stew. I put some organic chopped beef in a slow cooker with veggies (potatoes, celery, onions, lots of carrots plus some water). I slow cooked it on low for 8 hours or so. Then you remove the meat and refrigerate it separately from the veggies. When you puree, blend up the meat with plain water separately. Once it turns it becomes smooth, you add the cooked veggies. It turns out very smooth and not too "meaty."

I did slow cook chicken with apples and curry one time for my dd. I used the same techniques as the pot roast but it had a grainy texture. You can try it though!

[mema]

Total epic fail. I ended up buying a couple jars of baby food chicken . I guess he needs his food completely smooth.

Spud, can you use yogurt for under 1? And I thought you could give egg yolk, but can't find it on the minute menu. Help! I'm going to get mom to try some beans. I can't afford $1 a jar for meat everyday.