If you’re a parent of a baby or toddler, one of the biggest challenges is to get your child to eat healthy foods that they might not choose to eat on their own. There are also many benefits from making homemade solid food for children as opposed to buying processed organic jar baby foods from the store. Read on about warm and comforting baby food recipes by AloeMaa
I’ve been all about making homemade organic baby food ever since my first daughter was born 2 years ago and it’s incredibly easy and inexpensive compared to importing jarred organic baby food from a premium brand like Earth’s Best or Sprout brands which can cost anywhere from $0.60-$1 per ounce! For example, if you have a 4-month old baby and you feed them 7 ounces of organic baby food per day, the cost would be anywhere from $13-$25/week just for jarred organic oat cereal!
This is on top of buying high-quality foods such as 100% whole grains, fruits, vegetables and meats that are already more expensive than processed fast foods.
I’ve made many different types of homemade baby foods but one that has yielded the most success with my 3 girls is making rice cereal or porridge in my home. It’s simple to make, wholesome, delicious and provides a great foundation to any meal.
Plus it takes less than 30 minutes total to make enough food to last several days. I’ll even go further by saying you can make this recipe (or something similar) for yourself. Once you start eating it you won’t be able to tell the difference between this and expensive organic jarred cereal!
The cost savings is what motivated me to make my own, but there are many other benefits to making homemade rice cereal. First of all, it allows you total control over ingredients (there are no preservatives or additives). It’s also very easy to digest because of its smooth consistency compared to coarse cereals. And finally, giving your child rice cereal will foster a love for cooking that will allow them to eat less processed foods as adults.
I’ll explain how simple it is in detail below but here are the main steps:
1. Rinse rice under water until clear (optional) –
this process removes arsenic and other impurities but I read that most of the arsenic is in the outer coating so unless it is necessary I choose not to go through this process). 2. Bring water and rice to a boil 3. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes 4. Drain remaining water 5. Add breastmilk as desired (you can also add fruit or other ingredients after step five)
The whole process takes less than 20 minutes from start to finish! The cooked cereal will keep for approximately one week in the refrigerator and freezes well too if you’re preparing multiple servings at once.
I hope this recipe helps your baby’s introduction to solid foods be as smooth and nourishing as possible! My daughter loved it and her gas and fussiness were much better than it had been with store-bought baby cereal.
2. For your convenience, I have included the recipe below:
Rice Cereal for Breastfed Babies 2 Tablespoons whole or brown rice 1 cup water Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add rice, stir, reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Drain remaining liquid from rice (optional) Add breastmilk as desired to rice cereal If preparing multiple servings, cook 1/2 cup of brown rice to yield approximately one serving. To reheat single serving— microwave on high for 30 seconds or bring a small pot of water to a boil and place bowl of cereal into boiling water for about a minute before feeding.
3. Nutrition guidelines for homemade cereal:
Whole or brown rice is a very nutritious food for babies. In addition to carbohydrates, it contains protein and small amounts of fiber, fat, and other nutrients. This recipe can be used as a healthy first ingredient to make baby cereals from vegetables, fruits, and grains! If you prefer, you may cook the cereal in milk instead of water. Please note that milk-based infant food should not be fed before 8 months of age unless directed by a doctor. Brown rice can also be used to replace wheat flour in foods prepared for older toddlers who have been exposed to wheat. It can be ground into flour using a coffee grinder or blender until powdery smooth…
If your baby is currently eating commercial baby food, you can gradually mix in homemade baby food, one for one. At mealtimes, offer a little of the new food along with slightly less of the commercial baby food. Gradually increase the percentage of the new food while decreasing the percentage of commercial food over several days…
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