Cooking Tips on preparing food and meals for babies and infants

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Some easy and favorite children's dishes are:

Carrots and peas. Simply cook and puree in the blender. If using carrots suggest adding some butter, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt per blender load. Don't forget you are probably using "industrial" carrots in the 5 or 10 lb bag; not very sweet or tasty to begin with; add some butter and brown sugar after cooking to make it taste better.

Meat and Potatoes in the blender

1/3 any leftover meat chopped fine (ham, beef, pork, chicken)
1/3 mashed potatoes (to make it quickly prepare in microwave, no peel)
1/3 leftover or thawed vegetables - Blend; adding water OR a light chicken or beef stock until smooth.

Children like to eat what YOU are eating; try taking a small portion of your dinner and putting it in the blender so the child can watch while its prepared.

They see that they are eating the same food and will be comforted by this fact and may eat more.

Pasta with sauce

Meat is optional but suggested since it is a source of protein.
Pasta dishes are easy to prepare and will puree, but children soon prefer small pieces; suggest small grain pasta or at about age 3 alphabets for a bit of fun.
Tomato can be very acidic and not all children can tolerate it when young. Ketchup is a different story since it is very sweet and children use it to cool the food before eating.
Don't get fancy; many children are happy with just noodles and butter. If this is your situation try and serve a portion of fruit or vegetables and perhaps some cheese or meat to create a more balanced meal; otherwise it's just empty carbohydrates.

Fruit Oatmeal An easy dish to quickly prepare with a microwave or kettle.
Be patient and wait for the oatmeal to cool before serving baby.

Uncle Buck always prefers fresh to canned fruit; but a winner is always canned fruit mixed with oatmeal and cooled with some milk.

Apples, bananas, a can of pears, peaches, raisins, coconut; whatever you have handy.. Note: Most children do not like cinnamon but do like it sweeter than you would serve it yourself. Don't be shy and add a dash of salt to remove the pasty flavor.

1/2 fruit, 1/2 cooked oatmeal; serve immediately or puree, adding milk before serving.

Oatmeal Very hearty. Very gruel-like.

Great if you don't have teeth I guess...

Corn-on-the-cob is great for kids who are teething.
Kernel corn does not puree well; the husks (or hard outside membrane) of the corn left an unpleasant, hard white residue.
Kids love the corn, suggest using the creamed variety; inexpensive and easier to digest for infants than kernels.

When was the last time you had marshmallows, Jell-O or Cheerios? Infants love them and they are inexpensive. Note: Jell-O and all the foods you remember as a kid will come to haunt you. Some, live liver and onions; we decided to leave behind. Others, like cans of apple juice we use and remember well..

For proper service Uncle Buck suggests bowls that have 3 separate trays; the simpler and easier to clean, the better. Candy dishes are a good choice since they are normally divided into 3 or 4 sections and can be purchased for a few cents each as opposed to a branded; specially designed bowl that cost's $10.00 or more.

Want to understand cooking for infants?

Imagine you have no teeth, it's cold, and you are hungry when your eyes are open.

Uncle Buck thinks children are like any other "customer" in your restaurant; they have their own likes and desires. With babies you are trying to provide the maximum amount of nutrition in the easiest to swallow format; so this is simply a concentrated version of what you or I may be eating. They are partial to green, creamy, gruel-like mixtures that look pretty disgusting but they find Mmmm... good.

Commercially prepared bottled infant food is expensive. When you get right down to it; baby food is simply highly prepared food with exacting standards of cleanliness in production. If you take a look at the options on your supermarket isle you quickly realize that this is not rocket science. Peas and Carrots. Carrots. Applesauce. Spaghetti. Exciting stuff.

A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.... As the song suggests adding a tablespoon of butter and some brown sugar to almost any dinner will make the child eat it much faster. Sad but true. It may contain sugar; but remember - they are eating - and that dish; if made at home; would probably contain 1/2 of the amount of sugar/salt used in commercial preparation. There's a reason kids like McDonalds - even the bread is sweet

Preparing your own baby food is well worth the effort. You are directly controlling the input of quality food to your infant and will save alot of money! So, it's time to buy a blender. Nothing special is required, this stage lasts only about 6 months or so.

Starting out. On average babies start wanting pureed foods at about 4-6 months. At 7-8 months you can move to a more lumpy consistency and at 9-12 months small, soft pieces of food they can start to handle themselves.

Properly using the blender to puree:

Add your material. Use about 1 teaspoon of salt per blender load and sugar to taste in sweet mixtures. Set to puree.

If works the first time and you have a nice, smooth mixture within 30-45 seconds, perfect. If the machine seems to be working hard or has any trouble reaching that consistency (smooth) simply add some water. Continue to add water until the mixture is smooth. This reduces strain on the equipment and produces a better quality puree.

Once you create your puree you are set to store it for future use. You have a couple of options:

Store in the refrigerator in covered containers and microwave later. This is the best; properly stored should last at least a week.
Portion into ice cube containers. this is handy if you have to take food offsite for meals later and can last considerably longer. But there is sometimes after freezing it tastes terrible; something your infant will certainly let you know about.

Plastic spoons are a must in the beginning as children are fascinated by the tools we use to eat. It seems crazy to you or me, but the new Mickey Mouse spoon can make a world of difference. Keep in mind that as the baby gets older use larger spoons; you will satisfy them faster with less effort.