How To Make Baby Food and Vegetable Baby Food Recipes

Vegetable baby food recipes were the first baby foods I ever made myself. My daughter simply refused to eat any more of the baby food from a jar so I had no choice. But really, for me, this was the best and most healthy choice.
This is also the best way to get organic baby food. Make it yourself! Buy only organic grown vegetables and use these to make your baby foods.
Another great earth friendly way to go make baby food is to buy all of your vegetables from local vendors. Buying locally grown produce is very earth conscience. This cuts down on fuel emissions because there is less travel to ship the produce to wherever it will be sold.

Below are some of the vegetable baby food recipes I used to make baby food for my daughter.

Plain Vegetable PureesTo make baby food vegetable puree you must first cook the vegetables. Most vegetables can be baked, boiled, or steamed. I recommend steaming most vegetables. Boiling your veggies sometimes strips away a lot of the vital nutrients and minerals. You want to keep as much of these in your vegetables as possible. Baking your vegetables is not a bad choice, although it takes a lot longer than steaming.

 Vegetables that are great for steaming - spinach, fresh peas, squash, zucchini, green beans, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower
Baking Vegetables - Baking vegetables is good for a day when you are not in any kind of hurry, or if you want to make a large supply of baby foods to store for later use. I generally like to bake potato, or sweet potato. You can bake most any other kind of vegetable as well. My favorite method is to place them in a casserole dish in a bit of water or chicken broth to kind of poach the veggies.
Whether baking or steaming your veggies to make baby food, once they are cooked you will need to puree them. After taking from the oven or steamer set aside for 20 minutes or so to cool. Chop the vegetables up into small pieces. Pop them into your baby food processor and puree until smooth. Serve them immediately or store in your fridge or freezer.

Vegetable Combinations to Make Baby Foodsummer squash and zucchinicarrot and summer squashsweet potato and carrotsweet potato and applecarrot and corncarrot and cauliflowerbroccoli and cauliflowergreen beans and corn


Vegetable Baby Food RecipesHearty Veggie "Stew"ingredients: canned red kidney beans, potato, zucchini, summer squash, carrot, tomato sauce
You will make a larger batch of this recipe and store the extra in take and toss cups for later use in your fridge or freezer.
Start by steaming or poaching your vegetables. Let all of the veggies cool after cooking and cut them into smaller pieces. Open a small can of red kidney beans and add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup beans to your food processor. Also add your cut up vegetables. Add 2-3 tablespoons of canned tomato sauce. Puree until smooth. Add one or two more tablespoons of tomato sauce if needed.
* If your baby is colicky or seems to get gassy very easily you may want to skip the tomato sauce. My daughter had colic from excessive gas so I could not give her tomato until she was older (about 8 or 9 months). You may substitute water or chicken broth for the tomato sauce.

Veggie and Rice ComboUse any of the combinations above and add some cooked brown rice to create this hearty recipe.
Start by cooking some good whole grain brown rice. If it is easier for you just by the boil in bag brown rice. It's quick and easy.
Steam or poach your vegetable combination. Let cool for 15-20 minutes. Chop into smaller pieces. Add to food processor. Add brown rice at about a 2 to 1 ratio (if there is one cup veggies add around half a cup rice.) Add a tablespoon or two of either chicken or vegetable broth, or water. Puree until smooth.

Nutritional InformationVitamin and Mineral Content of Vegetable Recipes to Make Baby Food
Carrots - a good source of vitamin C, B6. Folate, Iron, potassium, copper
Green beans - A great source of Fiber, Folate, magnesium and vitamins A,C, and K. Contains protein, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, vitaminB6, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phospherus, and copper.
Peas - very good source of fiber. Also a good source of protein, vitamin A, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, phospherus, and copper.
Broccoli - a great source of fiber, vitamins A, C, E, K and B6, riboflavin, potassium, folate, and magnesium. Contains protein, thiamin, iron, calcium, phospherus, magnesium.
Spinach - Very good source of fiber, protein, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamins A, C, E, B6, and K, folate, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phospherus, zinc and copper.
Squash (summer) - a good source of fiber, vitamins A, C and K, folate, magnesium, copper, potassium. Also contains thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, iron and B6.
Butternut - a very good source of fiber, vitamin A, and C, potassium, magnesium. Also contains vitamin B6.
Sweet potato - dietary fiber, vitamins A.C, and B6, potassium, and magnesium.
Cauliflower - a great source of fiber, vitamin, C, B6, folate, potassium and magnesium, protein, thiamin, riboflavin, iron, niacin, zinc.