Cooking Healthy Baby Foods

Commercial baby foods often contain lots of extra salt, sugar and chemical preservatives. If you're a health conscious parent, then you may want to consider making homemade baby food.

There are countless quick baby food recipes available in books and online, but there are some safety concerns that you should know.

If you're introducing solid foods, then this fish dish is like a gourmet meal for infants, but check with your doctor first as there is some debate about the age at which fish should be introduced.

Soft fishes like sole are ideal because the flesh is tender and it has a mild flavor. For this meal you'll need half of a sweet potato that has been peeled and cubed. You can use carrots instead if you wish.

You'll also need 2 broccoli florets that have been cut into small pieces, 4 ounces of sole or other white fish fillet, skinned and cut into little-finger size strips, 1/4 cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of Gruyère or Emmental cheese. Steam the sweet potato and broccoli until they are very tender.

While the veggies are steaming, put the fish into a small saucepan, cover with the milk and cook until it flakes easily. This only takes a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese until it melts. Put the vegetables and fish mixture in a blender and puree. You can add some more milk if necessary. This is one of the many baby foods that will freeze very well.

Adding sugar to otherwise healthy recipes is not a good idea, and never add honey or corn syrup. This can cause botulism, which is a potentially fatal form of food poisoning in babies. When freezing the baby food you have made, use an airtight container or ice cube trays.

After the cubes are frozen solid, remove them and store in plastic freezer bags. Fruits and vegetables frozen this way will last six to eight months. Meat and fish will last one to two months. When reheating baby foods in the microwave, allow the food to sit a few minutes and test the temperature to make sure the food is not too hot.

Ideally, the food should be body temperature. You can be confident that your home made baby food will be packed with nutrients, which will help your baby be healthy and strong.

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