When I have the blessing of time to prepare homemade baby food, I like to create a batch of these two flavours; vegetable based and one fruit based puree. A complete guide to making homemade baby food purees, including how to get started, how to store them and detailed instructions

They are both highly nourishing, and my daughter loves them!

//recipe below

// ingredients

fruit based:

• 6 organic apples

• 1 organic mango

• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

• 1 cup water, filtered

Vegetable based:

• 1 large organic sweet potato

• 1 cup organic spinach (I use frozen for convenience)

• 1 organic apple

• 10 cups water, filtered

// method

1. Peel and cut all fruit and vegetables into cubes (apart from spinach)

2. place all ingredients into a medium size pot on a medium heat.

For fruit purée:

1. Cook for 15 minutes with lid on

2. Let cool in pot with lid off for at least 30 minutes

For vegetable purée:

1. In a large pot bring to a boil

2. Once boiling, reduce the heat and allow to cook for an additional 15 minutes

3. Drain water with strainer

4. Allow to cool

The final steps:

1. Place cooked and cool ingredients into a blender until you achieve your desired texture, add additional water to thin the purée if you wish.

2. Using small containers divide the purée’s into serving sizes- refer to images below for inspiration.

3. If using in the next couple of days place in the fridge, alternatively if you plan to store them for longer place them in the freezer.

When introducing solids to babies, it is important that baby food be thin and smooth in consistency. If needed, you can add water or breastmilk/formula to any puree to make it even thinner. For purees that are already very thin, such as zucchini, it is advisable to mix them with a thicker puree, like brown rice. This will make it easier to serve the food to the baby without it sliding off the spoon too quickly. To ensure that the food is soft and tender, it is recommended to cook and then puree meats, grains, and vegetables.

I hope your little one enjoys this recipe as much as mine!

-April x

side note: all photos contained in this post are my own if you wish to use them please contain a link to this post :)