Babies usually triple their weight
during their first year. So if “they are what they eat”, this is the most
important time to give them the best. Plus you want to give your baby the
best of everything, right? You may not be able to give your child fresh,
homemade organic foods every day, but here are the benefits for you and your
child when you do make the effort. Once you start cooking for your baby
you’ll see how easy and convenient it is to provide healthy food for your
family.
More
nutritious
Homemade food is more nutritious
than commercially prepared baby foods because it retains more of the nutrients,
especially vitamin A and B. This is because the food is less processed. The
jarring process necessitates the use of very high heat under pressure. Much
more than you can generate when cooking at home. Unfortunately, many vitamins
are destroyed by heat.
Some of the baby food on the market
has additives and thickening agents including cornstarch, flour, chemically
modified starches or “tapioca” (corn syrup, starch). This means your baby is
getting less fruit and vegetables and more “filler”. Thus children
get less nutrition and you get less value for your money.
More
Control
By making your own food, you’ll know
exactly what your child is eating. You can monitor their diet, and know which
vitamins and nutrients are lacking. A study by the San Francisco Chronicle in
2002, reported that over 40% of children’s calories come from fast and
processed foods. Spend your time making your own food, rather than reading and
de-coding labels on all those overly processed foods in the grocery aisle.
No
Chemicals or Preservatives
Your food will not have anything in
it that you didn’t put there. You’re not trying to preserve shelf life or
disguise any of the ingredients in your food, because you’re baby will be
eating whole, fresh foods without additives and chemicals.
Frequently used preservatives include partially hydrogenated oils or
trans-fats, which are linked to diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
Better
Taste
While sometimes convenient, a big
drawback of commercial baby food is that it bears little relation to the real
food. Fresh, seasonal food just tastes better. You probably haven’t eaten baby
food since you were a baby – because you don’t want or have to. If eating
homemade baby food, your child will appreciate real foods from their first
bite. These will be the flavors and food items that they will continue to enjoy
as they grow. Jarred baby food is not available in every fruit and vegetable,
nor is it seasonal. You may miss the opportunity to introduce fruit and
vegetable options, which you want your baby to eat later with the rest of the
family. Some children get used to bland, smooth, jarred foods and have difficulty
being reintroduced to the same real foods and textures later.
Less
Waste
Making food gives you control over
quantity, taste, texture and expense. You will not have to throw away partially
eaten jars of food. Instead you can cook what you know your baby will eat,
prolong the life of your homemade food in the freezer, or eat the food
yourself.
You can also use some of baby’s
puree as an ingredient for all age recipes. Apple and pear puree is a
healthy way to create moist and sweet baked goods. Vegetable purees
are the perfect start for homemade soups.
Less
Cost
The cost for making your own baby
food is often less than buying commercially prepared baby foods, if you shop
smart and cook in larger quantities. For instance a four ounce jar of baby food
ranges in price from .60 - $1.20 each, depending on brand and place purchased.
However when making your own baby food, and following our tips for creating
less waste and buying in-season whole foods, you can actually save on the
price. I purchased enough apples for an apple puree for $2 at the farmer’s
market, and my recipe yielded 16 ounces, thus my cost is only $.50 per four
ounce serving.
No
Special Shopping
There’s no last minute rush to the
store to buy baby food. You can buy the foods you and your family already
eats, so you always have ingredients for homemade food at hand. Create
variety from a single, whole food item. When making baked sweet potatoes you
can chose to puree some (for baby), cut pieces into soft chunks (for toddler),
and leave the rest whole (for mom and dad). Because your homemade purees are
made with whole foods, the leftovers can be made into soups, side dishes and
sauces for the rest of the family. Honest. You may doubt that because you
wouldn’t even consider making anything for yourself from a jar of baby food.
That right there, must mean it’s not the best for you or your baby.
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