Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Using my Beaba Babycook (with tutorial!)

Yesterday, my little sister Sydney came over and spent the day with us. She is 12. She saw my babycook and decided that she wanted to make some babyfood. I bought my babycook on craigslist, so it didn't come with any instructions so we just had to guess how to use the thing. It turned out to be pretty simple, actually. After watching a youtube video of someone making baby food, we decided to make our own how-to video, but Logan cried the whole time and you can barely hear what I am saying, so we aren't going to post that :) We ended up making carrots, bananas, and apples. Heres how you do it:

1.) Wash and peel your fruits or vegetables. Even if they are organic. You never know who has touched them.

2.) Cut the vegetable/fruit into bite size pieces and put them into the steamer basket. 
3.) Fill the container up with water to the appropriate mark. Generally, the harder the vegetable, the more water you will need. So for potatoes, you would want to fill it to the 3. But for softer fruits, such as pears, you don't need as much.

4.) Pour the water into the reservior at the top of the machine.

5.) Attach the container to the machine and insert the steamer basket. Place the lids on both the main container and the reservior at the top.

6.) Switch the front dial to the left to steam. The picture looks like a little cloud.

7.) Wait 15 minutes for the food to steam.

8.) Remove (carefully!) the steamer basket from the machine. There will be some water left in the bottom. Reserve this cooking liquid so you can add it to the pureed veggies to achieve your desired consistency.

9.) Put the veggies into the blender part of the machine. Put the lid back on and switch the dial to the other side to blend. You may have to add some of your cooking liquid to get it to the correct consistency. I had to do this with the carrots, but not the apples or bananas. Especially since Logan is just starting out on baby food, I wanted it to be very mushy and not have any chunks in it.



10.) Spoon your baby food into portioned containers labeled with the name and date you made the food OR portion the food into ice cube trays or other baby food freezer trays and freeze for up to 3 months. It is recommended to freeze the food and then put the cubes into a heavy duty freezer bag to keep them fresh.

Logan really liked the food we made. He actaully doesn't really care for the Earth's Best apples that we have been feeding him because they are very tart. I used an organic Gala apple, and he seemed to really like it. I still have about 20 jars of first foods left in the pantry, but I am going to use them for travelling.

Some good choices for baby's first foods:
Vegetables- Peas, Green Beans, Squash, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin, and Zucchini
Fruits- Avocado, Apples, Bananas, Pears, Prunes, and Peaches

5 comments:

  1. I have question for you - when did you first start feeding your littel guy baby food? Did you start with rice cereal? If so, how long before you started with fruits/veggies?? Are you breastfeeding as well?

    My little one is 5 months, our doc said at 4 month well check we coudl start on cereals, but she doesn't seem to enjoy them much. I don't have a clue about any of this! Not quite sure wehether to force the cereals, wait untils eh is 6 months, or start some veggies maybe? Any suggestions? everyone does things sooo different!

    Oh also, I went on Etsy and saw the checkbook cover you made! Ordered already. Received the headband (purple and white) and LOVE it!! Even hubby thought was cute. I will post a picture soon of her wearing it!

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  2. We started Logan on cereal at 4 months...He hated it the first couple of times, but now he really loves it. WE started him on fruits and veggies at 5 months. They say anytime between 4-6 months is a good time to start solids. And there is no particular order in which you are supposed to feed them, but most people start with rice cereal. Now, at lmost 6 months, he gets cereal twice a day (we alternate between rice, oatmeal, and barley) and half a jar of fruits and half a jar of veggies at lunchtime. If your little girl doesnt like the taste of the cereal, maybe try swirling a little bananas or apples in with it to give it a better taste. They have flavored cereals, but they aren't a "first" food for some reason. If its the texture she doesnt really like, you can add more milk to it and make it really runny and gradually increase the consistency.

    So glad you like the headband :) I will get the checkbook cover mailed first thing tomorrow! I would love to see a picture of her wearing it, I dont have a girl to model them for me!

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  3. Oh and sadly, I am not breastfeeding anymore :( I really wanted it to work for us, but we ended up stopping at 6 weeks because of low supply and other reasons. It really upset his belly for some reason. He had bad colic and even changing my diet didnt help, but switching to formula did? Weird I know. I really wish that we would have stuck with it though.

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  4. Thanks so much! I really want to breastfeed for 1 year, so I am trying to figure out how to start solids but make sure she will still breastfeed enough to keep up my supply, etc. I guess I am getting sad knowing that the more solids she starts, the less breastfeeding will be :( We have been giving her rice ceral here and there...but nothing really consistent yet. I am kind of waiting until 6 months, although our doctor did say at 4 months we could stay anytime. We bought some greens beans, peas and carrots tonight at the store, I am not sure if I should wait awhile to introduct one of them to her, or not . I have also heard some people mix cereal in with the veggies.

    tomorrow i will play around with taking some pictures of her posing with her headband and post onmy blog for you!!

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  5. I want a Babycook soooo bad! My baby girl is exclusively breastfed right now but we plan to start cereal soon and I'm sure it won't be long after that until we introduce food. I really want to make all of my own baby food, so I'm thinking this is a must-have product. The price tag is a bit intimidating but I think it's a good investment; you are so lucky to have found one on Craigslist!

    I'm following you from the Mom Blog Monday hop. :)

    http://tripledutymomma.com

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