Add water?

Water or formula or breast milk are common additions.

How much did you cook them? Maybe cook a bit more to make them softer.

How are you mashing them? Food processor or blender should get them very smooth.

If veggies are steamed, the liquid they cooked in can be used for making the consistency less stiff or use what fori suggested. I roasted the carrots because I think they taste best that way.

How old is the baby now? They don't need to be perfectly smooth especially if the baby is a bit older.

I steamed them and then mashed with a fork. She is five months old and her first food other than cereal. I will add some liquid. thanks. Maybe I'll pick up a hand blender of some sort.

I use the blender for first foods for babies. They make the nicest puree. Plus you can do a big batch of carrots and then freeze them in ice cube trays. Feel free to email me at girlsingarden @ yahoo.com (remove spaces) And I will try and help you out if I can. I have done this with my three kids and just found out my tubal ligation didn't work and am expecting number 4 in November SURPRISE we are thinking of it as our miracle baby;)

Stacie

I've always made my kids' baby food and used the really small food processor that Cuisinart makes. It makes it so easy to prepare a small portion and store the rest right in the same bowl for the next meal later in the day. It's also so tiny that it's a snap to clean.

For my granddaughter, I used one of the Cuisinart mini food processors too. I'm sure a blender will work fine but getting the food out is easier than from the bottom of a deep blender.

For my kids, I used a blender and something like this manual food grinder Baby food grinder which is handy for tougher foods like meats.

We did the make a batch and freeze it in ice cube trays which was very convenient - especially at the beginning when we wanted to introduce a new food and give it to her for four days to check for allergies and her diet wasn't very varied yet. You might not want to go too overboard in the prepared ahead quantity. At about 8 months old, our granddaughter started to prefer getting her veggies and fruits diced for finger feeding.

Congratulations Stacie! I had a coworker who's wife had a baby despite his vasectomy and her tubal (both predated the marriage). On occasion nature can be awfully persistent.

Thanks. I have a blender which I hate cleaning but seeing they have minis, I will look into that. Stacie, wow, good luck and congrats! They say you should have even numbers (even though I am stopping at three) when having kids.

My husband's favorite baby foods were chicken with applesauce, and green beans with pears. And I mean his favorites as an adult. When he was supposed to be feeding the baby!

We also used the mini-Cuisinart for some and the big one if we were making a big batch to freeze in ice cube trays.

My kids are now 15, 18 & 20 and have never been picky eaters. I sometimes wonder if it was because the were eating good ol' regular food from the get-go.

Good luck with all the fun new foods for baby!

(And congrats Stacie! It's funny about the even vs. odd number of kids--we've definitely found situations where even would have been nice, like who has to ride alone on the roller coaster? Definitely not looking for number four though at this late date!)

~finally

Hayden gets mixed foods all the time, pears and summer squash. beef and applesauce. The other day it was mac and cheese, salsberry steak and green beans. I just put what ever we make into the food mill and grind to my hearts content.

Cookie 8,

I can look around for another baby food mill for you. I just sent one out do Maggie . Most are vintage but work great.

Stacie

Yep, cooked until pretty soft, blenderized with formula, and then dumped into ice trays. Works like a charm!

Ha Ha, I googled baby blenders and this is what I got. Stacie, thanks, I will check out the kitchen stores and try to find something. What do you think of those hand held blenders? Any good? Any other tips? I didn't even think of when she's older. I did jars for my other two, why? not sure, it seems as easy to do it fresh. Do you do frozen foods too?

Here is a link that might be useful: http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://albotas.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/babyblender.jpg&imgrefurl=http://albotas.com/2007/12/will-it-blend-best-baby-bath-ever/&h=555&w=493&sz=35&hl=en&start=7&sig2=uaDVPQBvrBMp5-dhBfArzA&um=1&tbnid=IuhTT9R8n0o7kM:&tbnh=133&tbnw=118&ei=g5baR97lIqbSggKc0ujCCg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbaby%2Bblender%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3Dyyq%26sa%3DN

Cookie8,

I use a hand held food grinder for Hayden, today for lunch he had beef and noodles with mashed potatoes. I love the handheld grinder because when we were out of town last weekend I took it with me and just ground up what ever I was eating. Send me and email and I have some ideas and help for you about frozen food and foodmills and feeding.

Stacie

Gerbers came out with a new one, anyone try it yet?

{{gwi:1508448}}

LOL, Shaun.

I also made my girls baby food, although I mostly just mashed it up and added a bit of water. When they got older I stopped adding the liquid. Amanda's favorite was sweet potatoes mixed with applesauce.

They always got my homegrown organic vegetables and fruits, and in the winter the stuff I canned was just mushed up instead.

the blender was a PIA to clean, so I tried to avoid that by using the mash and stir method. LOL

Annie

I hate cleaning the blender too, especially when all I want is a little "dab" of something. When my kids were babies (30 years ago) I had a baby food mill that I carried with me whenever we went out. I recently purchased two Kidco food mills (virtually unchanged for the last 30 years) - one to keep at my house and one for my daughter to keep. No need for electricity, so it is great to take to restaurants as well. Before we season everything at home I put a bit in the mill for the baby and grind away. It doesn't puree, but it's a fine grind. Much like what a ricer would make. I add a little warm water if it's too thick and my 6-month old grandson really chows down. I don't know why they bother to label babyfood, because they all taste the same and that flavor is "no flavor at all".

Shaun, there is nothing wrong with introducing spicy foods to babies. Our granddaughter has consistently preferred more flavorful foods
and is cool to bland ones. When we make chili or Indian food like aloo gobi, she has some.

I use a 1/2 pint canning jar instead of the regular blender pitcher when blending homemade babyfood. The blade, rubber and screw on rim (which holds the blade/rubber onto the glass container and fits into the blender's base) fits onto any regular canning jar. Anyway, it saves time to have the blended babyfood right there in a little serving/storage jar.

Shaun, that is ridiculous! I can totally make my own hot picante sauce for my baby. I mean I have a fork and a blender. Jeesh!

Cloud swift,

I am one that totally agrees, do you think in India or Mexico or China that they would make a special bland meal with not flavor to give the babies each time that they had a meal??? All my kids ate exactly what he had for our meals. He will be getting his corned beef and cabbage early this year lol.

Stacie