Parenting: Why choose homemade baby food?

Parents have long depended on jarred baby foods for convenient feeding. In the past few years more and more processed food options have entered the children's food market. The big brands have expanded into pre-packaged  toddler meals  and  school lunches  all in the name of helping busy parents who need things to be fast and convenient. Even for those parents with the best effort and intention, there may be times when you just can't make or safely pack your own food.


Preparing homemade food is not as difficult as it seems especially when SuperMom is around to help. Let me, at first, project the benefits of homemade food:

• 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 fruits and vegetables and more  filler . Consumers are also getting less nutrition and value for your money

•  No chemicals or preservatives: Your food will not have anything added, that you didn't put there. You're not trying to preserve shelf life or disguise any of the ingredients in your food. Preservatives include partially hydrogenated oils or trans-fats, which are linked to diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

• Less cost

• Better taste: Allow me to put it this way: would you prefer eating microwavable food or fresh homemade casseroles?

Then lets offer the best for our children!

Here are few tips to help you make homemade baby food in no time:

1. Always store glass jars and pouches: keep all the mayonnaise or pickles jars you buy from the store, wash them well and sterilize them (Always choose glass over plastic to prevent chemical reactions with the stored food)
2. 
   Baking/Roasting and Steaming are the preferred methods to use when cooking homemade baby food to maintain most of the nutrients and taste, boiling is the second best method.
3. 
   To reduce preparation time, choose one day a week to prepare the homemade baby food and store them in the freezer.
4. Always make extra jars for emergencies and long trips

Soon we will post a step-by-step instructions on how to prepare baby food at home!

 Add this article to your "how to be super mom" manual