BABIES NEED HEALTHY FOOD TOO!We received an great question by email that we thought others might want to know about, so we got out our trusty books and files and did a little research... The question was " I am interested in finding out about using my grain mill to make baby cereal. Being a busy mom I haven’t had time to research it. Perhaps its as easy as throwing rice into the mill then cooking it for a short time on the stove. I have no idea. I’m hoping that maybe you would have some insights to share! " There are two main reasons for making your own baby food: saving money and the comfort of knowing what goes into it. Commercial baby food often has additives and fillers added to it, and unless otherwise stated, you can bet that it is made with GMOs. According to INFACT Canada, Nestle lost a lawsuit it filed against the All-Russian Genetic Safety Association for exposing its use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its soy ingredient in NEstle baby food. Nestle did not want the public to know what they were feeding their children. Personally I like the first reason as most of the grains that baby cereal is made from are inexpensive and readily available here in Canada. You can save a lot of money by making homemade baby food and control what your baby is eating. To show you how easy it is, a baby food recipe follows, below. In the meantime, for more detailed information, I highly recommend Super Baby Food , written by Ruth Yaron. It is excellent! It is the best book you can buy on homemade baby food. She makes you feel smart and confident making your own baby food. And she makes it easy So what baby foods can you make at home? All of them! Yes, even rice cereal. Commerical rice cereal (also known as Pablum) is what most doctors recommend as baby's first food. How difficult is a baby food recipe? Not at all. Anyone can do it and pretty much like our question lady suggested. Baby Food Recipe: Rice cereal If you are not feeding your baby any iron fortified foods (such as formula), then you should speak with your doctor about an iron supplement for your baby, because homemade baby foods, although superior in a million different ways, may not not contain enough iron to meet your baby's needs. You can find this in Iron fortified teething biscuits. So now you know how to make your own rice cereal. And you know that when you make it yourself, it really does contain only rice. That's it!
You simply grind 1/4 cup of brown rice in a grain mill like the Nutrimill. I would recommend only brown rice. It is way healthier for them (and you!) because brown rice still contains bran and germ, which are removed from white rice. Mill the brown rice until it has turned into powder. In the meantime, boil one cup of water in a pot on the stove. When it's boiling, turn it down to a simmer and pour the powdered rice into the water and stir with a whisk. Then just pop a cover onto the pot and let it simmer on low for ten minutes. If you're anything like me, I would encourage you to turn on your timer on your stove, otherwise you'll get busy with your baby and forget all about it. You should also stir it every now and then to avoid it from clumping. When it's done, give it another good stir and let it cool. Take a few tablespoons out, add some breastmilk, water or formula to cool it down, and then feed it to the baby. The leftovers will keep in the fridge for two or three days. Here are a couple of recipes for Oat grains and Barley grain that will also be good for babies 4 to 6 months old Oatmeal Cereal Ingredients: 1/4 cup of ground oats (do NOT use instant or Quick Cook), ground in blender or food processor or grain mill (Oat groats or grain or soft enough to do in a blender)
3/4 cup - 1 cup water Directions: 1. Bring liquid to boil in saucepan. Add the oatmeal powder while stirring constantly.
3. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly, mix in formula or breast milk and fruits if desired
3. Serve warm. Barley Cereal -Babies 6 to 8 months Ingredients: 1/4 cup ground barley (barley ground in grainmill)
1 cup water Directions: 1. Bring liquid to a boil. Add the barley and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly
2. Mix in formula or breast milk or juice and add fruits if desired
3. Serve warm Our picture at the top shows how to store it so it is ready when you need it. It can be frozen up to 2 weeks. |
