Organic, nutritious homemade baby food

Vancouver fashion designer Nicole Bridger is raising her baby organic, one spoonful at a time…

 

Here, she offers tips for making healthy meals and snacks for babies 9 to 12 months old

Now that Rhame is 12 months I have more tips to share for making baby food that’s organic, nutritious and not too over-packaged.

 

Baby food recipe: Grains and beans

At 9 months we introduced grains, beans and legumes. I’ve found the best way to prepare these is to take the dry grain and blend it in your blender until you have a powder. Then you take 1 cup of water, bring to a boil, and mix with ¼ cup of powder, then simmer until it’s thick like porridge. I mixed the cooked grains with beans and other vegetables.
 

Keep the powders in glass jars in your freezer so they don’t go bad. You can also freeze the cooked mush in containers for super fast meals.

 

Here are some ingredient combinations for homemade baby food that Rhame seems to like:

* Garbanzo, quinoa and carrot

* Brown rice, black bean and green peas

* Chicken, potato and zucchini

 

Finger foods for baby

Once you are confident in your baby’s chewing abilities, it’s great to start giving him finger foods. The first finger foods I started him on were kamut puffs; they dissolved nicely and were great practice for him to try and pick up and get into his mouth.

 

I found organic brown rice crackers by Heinz are great for in the car when he needs a snack he can hold on to.

 

Heinz also makes Nutrios, which are like Cheerios but made of oats and nothing else.

 

Now, for snacks, Rhame loves well-steamed broccoli, kidney beans and soft cantaloupe. As long as the food is easily broken down, it should be safe.

 

Baby breakfast foods

Now that he is 12 months, Rhame can have yogurt—and he loves it. I mix organic plain yogurt with any puréed fruit, like fig or prune. The probiotics in the yogurt are great for his digestive system.

 

He now eats oatmeal for breakfast too. I mix oatmeal made from organic rolled oats with applesauce and cooked kale purée.

 

He can also have egg yoke, so I mix it with a bit of rice milk and scramble. Occasionally I also give him organic soft tofu, but the beans and legumes are a great source of protein so you don’t need to feed your baby egg and tofu too often.

 

Birthday foods, sans sugar

I just wasn’t ready to give him any sugar yet, so for his first birthday party we did brunch without a cake. We still sang “Happy Birthday” but had fresh fruit for dessert instead.

 

It’s really up to you and what feels right for you and your baby.

 

Find more great baby food tips in Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron.

 

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Nicole Bridger was born and raised in Vancouver. In 2007 she started her own company, a clothing line of sustainable, contemporary women’s wear (website). In January of 2009, she and her husband became parents to their son, Rhame. They live and work in Vancouver.

Facebook: Nicole Bridger Design