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Waiting to Eat
Store Nature's Baby Foods for Your New Arrival
By Heather Johnson Durocher
When spring and summer are in full swing, fresh produce is bountiful. Sure, it's healthy for you, but what about Baby? Not to worry if you're still awaiting your little one's arrival or your newborn is nowhere near the milestone of eating solids. In a few simple steps you can take advantage of the season's fruits and vegetables by freezing them for tasty and nutritious baby food down the road.
Parents who've tried it, whether veterans of canning and freezing or novices who simply seek alternatives to commercial baby food, say their efforts proved worthwhile.
"I felt really good being able to give her fresh peas from the garden," says Gigi DiGiacomo of Minnetonka, Minn. DiGiacomo made baby food during her daughter Nicoletta's first summer, when she was 6 months old.
DiGiacomo, who relied on her own garden as well as local farm markets for her produce, prepared and then froze sugar snap peas, a medley of carrots and lentils, broccoli, peaches, nectarines and apples into ice-cube serving sizes for her daughter, now 2. Later, when she was old enough, DiGiacomo introduced strawberries and raspberries.
The idea of cooking, pureeing and freezing baby food may be daunting to some, especially expectant and new parents, but it is surprisingly simple and can be a lot of fun, she says.
"If you could just spend a day or two doing that, actually preparing it all, then it's so convenient afterward," says DiGiacomo, a work-at-home mom who credits the book Super Baby Food (F.J. Roberts Publishing, June 1998) for prompting her to give homemade baby food a shot.
Involving family members or other moms makes freeze-ahead baby food even more economical: "Go in on a bushel of produce – it's cheaper that way, buying in bulk – and then spend the day cooking together while the dads watch the kids," she says.
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