Making Baby Food - part 2 - Storage, Prep, and Feeding

Storage

So, once you have pureed to your heart's delight you now have to store all that your baby cannot consume in one sitting. According my research, you can store pureed fruits and vegetables for 3-4 days in the refrigerator as long as you haven't "double dipped." You're supposed to throw away the leftovers if you have double dipped, but I would be lying if I told you that I always did that. You can use a ziploc or any container with a lid to store your purees in the refrigerator. Storing in the freezer is a little trickier because you don't want to keep thawing and refreezing your batches. You need to be able to portion the food so that you can use part of it while the other remains frozen.

I personally do not have time to make baby food every day, so bigger batches and freezer storing are the way to go for me. After the puree freezes in the tray, I pop out each individual cube and put them in a gallon freezer bag labled by type. This allows me to make and store a ton of food without having to purchase 700 ice cube trays. In my insanity to protect Liam I also wrap each cube in plastic wrap before I put it in the bag. Unless you have temperature control problems in your freezer and are concerned about the cubes melting in the bag, this is not necessary. I just think it puts an extra barrier between the food and the freezer. Whatever.

In terms of storage gear, here are some of your options:

Freezer Storage Tray

This is what I use. I got them as a shower gift, so I didn't have to incur this cost. They are $10 a piece which isn't the cheapest. I like them because they are perfect one ounce portions and they come with a lid that seals very well. The lids are also grooved so that you can stack them on top of each other in the freezer and it keeps them in a neat stack. I vote for these if you can put down the cash or get someone nice to get some for you :) I would recommend buying at least 2 trays at first and then seeing how many more you might want after your first try. It really all depends on how much food you make. And you may decide you don't want to make all the food, so buying several could be a waste of money for you. I personally make a lot of food at a time, so 4-6 is good for me.

Pros: 1 oz portions, well sealing lids, stackable, sturdy
Cons: a little pricey


Ice Cube Tray

This is definitely a more practical option. There are dozens of different kinds of ice cube trays. Some have up to 60 cube capacity which would be amazing for large batches. I would recommend getting trays with lids to keep the other smells of the freezer from infiltrating the food. Salmon flavored pea puree? I don't think so... Lids also make them easier to stack for a neater freezer. If you don't have lids, plastic wrap works fine.

Pros: cheap, wide availability, size variety
Cons: may or may not have lids, variable quality


Prep Bowls

This is a great way to store fresh purees in the refrigerator. I personally have the glass prep bowls from pampered chef and love them! They are very durable and are the perfect size. You can store and feed out of them and they are portable. I also love that they have lids! They are not the least expensive thing you can buy, but because of their durability they will last you forever. They are also less wasteful than disposable options. Another similar and more cost effective option is empty baby food jars. I always thoroughly cleaned and sterilized the jars before I reused them. You could also use small tupperware bowls or ziploc bags. Just be sure to seal the food airtight to keep the freshness and freeze the leftovers within 3-4 days for safety purposes.

(Since I didn't do a real comparison all these I chose to leave out the pros and cons.)


Defrosting and Reheating

I personally do not like to use the microwave for anything concerning Liam's feeding. Don't be fooled, this fear is not founded. I know several people who heat all kinds of things up in the microwave for their children. This is just another example of my neurosis. I think its the radiation factor or something...who knows. So, by all means, use the microwave if you wish. Just make sure you stir the food thoroughly and test the temperature before you feed. This will avoid burns due to overheating and hot spots.

For those of you looking for an alternative to the microwave, here's what I do:

Boil water


Pour boiling water into bowl pan or other dish. Put cold or frozen food in prep bowl or baby food jar and let sit in the water until defrosted or heated to the proper temperature. You could basically use whatever container you are choosing to feed your child out of. I also use this method for bottles too. For some reason I don't think it is bad to microwave the water if you are short on time. I just put some water in the bowl and zap it for 2 minutes. Don't ask why...I will not have a suitable answer for you. If you are planning on traveling with your food, I would recommend leaving it in its frozen state to preserve the freshness. (This is unless you are going to use the food within a half hour or so.) Most restaurants will bring you a bowl of hot water for you.


Feeding

Obviously I am a fan of the prep bowls, but using a sectioned plate or bowl is good too. These are also usually easy to defrost in using the method above. One thing I would stress is the necessity of a lid that seals each section. I don't know about you guys, but I don't always feed Liam at home. The prep bowls are great for this because they seal each food individually. I made the mistake of getting a sectioned plate that didn't seal each section. I tried to take this places but ended up with pea/carrot/apple mess all over the plate and sometimes leaking out into the diaper bag. Gross. The frozen food will sometimes separate and the water will be sloshing around, so it is crucial to have a good seal. I found this plate recently and wish I had purchased it earlier. I haven't tried it yet, so I'll leave it to you to try. It's made by KidCo (they same who made the electric and manual mills I posted about last time) and is available at Babies R Us.




They also make an entire feeding system with many of the products I mentioned above. This is a great option if you can afford to save a little money by paying a larger lump sum up front.




Sorry, I know that was really long. I'm not fantastic at organizing my thoughts. The next post will be on Food and Recipes. (For you Melissa :))