foodmill.jpgUse the grinder at home, restaurants, or visiting. Use most of the same foods that you serve for adult meals (assuming you are eating nutritiously). You will not need to prepare separate foods for baby, and baby has fresh food at every meal. We don't recommend preparing and freezing baby “food cubes” as nutrition is lost and it is not very tasty. If you wouldn’t like eating these, baby won’t either! Also, freezing food in plastic ice cube trays transfers some of the plastic chemicals into the food which affects human hormones.  
At mealtime, take out baby's portion before adding seasonings and spices. Begin with single foods in case allergies are present.Use the food chart (from your baby care book or from your health care provider) to decide what/when to introduce the various foods. Later try combinations of fruits, vegetables, or vegetables and meats. (Avoid very spicy, salty, or sweet foods, of course.)  For babies 6 months or older, do NOT puree or liquefy the food, but make a fine, moist consistency.  As baby grows, make the texture coarser.

Here are a few ideas:
Raw fruit:  bananas, apples, pears, avocados, oranges, berries, melons, mangos
Cooked, or canned (in water) fruit:  apricots, peaches, pears, plums, prunes, pineapple.   Fruits can be combined with each other, with vegetables, with yoghurt or even meats. 

 
Vegetables: Steam or cook in small amount of water.  Asparagus, carrots, corn, green beans, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, spinach, beets.  Be sure to have a good variety as babies who eat too many carrots can turn orange from the beta-carotene, and beets and spinach are high in nitrates.  Spinach should never be re-heated.  Later, introduce stronger tasting vegetables such as: turnips, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, lentils, dried beans/peas.


Meat/Fish:  Do not use processed, spiced, or smoked meats.  To make meats/fish easy to swallow, mix in some rice cereal, tomato puree, fruit, or vegetables. Add water or other liquid if needed. Some combinations are:  Chicken and Peas, Beef and Sweet Potato, Lamb and Carrots, Beef and Potatoes, Turkey and Rice, Fish with Peas and Cottage Cheese, Ham with Mixed Vegetables.  Just make your own combination with whatever you are serving for your own dinner! Baby wants to eat what you are eating (a good reason to prepare healthy meals!).