Mums and Bubs- How the MBR-2107M magic bullet can benefit you and your baby
August 7th, 2015
The Story
As a parent you definitely want what’s best for your child. We keep them safe, warm, and well fed day in and day out. But when it comes to food and nutrition, do we really know what is in store bought baby food?
Recently I baby-sat my 10month old niece (I do not have any kids of my own… yet) and as I was feeding her out of the store bought jar that came packed neatly in her baby bag, I got curious, and gave it a little taste. Yep, bad idea! The next 5 minutes was spent making weird facial gestures and running to the kitchen rubbish bin to discard whatever it was I just put in my mouth. My niece of course thought it was hilarious. And even though it seemed like she was enjoying her goop, it got me thinking. Why does baby food taste so bad?! Yes, there are a few jars that hold gold, such as the puree apples and banana custard, but the dinner ones, not so much.
As my niece finally drifted off to dream land for a quick snooze, I started researching on the net, and found HEAPS of easy homemade baby food recipes made with blenders, food processors and even Magic Bullets.
Light bulb! I have a Magic Bullet in my kitchen, and these recipes I have spread out on different tabs seem really easy, even for me. And as they are all made from fresh ingredients, I thought, that has to be better than any store bought jar right?
4 O’clock soon rolls by and it was time to say goodbye to my beautiful niece for the day, and as she’s being put into her car seat I started to talk to her mummy about all the great information I found, and after a few oooo’, ahhhh’s and head nods, I soon got the approval I was wanting and found myself heading to the supermarket with a list of fresh food ingredients.
As I got home after my supermarket shop and put all the bags on the bench, I was genuinely excited to start preparing my niece fresh and TASTY meals.
The Fun Stuff
Looking in my bag of goodies I had-
- Raw baby carrots
- Sweet potato
- Pumpkin
- Fresh broccoli
- Baby formula
- Medium sized zip lock bags
- Deep plastic ice cube trays
Once I laid out all the food on my kitchen bench top, I then started to prep everything.
Image courtesy of http://enchantedmommy.com/making-baby-food/
- I washed and ‘peeled’ all vegetables (if needed), to make sure they were clean of any pesticides or other substances.
- I then sliced and chopped all the vegetables into smaller pieces to make them easier to steam.
- Once all the veggies were chopped, I filled 2 pots half way with water, and placed them on the stovetop at medium heat. (the amount of pots you use will depend on how much you’re making at the time)
- Once the water started to boil I placed a bamboo steamer on top of each pot, then arranged the veggies as follows- pumpkin & broccoli in one steamer, baby carrots and sweet potato in the other. (Bamboo steamers can be purchased from any Asian Supermarket for a couple of bucks each)
- I then placed the lid on top of each steamer and let the steaming process begin.
- To ensure each piece of vegetable was steamed properly, I pierced the largest piece of each type of veggie with a fork. If the fork goes through with no problem you know they are ready!
- Once all the vegetables were steamed, I set them aside to cool off for a bit while I got my Magic Bullet ready.
- I used a serving spoon to place the veggies into my Magic Bullet cup, then started to puree (I pureed the carrot & sweet potato first)
Image courtesy of http://enchantedmommy.com/
Depending on the age of your child, and the food items you are pureeing, you may need to add a bit of liquid. As my niece isn’t onto completely solid food just yet, I added a bit of baby formula that I prepared earlier, into the mix. I did this step by eye, making sure it wasn’t too runny or too solid. You can also use breast milk, or leftover cooking water to add back any nutrients that may have been lost during steaming. (If you use breast milk and plan to freeze the puree, be sure the breast milk is fresh and hasn’t already been frozen beforehand)
- Once the puree process was done, I scooped it into a zip lock bag, sealed it, then snipped a bottom corner, and then proceeded to carefully distribute the puree evenly into the ice cube trays.
- I then repeated the process for the second batch of baby food.
- Once it was all done, I wrapped the trays in cling film, and placed them into the freezer.
Image courtesy of https://www.raisingarizonakids.com
Of course you don’t have to freeze your batch, but this is best if you want to bulk cook.
The Verdict
A couple of days later my niece was around, and it was time for lunch! I heated a couple of the frozen cubes in the microwave making sure it wasn’t too hot or too cold.
Did she like it? Well she didn’t make any funny faces and was still her giggly self so I’ll take that as a yes! Now the real moment of truth. Did I like it? YES! Even with the baby formula, it was still very tasty. Awesome, Mission accomplished!
Added Extras
There are tones of different recipes to try. Check out Four to Adore for more fun homemade baby food recipes.
The Magic Bullet is fantastic for making baby food! We used ours quite a bit, and still use it to make toddler milkshakes and smoothies.
The Magic Bullet is definitely a fantastic appliance, Amber. =)
After my recent find, I persuaded my cousin into buying one and now all my niece eats is fresh food (and not the store bought kind). Baby friendly milkshakes and smoothies will be next on the list 😉 Thanks Amber.