It seems that the cost of everything is going up nowadays, including the price of the food we eat. Having a baby means an extra mouth to feed and sometimes the prices you find on the shelves of your grocery store can be mind boggling, especially for the fancy brands of baby food. If you’re not willing to shell out the extra dollars for baby food, have no fear. Try the following ingredients that are natural, healthy and good for your baby.

It is important to remember that at an early age, your baby is very susceptible to germs and bacteria so each time you prepare your baby’s food, be sure to thoroughly wash your hands, use sterilized cooking utensils and clean surfaces for preparing your meals. Make sure you don’t keep any foods or ingredients past the expiration date and freeze what you don’t use so it won’t get old.

The best ways to prepare your baby’s food is through steaming, pureeing, and/or straining. These food preparation methods makes it much easier for your baby to chew and digest, not to mention that you’ll be able to preserve more of the natural vitamins and minerals of the ingredients. You can buy steamer baskets for relatively cheap and this avoids losing any essential nutrients and properties that commonly occur when cooking food in boiling water. Using a blender, fork or food mill makes pureeing food easy and less involved. Food mills are ideal for straining ingredients and come in a number of sizes.

To start your baby off with a healthy breakfast, toss some oatmeal into your blender and mix with raw, mashed bananas. Even regular whole-grain cereals cut down to size in a blender are great for providing your baby with plenty of iron. If you plan on serving other types of fruits, you’ll want to cook them or puree them until they are soft. Apple and pear sauce are popular food items for babies and don’t need any added sugar. Feeding your baby peeled apricots and plums that have been boiled or steamed are also yummy fruity recipes they’ll enjoy. Health conscious parents can opt for organic fruits and vegetables to get the most nutrition out of each food without the concern for pesticides or other harmful chemicals that regular foods tend to come into contact with. Also choose frozen vegetables over canned.

For a real treat, combine fresh orange juice, cottage cheese, and bananas into a blender for a smoothie meal that your baby will love. Yogurt, mashed cottage cheese, baked potatoes, avocado, tofu and mashed pumpkin are all ideal meals to feed your baby that are healthy and filled with essential nutrients.

When it comes to meats, be sure to follow the rules very carefully. All meats should be added gradually to your baby’s meal plan. Boil or broil your meats and then put them into the blender with a touch of milk or cream of rice to get the right consistency for easy chewing and digestion. Chicken is the best type of meat to start your baby out on, since beef tends to be too tough.

Remember to give your baby time to adjust to each new food or meal and be sure to monitor your child afterwards to make sure he/she doesn’t have any allergic reactions.

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