Homemade baby food

If people realized how simple making your own baby food is we'd probably do it rather then waste all our money on pre-packaged baby food. It's not quite as convenient and involves more effort but isn't that worth saving money and feeding your child healthier more nutritious food? I want to start with the basic rice cereal. Did you know that you do NOT need to purchase the pre-packaged stuff? Let me tell you how simple it is to make your own.

1 cup brown rice
2-2 1/2 cups water
about 6 oz of breast milk or formula(depending on how thick or thin your baby requires)

Bring the water to a boil. Add the rice, stir and return to a boil. Turn heat down, cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes. When the rice is done put it in a blender with the breast milk/formula and blend until smooth. You can make more or less following these basic guidelines. If you want to make more and freeze it just make the initial mixture a little thicker, place it in ice cube trays, flash freeze for 1 hour and place in a ziploc bag. When you are ready to serve it defrost the cubes, add milk or formula and serve, just remember that the consistency may change a little more rubbery. You can also use basmati or jasmine rice.

Alternately you can actually grind the dry rice grains to a powder using a blender or a food processor. You can grind as much as you want and store in an airtight container. When you want to serve just get 1 cup of water, bring it to a boil, add 1/4 c. of the rice powder, stirring constantly, and simmer for about 10 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat, cool, add breast milk or formula to reach desired consistency and serve. Veggies/fruits can also be added at this point. Store the rest in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Wanna make oatmeal cereal? Using the previously mentioned method just grind rolled oats to a powder and use the ratio of 1/4 c. oatmeal powder and 3/4 c. water. Proceed as directed above.