How to Make Homemade Baby Food

It is so easy to pop open a jar of baby food, warm it for a few seconds, and feed it to your baby. You may be wondering, then, why anyone would bother making their own baby food. Once you discover its many benefits and learn how easy it is, you may decide that making baby food is worth a try.

Benefits

  • Perhaps the most important benefit of homemade purees is that you control what goes into them. Did you know that many commercial foods contain additives like starches to bulk up the food? When you make it yourself, you can be sure that you are using the freshest ingredients with no fillers or preservatives.
  • Another compelling reason is the savings. Over the course of the four to six months that most babies eat baby food, you could save approximately $400 by making it yourself.
  • Finally, when you make your own baby food, you have unlimited possibilities when it comes to variety. Consider these possible taste combinations: avocado and mashed potatoes, apples and butternut squash, and peaches and sweet potatoes — just to name a few!

How to Make Baby Food

  • Thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetables.
  • Boil or steam fruits and vegetables until tender, reserving the remaining water. Soft fruits and vegetables like bananas and avocados do not need to be cooked.
  • Boil or bake meats until thoroughly cooked. Boiling tends to result in more tender meat which is helpful during the pureeing process.
  • Cut cooked fruits, veggies, and meats in to cubes and put into a food process or blender. Add a small amount of liquid such as reserved cooking water, fresh water, breastmilk, or formula. Blend until smooth.
  • Pour pureed food into ice cube trays and freeze. Baby food cubes can be popped out and stored in freezer bags. When you are ready to feed your baby, warm one or two cubes in the microwave.

Tips

  • Check with your pediatrician to determine which foods are appropriate for your baby.
  • When introducing solid foods, feed your baby a single food at a time so that if he or she is allergic, you will know which food is the culprit.
  • Babies may have to try a food 10-15 times before developing a taste for it so if your baby rejects something, offer it again and again.
  • After one to two months in the freezer, baby food may begin losing nutrients and flavor. For this reason, only make a few weeks’ worth of food at a time.

The Raw Food Lifestyle

Millions of people suffer from problems with digestion, weight loss, and fatigue. Unfortunately, most fail to realize just what is causing them such discomfort. The answer is, ultimately, their diet. Humans were never intended to eat cooked food. In fact, no animals were. Evolution created a planet that can provide for all our nutritional needs without ever touching a stove. That’s why more and more people are switching to a raw food diet. This means giving up all cooked food, but it also means leading a healthier, longer life.

Food is meant to fuel our bodies and keep us healthy. However, many people maintain a diet that is potentially harmful to their bodies. When you fail to eat nutritious food, you do not get the elements you need to survive. In fact, you may even be adding toxic substances to your body through many of the foods you eat. The raw food diet is the only diet that is truly all natural. This means only nutritious, healthy food enters your system. Subsequently, your diet will reap only positive results.

There are many positive reasons to adopt a raw food diet. Perhaps the most appealing, though, is its ability to help you lose weight. Obesity can have dire consequences on your health. However, those who follow a raw food diet are at virtually no risk for becoming overweight. Plus, if you switch to a raw food diet, you will lose any extra pounds you have already accumulated. Raw food eaters are able to maintain a healthy weight no matter how much they eat. This is because raw foods are especially low in calories and fat. So, you can pretty much eat as much raw foods as you want without worrying about your physical appearance or bodily health. Easy to digest raw foods also boost your metabolism, which is a proven way to drop pounds.

In addition to developing a healthy weight, a raw food diet will keep you healthy and energized. By refusing to ingest harmful substances, your body will naturally detoxify itself. This will results in lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and other risky health problems. Plus, raw food is easy for your body to digest, which means you get optimum energy from what you consume. This also means you will not suffer from digestive problems like acid reflux or indigestion. Finally, raw foods also contain healthy bacteria that can improve the function of your immune system and help stave off common infections.

Another great benefit of a raw food diet is that in improve cognitive function. This means your mind will function better when working, studying, or simply playing a recreational game. Those who eat mostly raw foods have been shown to think more clearly, retain greater focus, and maintain a more active lifestyle. Furthermore, raw foods make food preparation much simpler. You do not need to invest in expensive appliances or risk burns while cooking. At most, you may need to peel, chop, or puree the food you eat. This usually takes only a few minutes, which is a vast improvement on the hours many people spend preparing cooked dishes. You will also save money as raw foods are cheaper than processed alternatives and fewer utilities are needed for preparation.

Before adopting a raw food diet, you need to understand what raw foods are. First, they are not anything that has been processed, canned, heated, or refined. Rather, they are foods that are considered “living,” and, as such, are better for your life. These raw foods include fresh vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds. Raw foods are also grown organically. This means they are free from any added chemicals that are unnatural and potentially harmful. While it may not seem like it, there is actually a great variety of these raw foods available. Be daring and try some new fruits and vegetables every week. Also, take a look through an organic food store to find new varieties of nuts and seeds.

Many people are concerned about adopting a raw food diet because they fear they will miss out on vital nutrients. The truth, though, is that cooking food makes it harder to get the vitamins and minerals we need. That’s because, in most foods, heating breaks down healthy elements. Furthermore, raw foods are extremely high in fiber. Even without eating bread, you will get all of the fiber you need. That’s because raw fruits and vegetables contain natural plant fiber that is easily absorbed by the body.

Other people feel uncomfortable about giving up meat from their diets. However, it is important to realize that our bodies were not naturally designed to consume large quantities of meat. Our teeth, saliva, and digestive tract are all better equipped to handle raw foods like vegetables and nuts than heavier products like beef and pork. Furthermore, meat increases the amount of bad cholesterol in our bodies. If we avoid meat, we lower our cholesterol and, subsequently, our risk for numerous cardiovascular diseases.

Adopting a raw food diet means you will look, perform, and live a better life. Most importantly, though, you will be able to live a longer and more active life. To get started, try making a slow transition to raw foods. Make the choice to start tomorrow with fifty percent of your diet from raw foods, and increase your intake from there. Soon, you will be looking and feeling better while enjoying the benefits of a raw food lifestyle.

All About Freeze Dried Dog Food

Preparing yourself for an extended emergency period should also include preparing any pets you have. Freeze dried dog food is now available in a variety natural foods so that you can have food for your pet throughout the emergency.

You will also find that many people have turned to freeze dried dog food as a normal course in life due to not only the easy storage but also the nutritional quality. Many dog foods have a variety of different products that may not be good for your pet over the long haul. If you have a pet that is sensitive to a variety of allergens you may need to move to a more natural dog food.

There are several different companies that are now manufacturing human quality pet foods and freeze drying it to not only preserve the nutritional value but also to make it easier for consumers to use. Freeze drying keeps all of the nutritional value of the original food where by dehydrating such as your standard bag of dog food looses quite a bit of it’s nutritional value. Also you will find the freeze dried dog food smells and tastes better as evidence from your pets happy look after dinner.

Freeze drying is done by lowering the temperature of the food and then lowering the barometric pressure which then allows the moisture in the food to escape as a gas. It also leaves the food completely intact but with holes in it similar to a sponge. This allows the food to be reconstituted as it was originally. You will find that freeze dried dog food is actually more nutritionally correct than canned food and is also better tasting.

According to the size of your dog you may also find that purchasing freeze dried dog food is a convenient way to feed your pet and may actually cost less than other types of nutritionally natural food sources. Storage of freeze dried food is good for a year, but although not guaranteed after that, it can still be edible for your pet. Use the smell of the food to determine if it is still in good shape after a year. Add water and smell for spoilage.

You pet is an important part of your world and being emergency prepared for a disaster for you pet makes common sense. Freeze dried pet food is now produced for emergency use or for those pets who need a more natural diet to avoid allergies.