Storing Homemade Baby Food Easily

Making your own baby food is a rewarding experience that has big benefits for your baby. Your little one will be healthier and enjoy a wide variety of tastes. But once you've made it, how do you store it? First you need to choose where you're going to store your baby's food, then choose what you'll store it in. The final step is to actually package and store away your little one's custom meals.

You need to start your planning by deciding where you'd like to store the meals. Though you could can it at home in a canner, it makes more sense to choose either your refrigerator or your freezer as a place for storing homemade baby food.

The fridge offers a few advantages. It's usually easier to organize foods in the fridge and keep track of what has been eaten and what's still there. Foods stored in the fridge don't need to be thawed, either. You can just heat gently and serve, or some foods can even be served right out of the fridge. Most containers are safe for the fridge, too.

But food won't last very long in the fridge - it should be eaten quickly to avoid spoilage. The freezer offers a way to store baby food for the long-term. If you like to make homemade food in large batches, the freezer is great. You can store it in serving-size cubes so it's relatively easy to thaw then gently heat for your little one.

If you use the freezer, clear out a space in the freezer just for these meals. Then keep a list on the freezer door so you can record which dishes are going into the freezer and what you take out. This will help keep the food in circulation and prevent food from getting forgotten. You can plan on storing homemade baby food in the freezer for up to six months.

Next you need to choose your containers. If you're going to be using on the refrigerator, this won't be too hard. Any small, resealable containers will work well and be fine in the fridge. If you want to use the freezer make sure you select freezer-safe containers.

No matter where you're going to be storing the meals, you have the option of glass or plastic. If you go with plastic, choose a container that's BPA and PVC free, as these chemicals have been shown as being potentially harmful to baby.

There are many containers made especially for baby food and you may like to get one of these systems. They're convenient because you can easily store food in small quantities, greatly reducing the chance of waste. I recommend you get 2oz containers because your baby will quickly be ready to eat more than just 1oz of food at a time. If you're preparing food for an older baby you may want to look into bigger containers. Innobaby makes baby food containers in 3oz and 5oz sizes. I love their freezer-safe glass containers for my own baby's food.

Once you've picked your containers all that's left is to prepare the meals! Go ahead and make the food according to your recipes. Then pour into containers to your containers' fill lines. Wipe the rims of the containers clean (and the sides, if there have been any spills). If the food is still quite hot I recommend you put it in the fridge to chill, then transfer to the freezer for long-term storage.

Decide where you want to store your baby's homemade food, then select good containers. All you'll have left after that is storing for upcoming meal adventures - nothing could be easier, and your baby gets the rewards of healthy, homemade dishes.