So I've been giving my daughter boxed (processed) rice cereal from the baby aisle since she first started wanting solids (about four months old).Why, you ask? I had my reasons - good reasons, too!
It's easy!
It's fast!
She seems to like it...
Did I mention it's EASY? ;-)
My mom mentioned to me a couple of times that I should make my own baby food, but I dismissed it with a wave of my weary hand - I'm a work-at-home mom with a toddler. Like I need cooking to take up more time. And anyway, lots of moms give their kids store-bought rice cereal, right? It has special vitamins just for babies... right?
Too lazy to make cereal for little ol' me?I started thinking it may be worth taking the time to make it myself when I read in the news that a rocket fuel chemical was being found in various baby formulas - are you kidding me? Hello! I'm TRUSTING people with my precious baby here. How dare they let something like that get through! Ugh.
ANYWAY, this spurred me to find out how to make it myself.
And you know what?
It was EASY! Maybe not as easy as adding milk or water to the mix and stirring, but come on. Would we want to eat something that could be made like that? No, we want real food! So the least I can do is make something extra good, extra nutritious for my daughter. For just an extra five minutes of my time - literally!
And now, without further ado (grin), here's my photo recipe:
Ingredients Needed:
Water
Rice (Basmati, Brown, etc)
Optional Add-ins:
Bananas
Cooked Apples
Berries
Raisins
The possibilities are endless!
Instructions:
FIRST, find a way to grind the rice to a powder. I used our electric coffee grinder!
Boil one cup water in pan.(Easy enough...)
Add one-quarter (1/4) cup of ground rice powder.(Oh my weary hands, having to grind all that rice! Oh wait, we have electric grinders nowadays...)
Stir over medium heat. Watch it almost boil over and turn the heat down. ;-)
Suddenly remember you're supposed to use a whisk and switch from spoon to whisk.See the texture thickening? It only takes a few minutes of stirring!
Serve warm or cool!You can add a bit of sugar or fruit to sweeten it, too.
Watch baby eat with relish! Great Resource! Baby cereal recipes, ideas, and FAQ at Wholesome Baby Food.
♥ Share Your Thoughts ♥
What do you think? Have you ever made your own baby cereal?
If you use this recipe, I would love to know what you think and what your variations are!
♥ Share Your Thoughts ♥
What do you think? Have you ever made your own baby cereal?
If you use this recipe, I would love to know what you think and what your variations are!
Thank you sooo much for sharing this post! :-)
12 kindred spirits expressed their thoughts:
That's great! I've always made most of my own baby food, fruits, veggies and things, but never the rice cereal. I'll be doing that next time now that I see it's so easy!
Jen over at Buried With Children inspired me to make my own baby food with my third. It's been beyond easy and he's loved it. I actually have not bought a single jar of baby food. He's almost 9 months and pretty much completely on table food now. I think he transitioned faster to table food since I did do all the homemade stuff. That and he totally wanted what his brother and sister had! lol
Good luck!
I made all of my first babies food except the rice cereal, she didn't like the boxes we didn't even go through one whole box. I just gave her cream of wheat.
I know what you mean about rocket fuel. I now get Organic Produce boxes delivered via Organics To You. I think it is a great value and you get pesticide free foods and a variety of veggies and fruits (which my pedi said was important)
That's great. Thanks.
I'm so glad you posted this. I knew I was going to make my own fruit and veggie baby food but had no idea what to do about cereal. We are going to start solids soon. This is a great help.
we never gave the boys anything until they were screaming at us at about 5.5months and then they would not want it for about another month or two but with my last boy, I just bought oatmeal at the bulk star, threw it int eh blender and blenderized it and then made it into oatmeal like I would my own if I didn't blenderize.
We didnt' use much baby cereal here, I was too lazy, box or not. LOL
Thanks! I will definitely be making it from now on!
I made some the other day, Lily loved it.
Thanks to your great post I wasn't scared to make my own.
That looks pretty easy. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! I just ran out of the boxed cereal and was wondering if i could just make my own.
I also always tried to make my own baby food. So much more peace of mind- although saying that the jars would come out when busy/stressed/out and about.
Thanks for the photo review! My baby is 3 1/2 months old so she won't be eating solids for a few months, but I'll definitely bookmark this post for future reference. You made this project look so simple...and so do-able. Thank you!
Post a Comment