Homemade Baby Food in the TM7™: Purees, Textures and Storage

Mi gente, this one is for the parents and the abuelas who want to make baby food at home. Batata, calabaza, guineo, ripe plantain: the flavors we grew up with, cooked soft and blended smooth, with nothing added. The Thermomix® TM7™, my favorite kitchen tool, chops, steams, blends and even stirs the puree while it cools, all in one bowl.

Here is what I want you to know first: I'm a home cook, not a doctor. Every age, allergy and safety fact in this guide comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the U.S. food safety agencies, and your pediatrician always has the last word.

When is your baby ready for solid foods?

The CDC says most babies can start solid foods at about 6 months, and that starting before 4 months is not recommended. Breast milk or formula stays your baby's main food for the whole first year.

Watch your baby, not the calendar. These are the signs of readiness from the CDC and the AAP:

• Sits up alone or with support and holds the head steady.
• Opens the mouth when food comes close, or seems eager to eat.
• Swallows food instead of pushing it back out onto the chin.
• Brings hands and toys to the mouth and tries to grab small things.
• Has about doubled the birth weight (the AAP mentions about 13 pounds or more).

Talk to your pediatrician before the first spoonful, and any time you are unsure. Mira, no question is too small.

First purees: one food at a time

The CDC and the AAP say to start with single-ingredient foods and to wait 3 to 5 days before each new one, so you can tell which food caused a reaction. Start tiny: the AAP suggests half a spoonful or less.

Good first purees from our kitchen, all with no salt and no sugar: batata (sweet potato), carrot, habichuelas tiernas (green beans), guineo (banana), which needs no cooking, and avocado. The AAP also asks for foods rich in iron and zinc, like meat purees. Our homemade oatmeal cereal is not fortified with iron, so ask your pediatrician about iron.

Once your baby has tried each food alone, move on to mixes like calabaza and sweet plantain, chicken and vegetables or beef and batata. Poquito a poco, your baby's plate starts to look like ours.

How to steam and blend baby food in the TM7

This is the basic method for a small batch of a firm food like batata, carrot or calabaza, washed, peeled and cut into chunks:

• Put the chunks in the mixing bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 5, so the pieces steam evenly.
• Move the pieces to the simmering basket. Pour 400 g (about 1 2/3 cups) water into the bowl, insert the basket and close the lid.
• Steam 15 min/Varoma/speed 1. A knife should slide in with no effort; if not, steam 5 min/Varoma/speed 1 more.
• Lift out the basket with the spatula and save the cooking water in a jug.
• Return the food to the bowl with 2 or 3 tablespoons of the cooking water. With the lid cap on, blend 20 sec/speed 9, bringing the speed up gradually because the food is hot. Scrape down the sides and blend 10 sec/speed 9 more if needed.
• Cool 9 min/speed 3 so the puree cools evenly, then check the temperature before serving or portioning.

For a bigger batch, use the Varoma: 500 to 600 g (2 to 2 1/2 cups) water in the bowl, the cubes spread in the Varoma dish, the lid cap off, and the time in each of our recipes, usually 25 to 30 minutes for 2 cm (3/4 in) cubes. Our chicken and vegetable puree steams in the basket and the Varoma at the same time. Safety: keep everything under the 2 L mark of the 2.2 L bowl, never go above speed 6 with the Varoma on, and leave some Varoma holes uncovered so the steam can rise.

From smooth to lumpy: textures for each stage

The CDC explains that very smooth, mashed or strained foods are easiest at first, and that thicker, lumpier foods come as your baby's eating skills grow. In the TM7, fewer seconds, a lower speed and less liquid give you more texture. Blend a little less than you think: you can always blend again, but you can't undo it.

These stages are only a guide. Your baby's cues and your pediatrician set the pace, and the day your baby happily takes a lumpier spoonful, ¡wepa!

To thin a puree, use the saved cooking water, plain water, breast milk or formula. Add breast milk or formula only at serving time, never to the batch you are going to freeze.

Batch cooking, ice cube trays and labels

Steam and blend one puree, spoon it out, rinse the bowl and start the next one. One quiet morning in la cocina can fill your freezer with little cubes.

• Get the cooked puree into the fridge or freezer within 2 hours (USDA).
• Spoon it into clean ice cube trays; the AAP notes each cube holds about 1 oz (30 g). Cover, freeze until solid, then move the cubes to freezer bags or containers.
• Label each bag with the food and the date (AAP), and use the oldest bags first.
• Keep the fridge at 40°F (4°C) or below and the freezer at 0°F (-18°C) or below (CDC).

U.S. guidance varies a little, so this table follows the shorter times from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the AAP. Freezing keeps food safe, but flavor and texture fade with time, and for a baby I would not stretch these dates.

Thawing and reheating, the safe way

• Thaw cubes overnight in the fridge, in a closed bag in cold water, or in the microwave, never on the countertop (USDA). Use microwave-thawed puree right away.
• Thaw only what your baby will eat in a day, and don't refreeze it.
• Warm it in a small dish, never in the jar or the bag. The FDA suggests about 15 seconds on high for 4 oz (about 115 g), then stir, let it stand 30 seconds and test it.
• Purees with meat, chicken or egg do not go in the microwave (FDA). Warm them in a small pot on the stove, stirring, until steaming, then let them cool.
• Stir well to break up hot spots, then test a little on the inside of your wrist or with a clean spoon: lukewarm, never hot.
• Serve your baby's portion in a small bowl, and throw away what your baby doesn't finish, because saliva from the spoon gets into the food. ¡Ay, bendito!, even if it is only a spoonful.

What not to give your baby

Some foods have to wait, no matter how much the family wants to share. From the CDC and the AAP:

• No honey before 12 months, not even a little in a recipe: it can cause botulism, a serious food poisoning (CDC).
• No added sugar before 2 years (CDC). Ripe fruit, guineo and plátano maduro are sweet enough.
• No added salt or seasoning (AAP). Set the baby's portion aside before the salt and the sofrito go into the family pot.
• No juice before 12 months, and cow's milk as a drink waits until after the first birthday (AAP and CDC).
• Nothing unpasteurized, and no fish high in mercury such as shark, swordfish or king mackerel (CDC).
• No cereal in the bottle unless your pediatrician recommends it (AAP).
• No choking hazards (CDC): whole grapes and cherry tomatoes, nuts and seeds, nut butter by the spoonful, popcorn, hot dogs, chunks of meat or cheese, hard raw vegetables and fruit like carrots and apples, raisins, whole corn kernels and whole beans. Cook food soft, mash it or cut it small, and always stay with your baby while they eat. Yes, mash those habichuelas too.

Allergens: what U.S. guidance says now

If you are a grandparent, this may surprise you: parents are no longer told to wait. The CDC says to introduce potentially allergenic foods when you introduce other foods, and the AAP says there is no evidence that waiting past 4 to 6 months prevents food allergy.

Common allergens include egg, peanut, tree nuts, dairy like yogurt, wheat, soy, sesame, fish and shellfish.

• Talk to your pediatrician first, especially if your baby has severe eczema or has had an allergic reaction to a food such as egg. The AAP says these babies may need testing first.
• Offer one new allergen at a time, in a small amount, and once your baby handles it well, keep it on the menu regularly (AAP).
• Peanut: never whole nuts. Thin a little smooth peanut butter with breast milk or formula, or stir it into a fruit puree or cereal (AAP). Egg: always well cooked.
• A rash, hives, vomiting or diarrhea: stop that food and call your pediatrician. Trouble breathing or swelling of the lips or tongue: call 911 right away (AAP).

Making baby food at home is love you serve by the spoonful, one little cube at a time. Start with one puree this week, label it, freeze it, and bring every question to your pediatrician. If I learned to cook, you can too. ¡Buen provecho to your little one!

Adapted with permission from Life With Thermomix, the blog of Beatriz Tarrega, a Thermomix® advisor in the United Kingdom, and rewritten for American kitchens.