Baby Food Articles
by Nancy Miller

There's nothing very difficult about cooking for your baby. It just requires a little extra care and attention in the preparation of the ingredients.

Here's the basic procedure:

1. PREPARE YOURSELF
Always wash your hands with soap and hot water and dry them with a clean towel before you start cooking. Likewise, carefully wash your equipment (blender, pots, bottles, etc.) before use.

2. PREPARE THE FOOD
Always wash, peel and dice fruit and vegetables before cooking. If there are any seeds/stones, remove them.

If you're preparing meat, cut away all the fat before cooking. Once cooked, cut the meat into very small pieces and remove any bone or other hard bits.

If you're preparing fish, remove any fat, bones and other hard bits before cooking. Once cooked, crumble it into small pieces and remove any remaining traces of bone and skin.

3. COOKING THE FOOD
With the exception of avocados and bananas, all fruits and vegetables must be cooked before giving them to your baby
(until he's at least 10 months of age).

Fruit and vegetables can be steam-cooked, boiled, or micro-waved. Some fruits like apple or pear can also be oven-cooked.

Steam-cooking is the best option because it retains the most nutrients. If you don't have a steam-cooker, don't worry, boiling or micro-waving is fine. Keep the water to a minimum and try to strike a balance between not over-cooking (to retain the maximum amount of nutrients) and not under-cooking (to make digestion easier).