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Homemade baby food seems pretty easy. Just blend up some soft fruits and veggies, and you are good to go! However, I was too intimidated to make homemade baby cereal for my first daughter, but I decided to take a stab at it the second time around.
Come to find out, it’s super easy. I also love that it is so frugal and healthy since you are able to use whole grains and control what goes into it.
(I adapted much of my info from wholesomebabyfood.com )
I made brown rice and oatmeal for Jane.
All you need is:
- brown rice
- old fashioned rolled oats (not the quick cooking kind!)
- water
Grind the rice or oatmeal in the blender to make a fine powder. This will take a few minutes depending on how good your blender is. The rice is a little more difficult to get finely ground.
When you are finished, you should have rice powder and oatmeal powder.
This step is not totally necessary, but you can sift the powder to make it even finer. I did this with the rice powder because my blender isn’t great and there were still some chunks in it. I found the cereal came out much smoother in the end. But, you could skip this step if you want.
Most recipes I found called for 1/4 cup powder and 1 cup water, but I like to double it so that I have lots of extras that I can freeze.
Boil 2 cups water and then add 1/2 cup of the powder. Whisk frequently for 10 minutes. Then, you are done!
You can save the extra powder for later.
When it’s done cooking, it should be a fairly smooth cereal. You can add breast milk, formula and/or pureed fruit. If you feel the cereal is still a bit too thick, you could blend it once it’s done cooking.
Stick a few servings in the fridge and put the rest in an ice cube tray to freeze. You could freeze the cereal by itself or mix it with a fruit and freeze. This is my first time freezing the plain cereal, so I will have to report back to you if the texture was weird after thawing it.
The banana/rice mixture turned out great once thawed. Once your ice cubes of cereal are frozen, pop the cubes in bags. One cube is one ounce.
Watch your baby enjoy!
Check out my other homemade recipes!
*update! I found that the cereal is fine after thawing, but a tad on the “gummy” side. as long as you mix it with a bit of water after thawing, it’s fine. however, after experimenting, my best recommendation is to mix the cereal with a fruit and then freeze. This produces best results after thawing!
* you can store the leftover oatmeal and rice powder in a dry, cool location. leftover prepared cereal needs to be stored in the refrigerator for up to 72 hours. Check out this website for more info about storage.
** If you are concerned about the fact that homemade baby cereal is not iron fortified, check out this great article!
*This post contains affiliate links
I had to write you to let you know a funny story about your blog. I found your blog right before Christmas because I was looking for wreath ideas and found your yarn wreath. I made a few as gifts for Christmas and I have been following your blog ever since. I just commented to my husband last weekend that you and I have so much in common. I have a 2yo and a 6mo. I am in the midst of many home projects. I dabble in all kinds of arts/crafts. And my mom is a quilter! To top it all off, I checked your blog on Tuesday while I was in the midst of making homemade rice cereal which I had been too nervous to make for my first child. I had to laugh out loud! Thanks for sharing your life!! (or is it really my life?) 🙂
Where did you get those cool wooden spoons?
I loved doing this! When my 2 were little, we lived overseas and buying baby food wasn't an option. I can say that I have never purchased baby food – and my children have lived to tell about it! Keep up the good work!
How do you store the left over powder? I read on another site about cereal it should be refrigerated and wasn't sure if that was necessary. Also, how long do the ice cubes last? Oh….and what kind of rice do you use? I heard short grain is better than long grain but can't find it anywhere. Thanks!! I'm a new mom and my little one will be eating solids soon and I hope to make all her food.
You should check out the info feeding babies and infants in the book Real Food for Mother and baby or from The Weston A. Price Foundation. Babies really don't need cereal grains and they are very hard on digestion (even ground up) as they have so many anti-nutrients that make it hard for your body to utilize any minerals and nutrients bound in the grain. The best things to start babies on are things like pastured egg yolks, pureed vegetables, all very simple to make homemade. I made all my own baby food too, and I did't feed my last two cereals (I didn't know the info with my first 2). However, it is cool that you make it yourself, just thought I would share important info on what I have learned.
Wish I had read this sooner! Better late than never, thank you for posting!!!
Thanks for your input, Lrimerman. I have heard of that theory from Weston A. Price and have actually read up on it. I didn't feel educated enough on the issue to go against what my pediatrician and so many others recommend. I felt like waiting until she was 6 months and only using whole grains was the right choice for my family. But, maybe with future kids I will educated myself more on the matter and change it up. To each their own! And I really do appreciate the comment!!
Great post! I'm making all my son's fruits and veggies, but have been buying boxed organic cereals. I had wondered if I could make my own. I'll mix up a batch of fruit/veg/cereal combos this weekend! Again, thank you 🙂
It is my understanding that breast-fed infants need extra iron at around 6 months, and that is why we feed them iron-fortified cereal. If you make it yourself, is there a way to get the necessary iron into it? Or do you just use infant vitamin drops?
Great question, Jennifer. I've posted a great article above about iron and homemade baby food.
I received this article via MoneySavingMom and love the idea of making cereal. My favorite part is how simple it is. However, I use cereal more as a thickener for my son's bottles so a frozen preparation isn't that convenient for me. Do you think the same method could be used with instant oats that would be added to a mixed bottle then fed within minutes? Thanks for your input!
I found this post 2 days after buying my first box of organic brown rice cereal…uggghhh. I'll donate to the church food pantry I guess! I have 4 children, the youngest just turned 4 months. I have always made all their food and often wondered if there was a way to make their cereal. So happy to have found your site! A side note…my older 3 are great eaters and love their veggies. It's amazing how much better homemade tastes!
Yes, I agree! I am making my own baby food for my 3rd child right now and homemade tastes so much better! I wouldn't mind eating it! But not the store bought kind. 🙂 Good to know that I can make my own cereal if I ever get in a pinch! Thanks!
Jamie
Sorry for a silly question.. but can you do this with Quick Oats too? I accidentally grabbed the instant canister instead!
Not sure if I missed this – but any idea how long the cooked oats keep? Do you need to freeze right away, or can extra be stored in the fridge a day or two for use? Thank you, and THANK YOU for the recipe 🙂
awesome! 2 questions: 1) if mixing up a single serving batch from powder, what would be the ratio!? just enough water to make it the right consistency!? and 2) could you do this with barley!? I found with my first, that barley was easier on his system than oatmeal or rice cereal. thanks!
Awesome just made the oatmeal. Lets see if my baby likes it. Just quick question. How do you defrost the frozen cubes?
Do you need to cook the powder? Or can you just mix it with breast milk/water/formula if just doing a single serving?
Yes, you need to cook it according to the directions I’ve listed in the post!
Do you wash those grains before you grind it? Impossible to wash powder though.
Hi.. do you wash those grains before you blend them into powder? It’s impossible to wash when it’s in powder form.
no, I don’t wash them.
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Thank you so very much for sharing this. I have two under two and I have recently been into making mu own foods for them. I have the fruits amd veggies down pretty well it was the cereal that I was stuck on. I am a SAHM and I like to think of myself as creative/crafty. I do pretty well with the sewing side of being a homemaker, now I’m trying to better myself at the homemade food side of being a homemaker. So, thank you again very much for sharing this!