Prepared baby foods are rather expensive and not as healthy as home-made food. I learned several babies ago to use the freezer as an aid in serving my babies nutritious food, while easing the workload on myself. I found these ideas especially helpful when I had twins 9 1/2 years ago. Here's the baby-food "Torah":
Cook up a 6-quart pressure cooker or big pot with chicken, carrots, (squash) and as little water as is necessary for cooking, but no more than necessary, since the nutrients go into the water. When everything is soft, blend the meat and vegetables, trying to incorporate all the cooking water. Add in 1 or 2 cans of cooked green peas with the liquid. This makes a big bowl full of pureed meat and vegetables. Freeze in plastic disposable cups covered with foil. (Later when I got the microwave, I would cover the cups with plastic cling wrap). Every day, take one cup out of the freezer in the morning. It will be defrosted by lunch time. Heat by immersing the cup in a pot of hot water, stir, and feed. Or put in microwave, heat, stir and feed. You will be washing the pot once, the blender once, and have little waste, since you will put into the cups whatever is a portion for your baby at that age, and you will have little work on a daily basis. You can do the cooking session whenever you're not pressured.
Another idea for baby food is: When you're cooking your chicken soup for Shabbos anyway, add extra chicken and vegetables, and when finished, cook and blend. Of course the second method will make a much smaller amount of baby food, perhaps one week's worth, but it is good if you don't have the inclination to hold a separate cooking session for baby.
This cooking and freezing idea also works very well with cooked fruit and vegetables. However, avoid rice and potatoes since the consistency after freezing is not as good as it is with vegetables. Carrots, squash, peas, all freeze very well when blended.
There are many ways to save energy and time when preparing these foods. When your chicken comes fresh, not frozen, clean it and freeze it cleaned:
- If you make fried fish fillets, or fried shnitzel, or meat cutlets you will love this method: Defrost 2-3 times as much meat or fish as you need for one meal. Prepare one large bowl with beaten eggs and another with matzah meal or bread crumbs and spices. Take each piece, bread and egg it as if you were going to fry it. Then layer it with plastic wrap or baking paper between each layer. Try to keep the pieces as flat as possible. Freeze.
When ready to fry: Remove frozen meat or fish from tray (use blunt knife to separate layers) directly into frying pan with hot oil. Fry on small flame till browned on both sides. The frying will take longer than usual since it will be defrosting and cooking in one process. However, I always do something else while it's frying, so it doesn't really waste time. For example I can cut up salads or peel vegetables while it's frying, and every so often check the frying pan and put in the next layer. This method produces fish or meat with absolutely no freezer taste (much superior to the freezing-after-frying methods). The food tastes delicious and fresh, and I make chicken shnitzel like this every Erev Shabbos. I only have one frying pan to wash, which is tolerable for me, in exchange for the pleasure the children have in eating one of their favorite treats.
- If you make fish patties or meat burgers you can use the above method with great success. In one session make up a big batter with ground fish or meat, eggs, spices and matzah meal or bread crumbs, etc. Freeze individual patties in a pan or tray with baking or freezing paper, or plastic wrap separating layers. Fry, cook or bake the amount needed for one meal. The saving in time and energy is great. You can easily cook these "latkes" even if you're very busy that day, and while they're cooking you can make pasta, a salad, potatoes or heat your frozen soup.
Result: a nutritious supper with minimal time and effort! This method works very well with gefilte fish as well.
Many otherwise simple recipes call for a sauce. These sauces can be time-consuming to prepare. However it is easy to do several recipes-worth of a sauce at once, and freeze for future uses. And recipes made with sauces defrost and reheat very well. In our house meatballs in a sweet and sour sauce are one of my children's favorites. On principle, I will never make just one recipe of sauce!
What do you do with 2 pieces of leftover fried fish? Some mashed potatoes? A portion of soup? Well, they will either be mommy's lunch the next day, or else they can go into the freezer, and when you have accumulated a variety of single portions, you can serve it for a supper on a super busy day. Leftover mashed potatoes make great latkes. After defrosting them add egg, spices, some matzah meal or bread crumbs and fry. Your children will ask for more!
Although many people are under the impression that this is a dangerous practice, I have recently read a published official revision of this. It was publicized that although in the past this had been the accepted fact, it has been proven scientifically that if the defrosted food is kept cool at all times there is no danger of bacterial contamination. So if you want to try these tips which are dependent on defrosting and refreezing raw food, make sure the defrosted food is kept cold at all times, and keep the time it is defrosted as short as possible before refreezing. Of course, it must be thoroughly cooked before eating.
It is of utmost importance to label frozen food boldly and clearly. The label should state if the food is cooked or raw, how many portions it is, and what it is. This lesson was made very clear to me when I heated already-fried turkey shnitzel in my milchig toaster oven because I was sure it was fried fish. Only while I was chewing it (in the course of a milchig meal) did I realize it was fleishig... Labels made of stickers or masking tape can fall off. The best method, I've discovered, is to wrap the food in a clear plastic bag. Write the description on a piece of paper in magic marker. Then put the food in a second clear plastic bag so that the label shows through. The label won't fall off or get wet, and will be easily visible.
Again, freezing is an optional activity, and not part of the
Shulchan Aruch. We all know deep down that the important thing is the
atmosphere in our homes. The food is secondary.
Secrets From My Freezer -- Part I