Last week, I posted tips and techniques to traveling with homemade baby food. Listed were 8 simple guidelines to follow to ensure top food safety for your baby. Seems simple enough, but what about those times when you will be on the road for longer than 24 hours? Or what if you just want to take a quick afternoon trip where you know you won’t have a microwave or stove to properly reheat food?
Well, I have recently discovered a company called NurturMe (oddly similar name, but no relation to NurtureBaby) that takes freshly pureed organic fruits and vegetables and dehydrates them – just like baby cereal. You’re asking – why in the world hasn’t this been done before, right? Seems too easy!
I am extremely picky with food for my babies and am skeptical of new products, but here’s why I think NurturMe is the best alternative out there to homemade when traveling.
- The food comes in tiny paper packets which are lightweight and easily transportable. The entire package with 8 individual pouches of food weighs less than one jar!
- The foods are 100% organic and are quick dried to maintain intense nutritional value.
- NurturMe uses recyclable materials made with wind energy.
- It’s super convenient. Just add water, breast milk, or formula and stir.
- It’s yummy, too! My 10 month old – with a super distinguished palette, I might add – highly approves! He especially likes the Scrumptious Squash.
As a caveat, I really don’t like to do “commercials” for other brands…it’s just not my style or what we do here at NurtureBaby. However, since I’ve received so many questions about traveling with homemade baby food, I felt it was only fair to authentically recommend a product we believe is good for you and your baby
I’d love to hear from you, too. What kind of homemade baby food alternatives have you used when traveling long term?
Photo by doubleimagephotography
Because homemade baby food is made fresh and without preservatives, traveling with it can be rather tricky. My basic rule of thumb is to only travel with it if you will be on the road for less than 24 hours. (Not 24 hours total trip time, but travel time when you will not have access to a standard freezer). If that is the case, here are the 8 simple guidelines to keeping food safe for your baby:
- Make sure you have a tightly sealed cooler you can keep in a climate controlled location. For example, keep the cooler inside the air conditioned part of your vehicle, as the trunk can get too hot during some months and compromise the safely of your food.
- Fill your cooler full of ice. The more ice the better!
- Only transport frozen cubes of food, not the fresh refrigerated variety. For tips on preparing and freezing homemade baby food, see here.
- Pack baby food cubes in tightly sealed freezer bags and pack more than you think you need.
- Once you arrive at your destination, remove the food from the cooler and put in a standard freezer right away.
- Keep a close eye on the food to make sure that it does not thaw, even if slightly. If the baby food does not stay at a constant frozen temperature, you are compromising food safety .
- If it does slightly thaw while traveling, do not refreeze. Store in fridge and serve within the next 12 hours or throw away.
- Before serving to your baby, make sure you thoroughly reheat the food in a microwave or stove top. Heat until hot to touch and let cool before serving.
If you are unsure about following these guidelines, I would ere on the side of caution and find an alternative to homemade. Any health benefit of homemade food is counteracted by the risk of compromised food safety.
Next post will include alternative ideas to homemade baby food and I would love to hear your ideas as well!
