Hi! I think a lot of other Mums would have the same question. I bought my trays last week. What's the best way to go about reheating frozen cubes of purees? My baby is 4 months old. And how long do they last in the freezer? Thank you!
There are a couple of ways to reheat your frozen homemade baby food cubes and they are really simple:
1. Remove the cubes for the next day's meals, place in a covered container(s) in the fridge and thaw overnight. When your baby is ready to eat, you can either reheat in a pot on the stove or pop into the microwave, depending on your cooking preferences. This obviously is for the more organised Mums amongst us (you know who you are!), but also helps the rest of us to be organised when we do it (win - win!).
As a first-time Mum, I did this every night with Max's food and it brought some kind of peace to the day knowing that I didn't have to think about what he was going to eat. His bowl(s) was ready and waiting in the fridge to be heated.
2. Take the frozen cubes from the freezer, place them into a glass or ceramic bowl and heat in the microwave. When Isobel came along 3 years ago, as good as my intentions were for planning her meals for the next day, this is how most of her meals were heated. My peace of mind came when I opened my freezer to select the frozen cubes for her meal and there were all of my gorgeous homemade baby food cubes organised into zip-lock bags, all lined up in a row. So vibrant and colourful! So healthy! It was like having a whole restaurant of healthy homemade baby food at my fingers, and I made it all myself. And you know by now...it was SOOOOO easy with the mumi&bubi Solids Starter Kit.
Everyone's microwaves are different and the time it takes to reheat depends on how many cubes you are reheating and also if they are still frozen or are thawed. In my experience, a few thawed cubes would reheat in about 20 seconds, but I think my microwave isn't very powerful. You will quickly discover the your heating times for your baby food cubes. Always stir well and test the food on your wrist before serving.
How long do the frozen cubes last in the freezer?
If you leave the cubes right in the mumi&bubi trays: the cubes will be good for about 2 weeks right in the trays with the lids on. 42 cubes or 1.2 litres is also approx a 2 week supply of baby food for a 5 or 6 month old baby starting solids. Coincidence? Or, very thoughtful tray design!
For batch cooking: to really get the most out of your mumi&bubi baby food freezing trays, cook a big batch and fill up the whole tray - this will make about a 1 month-supply of that food if your baby has 1 or 2 of those cubes every other day or so as part of a varied diet.
Freeze the food in the tray(s) overnight, the next day remove all of the cubes to a zip-lock bag - the "sandwich size" fits 20 cubes perfectly. The 21st cube can be placed in a container and used that day, or the next day. How perfect is that? Tip: Label and date the bag before putting the cubes in, while the bag is still flat on the bench.
Wouldn't you love to cook pumpkin once and have a 1-month supply of fresh, homemade pumpkin cubes? This will save you so much time and you will experience the joy of having that homemade baby food restaurant in your freezer too. As a Mum who did only homemade food for 2 babies, let me tell you, it's a bit of a buzz opening that freezer door and seeing all of the food that I made myself. It's strangely addicting too, knowing how easy it is I would wake up and think, "....hmmm, what can I make today? Which of my cubes are running low (always banana!) What hasn't she tried yet?"
There is no denying that homemade is best for baby, but it's just so satisfying for Mums too :)
Cheers, to healthy, homemade baby food!
Christina
