Part 1-- The Equipment
Welcome to our FPIES test kitchen! And a note-- though we deal with FPIES in our household, all of this info is applicable to cooking for children with various forms of PI. So your little one is ready to embark on the world of solids, or maybe he or she has already. For parents of little ones with PI, reading the labels and being hypervigilant about hidden ingredients can be exhausting. Why not make it all homemade? Why not create safe foods at home, leaving behind worries of factory cross contamination and questionable ingredients?
But what equipment is needed for this noble endeavor? There are many options out there for baby food specifically (there are actual cookers that do just about everything but pick the fruit off of the vine for you!) However, if you are like me, you will want equipment to be simple but frugal, and items that will hold up with much wear and tear. Here is our list of equipment and uses:
1.Saucepan(s)-- Buy one medium, or one small and one large saucepan (with lids!) I like the ones that are dishwasher safe and are free of non-stick coating. This way, they can be sanitized!
2.Colandar-- Buy at least one medium to medium-large colander. Be sure that it nests into one of your saucepans. You can use this for steaming fruits and veggies before dicing or pureeing them!
3.Utensils-- Have a variety of your favorites and again, I do love the dishwasher safe varieties. I keep a serving spoon, a whisk, a paring knife, a few spatulas, a serving spatula (like a pie server), a pastry blender, a pampered chef masher, and measuring cups/spoons, as well as a few odds and ends.
4.Silicone baking cups-- These are dishwahser safe, you can use as many or as few as you need, and the muffins/cakes typically pop right out without any need for messy greasing or papers (some of which, believe it or not, could contain questionable ingredients!) I got 12 for $4 at Target (and they are heart shaped!)
5.Electric mixer--- I use our Kitchenaid and simply sanitize all mixing parts between uses
6.Mixing bowl(s)-- I keep two dedicated to B, but one is really enough.
7.Food processor or Blender--- I have both. A mini food processor for small jobs and a large glass jar blender for large jobs. Really, you just need one or the other, but I like having both. These are much cheaper than buying those expensive baby food makers and you can find some with lots of settings to create a variety of textures for your little one's foods. My current blender has 14 settings and is very resilient to my incessant cooking. It was under $50.
8.Brownie pan-- Sized at about 9x13, this can be used for cakes, sorbet making, cookies, bars, granola. . . the list goes on. You can also use this to hold your silicone baking cups when making cupcakes or muffins, or for flash freezing veggies and fruits.
9.Freezer bags-- I get the quart and the gallon size. Once you make baby food cubes or packets, several can be stored in the freezer bags, freeing up your trays for more cooking.
10.Ice cube trays-- You can also get actual baby food freezer trays but really, you can just pick up a few ice cube trays at the dollar store. For the plain ice cube trays, I cover them with a solid layer of press and seal before freezing food in them. Silicone trays work really well too--- just cover them with the press and seal too.
11.Press and Seal wrap--- Cover ice cube trays of premade food with them, make little packets of diced frozen food, etc. Many many uses!
12.Variety of small storage containers (Freezer and microwave safe)-- These are great for pre-made meals if you don't always have time to cook everything right at the meal time. Also, many recipes make much more than our little ones will eat in a serving, so these are great for preserving leftovers.
Some children will not be sensitive enough to their trigger foods in order to need to use separate kitchen equipement from the rest of the family. Not only is B sensitive to some things to the degree of needing separate cookware, but I also find it easier to have her own set of things. This way, when I need something for her food, it is readily available. Also, I don't have to question the cross contamination, which is a huge relief. She does share some of our cookware, but only equipment that I can adequately sanitize in the dishwasher. In accordance to using separate cookware, I also make sure that I buy separate sponges for washing the few pieces of equipment that are not dishawasher safe. I keep them a different color from the sponges I buy for handwashing the rest of the household's dishes, and I never allow her dishes and our dishes to share the sink.
Another significant detail about your PI kitchen equipment to remember: you are cooking for a child, so make it fun! I search out utensils that have bright colors or patterns, silicone cups and pans in fun shapes, and any fun looking equipment that I might not buy for the rest of the household (I just bought a tiny skillet that makes pig shaped pancakes). Most of us will have to encounter food aversions or simple toddler pickiness at some point and keeping things fun and fresh can help make the same old foods still look appealing.
I hope this helps to get everyone started! Keep posted for the next installment of the PI Pantry-- Part 2: Ingredients!
Welcome to our FPIES test kitchen! And a note-- though we deal with FPIES in our household, all of this info is applicable to cooking for children with various forms of PI. So your little one is ready to embark on the world of solids, or maybe he or she has already. For parents of little ones with PI, reading the labels and being hypervigilant about hidden ingredients can be exhausting. Why not make it all homemade? Why not create safe foods at home, leaving behind worries of factory cross contamination and questionable ingredients?
But what equipment is needed for this noble endeavor? There are many options out there for baby food specifically (there are actual cookers that do just about everything but pick the fruit off of the vine for you!) However, if you are like me, you will want equipment to be simple but frugal, and items that will hold up with much wear and tear. Here is our list of equipment and uses:
1.Saucepan(s)-- Buy one medium, or one small and one large saucepan (with lids!) I like the ones that are dishwasher safe and are free of non-stick coating. This way, they can be sanitized!
2.Colandar-- Buy at least one medium to medium-large colander. Be sure that it nests into one of your saucepans. You can use this for steaming fruits and veggies before dicing or pureeing them!
3.Utensils-- Have a variety of your favorites and again, I do love the dishwasher safe varieties. I keep a serving spoon, a whisk, a paring knife, a few spatulas, a serving spatula (like a pie server), a pastry blender, a pampered chef masher, and measuring cups/spoons, as well as a few odds and ends.
4.Silicone baking cups-- These are dishwahser safe, you can use as many or as few as you need, and the muffins/cakes typically pop right out without any need for messy greasing or papers (some of which, believe it or not, could contain questionable ingredients!) I got 12 for $4 at Target (and they are heart shaped!)
5.Electric mixer--- I use our Kitchenaid and simply sanitize all mixing parts between uses
6.Mixing bowl(s)-- I keep two dedicated to B, but one is really enough.
7.Food processor or Blender--- I have both. A mini food processor for small jobs and a large glass jar blender for large jobs. Really, you just need one or the other, but I like having both. These are much cheaper than buying those expensive baby food makers and you can find some with lots of settings to create a variety of textures for your little one's foods. My current blender has 14 settings and is very resilient to my incessant cooking. It was under $50.
8.Brownie pan-- Sized at about 9x13, this can be used for cakes, sorbet making, cookies, bars, granola. . . the list goes on. You can also use this to hold your silicone baking cups when making cupcakes or muffins, or for flash freezing veggies and fruits.
9.Freezer bags-- I get the quart and the gallon size. Once you make baby food cubes or packets, several can be stored in the freezer bags, freeing up your trays for more cooking.
10.Ice cube trays-- You can also get actual baby food freezer trays but really, you can just pick up a few ice cube trays at the dollar store. For the plain ice cube trays, I cover them with a solid layer of press and seal before freezing food in them. Silicone trays work really well too--- just cover them with the press and seal too.
11.Press and Seal wrap--- Cover ice cube trays of premade food with them, make little packets of diced frozen food, etc. Many many uses!
12.Variety of small storage containers (Freezer and microwave safe)-- These are great for pre-made meals if you don't always have time to cook everything right at the meal time. Also, many recipes make much more than our little ones will eat in a serving, so these are great for preserving leftovers.
Some children will not be sensitive enough to their trigger foods in order to need to use separate kitchen equipement from the rest of the family. Not only is B sensitive to some things to the degree of needing separate cookware, but I also find it easier to have her own set of things. This way, when I need something for her food, it is readily available. Also, I don't have to question the cross contamination, which is a huge relief. She does share some of our cookware, but only equipment that I can adequately sanitize in the dishwasher. In accordance to using separate cookware, I also make sure that I buy separate sponges for washing the few pieces of equipment that are not dishawasher safe. I keep them a different color from the sponges I buy for handwashing the rest of the household's dishes, and I never allow her dishes and our dishes to share the sink.
Another significant detail about your PI kitchen equipment to remember: you are cooking for a child, so make it fun! I search out utensils that have bright colors or patterns, silicone cups and pans in fun shapes, and any fun looking equipment that I might not buy for the rest of the household (I just bought a tiny skillet that makes pig shaped pancakes). Most of us will have to encounter food aversions or simple toddler pickiness at some point and keeping things fun and fresh can help make the same old foods still look appealing.
I hope this helps to get everyone started! Keep posted for the next installment of the PI Pantry-- Part 2: Ingredients!
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