How to Make Rice Cereal

A friend asked me about this, so here are the instructions with pictures. To eat this cereal, the baby must be at least six months old first. It takes about 25 minutes from start to finish to make two days' worth of cereal. These instructions are from the book Super Baby Food, which I highly recommend if anyone wants to make her own baby food. Alright, let's get cookin'!

What you'll need:
a package of uncooked rice (we use organic brown rice), 1 cup of water, and a blender.

First, measure out one cup of water and bring it to a boil.

While you're waiting for the water to boil, measure 1/4 cup of uncooked rice and blend it in the blender. It usually takes about two minutes for the rice to get into a powder form (it always reminds me of a sand storm in a desert when it's finished). Personal note: if you're serious about making homemade baby food, you may want to invest in a good blender that has metal insides that turn the blades (most have plastic). The first night we tried making this cereal we melted the plastic turny-things that turn the blades. We now have an Oster with metal insides ($30) that works beautifully.

Okay, after about two minutes the rice should look like powder, and there won't be much of it, but that's just fine.

Now, your water should start boiling soon. Once it does, turn the heat as low as it will go and pour in the rice powder. Stir with a wire whisk and then cover. Set your timer for 10 minutes.

Continue to stir with the whisk approximately every two minutes or so (it's a real hassle if the rice sticks to the bottom of the pot).

By the time your ten minutes is almost up, the rice should be getting pretty thick (which is good). When the timer goes off, simply empty the cereal into two containers, cover, and stick in the refrigerator. (For containers, we use small glass custard cups. Target sells a set of four cups and lids for $5.)

You've just made two single servings of homemade rice cereal!

This stuff only stays good for two-three days in the fridge, so I end up making it every other day or so, but as you can see, it's not difficult. The book recommends always using the same burner, pot, setting so you'll get the same results each time. When it comes time for me to serve it to Mary, I microwave it for 20 seconds then add a little bit of water to thin it out a little (she's almost seven months). It doesn't taste especially great to me, but it's my daughter's favorite food! She eats it every night before her last feeding.

We started making rice cereal about three weeks ago, and I think we're only on our second bag of rice (which cost less than $2 at Publix). Very economical and VERY healthy, what could be better?! I hope you enjoyed this quick recipe and baby food lesson. If this turns out to be something for you, again, I highly recommend the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron (Huntsville's Bailey Cove Library has a copy).

Happy Feeding!