Today’s post is from my daughter, Anne. She’s following in her mother’s footsteps with a living with less mindset. I always made my own baby food and Anne has also found it much less expensive to do the same. I asked her permission to share this post from her blog a couple of weeks ago. Every Friday she posts the directions for a different food to make.
Here is her first post:
I’ve had several people ask me about how I make my own baby food, so I thought I would share the basics and why I make my own. I’m now featuring a different food each week over on my blog.
A great resource that I have used is WholesomeBabyFood.com. Now that I have a few months experience, I have started doing things my own way and have learned some easy tips I’ll share.
- Saves me a lot of money!
- I know exactly what Rilyn is eating (no added preservatives unless I use canned — but even then I’m choosey).
- Ice cube trays (my favorite is the white Rubbermaid from Walmart — yes it makes a difference! I tried more of a round, deeper mold but the food cubes wouldn’t come out.)
- Blender or Food Processor (I prefer the blender)
- Freezer Ziplock Bags
- If I introduce store-bought baby food first, that tends to be what she prefers, and then she won’t eat the food I made. So resist the urge to have them “try” the store-bought baby food first.
- How much you’ll get out of the food will change as you move into more solid food. In the beginning, I watered down Rilyn’s food a lot so I got more out of it. Now, I use just enough liquid to mix up the food so it doesn’t go as far.
- Each cube is approximately 1+ ounces, allowing you to have an idea of the amount of food your baby is consuming.
- There is minimal waste as you use only 1 cube at a time and will not have to toss away much food like I sometimes toss away when using commercial foods.
- Another advantage is that you may ice cube trays on hand and will not need to go out and buy them.
- Pureeing homemade baby food is very simple. Cook the food, let it cool a bit, toss it into a blender or food processor and puree away.
- Once blended, put into ice cube trays.
- Freeze (at first I thought there was freezer burn on my food cubes, but it isn’t…its just the water coming to the top and freezing).
- Label a freezer bag and pop all your ice cubes into the bag. Its that easy!
What about you? Have you made your own baby food? What tips could you add to our discussion?
I made my own baby food and loved doing it. My husband got into it too, and it was a fun activity to do together. I liked being able to make your own blend of baby food by combining different fruits or veggies. I ended up not doing the apples as the natural applesauce was easier and cheaper. I can’t think of too much else. I did like the website you recommended, I used it a lot. Next time I think we are going to get the ninja food processor, we need a new food processor and blender, and it looks like it will chop things up pretty quickly. I did do some foods that were frozen and not fresh, you just have to be careful with that as we saw some companies added salt to their veggies. I think you are doing an awesome job with the baby food, I know it takes more effort, but it is worth it!
I have made baby food for all of my children, I have 3, the youngest being 6 months old. I find this to be easy and healthy. I know exactly what she is getting. I even make my own baby cereal, it is easy and I know healthier than what is in that box. I do use a baby food mill for the fruits and veggies but a blender for the cereal. Great post, thanks for sharing!
I didn’t make my own food for my daughter – I was so intimidated by what I thought would be a backbreaking chore. But, we have a smaller budget now and so before my son was born in July , I did a ton of research on ways to save money. So, now I cloth diaper and make my own food. I didn’t know all the other benefits when I started, but now I love that I know JUST what my baby is eating, and I love that I am being less of a consumer and that I get to be more creative. One of my current prayers (thanks to your blog and ministry) is that my heart (which loves to be out of the house all day long) would have a new love, joy and contentment being at home, and I am finding that making my own baby food (and a lot of other things) is keeping my heart at home. I love it! Thanks for this post!
I did this for both children and found it fairly easy once you develop a process. A few years ago my daughter, who is now 12, asked if we still had those ‘baby food trays’ I used with her younger brother. She wanted to make kool-aid ice cubes. It took me a little while to figure out what she was talking about. Then it dawned on me – oh, ice cube trays! In my daughter’s world ice is made by magic and dispenses out of the front panel of the refrigerator! Enjoy every moment with your little sunshine!
I made my food for my son and found another great benefit. After your child masters single foods and is ready for a little spice, you can do the same with the food your serve your family for dinner. It accomplished many things, actually. First, my son grew up eating various spices and has not been a picky eater during toddlerhood. Second, it made rethink what I served the rest of my family. We ALL now eat more fruit and veggies, less salt and overall healthier meals. It really is easy!
I am trying it this time around, and my little guy starts eating baby food in a week. My freezer is stocked, and I am ready to go! I do like that you know exactly what your baby is eating, and it is so easy to do. Also, you can do such variety when making your own – mango, avocado, blueberry, etc. When your baby is older, you can even add some spice. WholesomeBabyFood.com also has some recipes for finger foods once they get to that point. If you still have some purees leftover when baby is eating finger foods, you can sneak them into your recipes. Consider putting the veggies into your meatloaf or add sweet potato or squash puree to mac and cheese instead of butter. Mix the fruit purees in your blender with some ice for a smoothie. Add the peach cubes to your iced tea to make it have a little flavor. The possibilities are endless, and the price is right!!!
I made my own baby food mostly for my second child. I even made stew which he loved! I think I did it mostly because I wanted to know what he was eating and it saved a ton of money as well.
I also used cloth diapers for my son. Those are a bit spendy to start but I loved them and would use them again if I ever had more children. Also, if you are planning to have more children, it would be a great investment and really not that much extra work. I used the kind that had an outer shell and velcro closures so it was just as easy as using disposables. My husband didn’t mind them either!
This looks so easy!! I always assumed making and keeping baby food would be much more difficult. I am going to have to look into this…
Much love,
Future Mama
http://expectingablessing.blogspot.com/
Oh, those baggies of ice cubed baby food looks familiar! I did that with all three of my kids. Funny first time mom story…with my first baby, I was afraid of getting it too hot in the microwave, so I didn’t cook it very long. I could stir it up and thought that was fine. When my son took a bite, he made that fun “what is this” face and shivered all over. It finally dawned on me that the little crunchy parts were ice crystals and he was shivering because it was cold! I zapped it a little more and he ate it all up!
Thanks for a great post! I have always enjoyed making my own baby food and love reading posts with extra tips! I have really liked using the Baby Cubes from Juvenile Solutions http://www.juvenilesolutions.com for storage. The size is perfect and they are BPA free!