Baby Food Homemade

Ok, so my son, Gavin, is now about 6 months old and when he turned 5 months we had to make the decision whether to buy organic baby food (i know very posh of us) or make it ourselves.  I went to the local market and realized that for .75 or a little over a dollar per food jar that perhaps the trouble of making my own food would be beneficial. 

It was.

I didn't buy any of the fancy baby food processors out there!! Although, I did do my research on them, but from everything I read (which was A LOT) it seemed like a waste of money on something that could only have one use.  So we invested in a new rice cooker (with steamer insert) and new blender, and I got down to work.

We started with sweet potatoes (total disaster since Gavin hated it), moved quickly to carrots, squash, peas, and green beans are next with great success. Then is on to fruits!

Here are some of the rules I learned. 

Rule #1: if the baby doesn't like it the first day, he will not like it 3 days later either.  Not that he will not make a face the first time you try to feed him solids or some new flavor, but that yuck face he makes its very different than the weird face.  so, don't force it, make sure they are not allergic, give it the three days and move on...you can always try again later.

Rule #2: don't throw out the water at the bottom of the steamer (it still has all the nutrients) use it to thin out your veggies. WARNING:  DON'T try it with carrots, throw away the water b/c it's dangerous to put it back in the food.

Rule #3: don't be afraid to use frozen veggies.  Peas are a great example of how you don't loose nutrients or quality by using frozen veggies.  But I used non frozen veggies for the all the orange veggies.

In the end it has saved us money and it takes maybe 10-15 minutes out of my weekday (one day) and maybe 30 minutes (total) from cutting to storing in fridge for my big "cookouts" on the weekends.  [On the weekends I try to make at least 2 types of veggies.]

I started storing them in small Tupperware or glad ware. But now, I want to be able to freeze portions that I  make on the weekends in big batches that will last thru the week so we bought Green Sprouts containers for exactly this function.  They cost under $10 and have little trays so they can be stacked one of top of another.  Super easy and BPA free (as always). [8 per package]

(above pictures the glad ware in our fridge currently: peas, carrots, squash)

So Moms, don't be afraid to try homemade baby food, it will bring the best Martha Stewart side of you and help your pockets too.