Fool Proof Baby Food Making

If someone had told me making my own baby food was this easy I soooo would have done it for L too. It's absolutely fool proof! We follow some pretty basic steps to get the job done, and Abbott just loves it. Here is what we've been doing to save a little money around here...

 First, we picked super yummy adult veggies and fruits. So far we've done squash, sweet potatoes, peas, and bananas. I am hoping to to as much fresh as possible, but we did start with frozen peas and I was okay with that. It was just easier! We bought the other veggies fresh though, as they are easier to prepare.

Next, we bought these great Ziploc steam baggies from the store. You get maybe 10 for around $3.00, but it is so worth it! We simply peeled the fresh butternut squash, chopped it up, threw in a little water according to the directions on the bag and steamed in the microwave. I was a little leery about how soft the squash would get because they were so hard I could barely cut through them, but they were perfect for blending when they were done! I couldn't believe how well the bag steamed them.

Then, I just threw my steamed squash in the blender after they had cooled down a bit and blended with a small amount of water. The amount of water depends on the amount of veggies. I have typically started with around 1 oz of water in the bottom of the blender and worked my way up as needed. (A good tip I read for the first round of veggies is to mix them with formula or breast milk when blending, that way it is creamier and has a familiar taste to the baby. We did this with our first round of peas and Abbott loved it!)

When we had our veggies blended to the consistency we wanted we just loaded up an ice cube tray and let them freeze overnight. In the morning we popped them out and stored them in a labeled freezer bag. It was so super easy.

I spent about an hour maybe one night, start to clean up, making 4 different types of baby food. All together, steam baggies and freezer bags included, I spent about $12 and got about 60 servings worth of food for Abbott's age. It was unbelievable! Being acutely aware of how much we started spending weekly on L's baby food as she grew, I know this will be a big savings for us. And it feels good to be making something a little healthier for my baby too.

Adventures in baby feeding...

The past couple of weeks have been exciting ones for Abbott's tummy. Over presidents day weekend we decided to take advantage of our extra day off. We cleaned, played, got lots of laundry done, and gave Abbott his first bites of rice cereal.

The doctor told us we could start whenever at our 4 month check up. I'll admit that Abbott was probably ready, seeing as how it would suit him just fine to have bottle in his mouth every 5 seconds. Mommy, however, was not. It's not surprise that I've been on that kick of not wanting little one to grow anymore than he already has. But, alas, we started the cereal anyway at right around 5 months. We only got a few bites in the first time, but more than once since then he's almost eaten through a whole serving!

And don't worry, despite his first impressions, he loves it now. Especially since we've switched over to oatmeal, which appears to be much more appetizing.

In other baby food news, I've decided to give making my own baby food a go. With Laurelei we just bought every flavor Gerber had to offer. First babies can be so overwhelming you sometimes feel like you couldn't possibly embark on any other new projects besides just the new baby! I feel a lot more up to multitasking this second time around. I mean I am currently blogging with a 3 year old on my lap while rocking a bouncy seat with one foot, so making my own baby food shouldn't be all that overwhelming, right?

We started with peas. For some reason they seemed not as daunting as some other food varieties. We didn't quite have the most successful first experience. Our equipment was less than adequate for the task. We are definitely going to be borrowing a food processor for the next attempt. After using three separate mixing/ blending devices we finally settled on the right texture. From one bag of frozen peas we were able to freeze about 20 individual pea servings.

 Abbott had a couple of spoonfuls of the left over veggie and they were a big hit. It made me feel very proud of my efforts! We are planning to keep him on mostly cereal with only a couple of spoonfuls of peas this week.  As we get closer to 6 months I think we will get a little more adventurous. I'm excited about the healthy options we can explore making our own food at home. And I'm not going to lie, I appreciate the price too! Next up is sweet potatoes I think. Wish us luck!