Guest Post by Alisha Hughes from Meal Planning Mommies
If you have itty bittys in your home, there are many great reasons to consider making your own baby food. Not only is it healthy, but I've found that it is much cheaper, and very convenient to do.
Some of my favorite foods to use are apples, pears, peaches, zucchini, squash, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes. I recommend using what is in season and on sale as much as possible in order to save money. If you buy in bulk and process enough of the baby food to last you for a few months, you should always have an ample supply of a variety of different fruits and veggies at your disposal to feed to your little one.
The steps for making any of these fruits or veggies into baby food are very similar:
1. Peel (if desired) and cut into chunks.
2. Cook in boiling water until very soft (or use a steamer).
3.
Puree in a blender or a food processor with a little water. If I am
having a hard time blending all the chunks I sometimes add a little
extra water. (Extra tip: I sometimes decide to add a little baby cereal
to the blended food to make it thicker, or more substantial.)
4.
Pour into ice cube trays and allow to freeze. Put these cubes into freezer bags, labeled with
what is inside and the date you made it. This baby food will be good for up to six months in your freezer.
I've found that three ice cubes are about the amount in an average baby
food jar. When it comes time to
feed my daughter, I just pop a couple of "ice cubes" into a bowl and microwave
them–usually for about 30-40 seconds. If it is a little too warm, I
just let it cool some before feeding her.
Other great foods to start with are bananas
and avocados which are already softened when they are ripe enough. When
the banana is good and brown, mash that thing up with a fork and your
baby will get dessert!
There is something very rewarding to me about seeing my
baby enjoy food that I have prepared!
Alisha Hughes is the mother of two vibrant children. She and two of her friends, who are also mommies to itty bittys, have joined hands in
creating a blog for moms to get meal ideas called Meal Planning Mommies. They include pictures and step-by-step instructions–straight from their kitchen to yours!
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Note from Crystal: The beauty of frugality is that different things work for different people. I've only had two little ones so far, but I've escaped ever paying
for a jar of baby food. However, I've found that making my own baby food up in advance like Alisha does hasn't worked very well for us so far. Instead, we have a bit of a different approach. If you're interested, you can read more what we do for baby food at
our home at this post I wrote here.
Do you make your own baby food or have other creative alternatives to paying full-price for the little jars of baby foods? If so, I'd love to hear!
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I did this for my son when he was little and I still do it for somethings. It’s a great add-in for meals, quick soups, etc. Sweet potato is really yummy mixed with oatmeal.
Now that he is older I’ll make up a batch of spaghetti-os (whole wheat pasta, tomato sauce, meat/turkey dogs) or something else and freeze. It’s great for quick meals!
I am the mom of 6 children, and used less and less baby food the more children I have had. I breastfeed all of them for at least 2 years-just let them wean themselves. Life is interesting to babies/toddlers and they eventually just have no interest in nursing.
I have done the jar baby food, homemade baby food in ice cube trays and just making some food. The thing I found works best is just delay food introduction until the child shows an interest in picking up the food and putting into their mouth for themselves around 8 months. Early food introduction is a way for allergies to develop in your child. The baby cereal is pretty much junk compared to fresh food. I would give them baked sweet potatoes, pease, maybe some cheerios, a graham cracker, cooked soft carrots, etc. Anything I could have soft and a good texture so they could pick it up. The baby would be very interested in feeding themselves and would amuse them for quite awhile. My children tended to be large babies, (largest was 12 lbs. 10 oz. )and nursing kept them fed until this time. When they would need to nurse more, I would recognize the growth spurt, drink more and eat healthy food. I would nurse the baby more frequesntly. My milk production always picked up. I never introduce any solids until after 6 months of age, and never any dairy until after 1 year. It doesn’t take buckets of $$ to feed babies. Hope that helps!!
Hi! Great info and comments. I’m wondering— has anyone tried making ‘teething biscuits’? Willing to share a recipe or point me in the right direction? Thanks!
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