Adventures in Baby Food
I used to say that spoon feeding baby food was the worst part of having a baby. Since Paxton arrived I've had to revise that statement. Not just because he's a screamer, is needy, and overly sensitive. But because he actually LIKES to eat (most of the time). So, spoon feeding him isn't all that bad.
With Ayla we were rollin' in the big bucks (well, compared to now) so I didn't think twice about buying lots of baby food jars for her, tossing leftovers, and moving on. But with Paxton, money is a little tighter, so I thought I could try making my own baby food -- at least partially. It *is* cheaper (or about the same price) and is actually more convenient because you tend to buy more "bulk" that you will have on hand. Plus, I like that I can try some other foods that don't normally come in the jarred baby foods.
Here's what I've tried so far:
Homemade:
- butternut squash
- zucchini
- sweet potatoes
- acorn squash
- spaghetti squash
- cantelope
- banana (duh...seriously folks, don't buy jarred banana baby food...I mean, c'mon)
- avacado
Semi-Homemade:
- applesauce - I bought a big jar of no-sugar added applesauce. He loves it and we add it to anything he doesn't love quite so much...and the jar is WAY easier than trying to cook & peel apples (no thanks).
- green beans - just mushed up the canned ones we were all eating (need to mush them more next time!)
- carrots - mushed up canned carrots
Next on my list:
- pears
- chicken (dare I?)
- canned sweet peas
- frozen broccoli
- canned corn
- any other suggestions?????
Any one want to share their baby food experiences?
6 comments so far:
devinsmom said:
Isn't making baby food FUN!? If you want or need... there is a wonderful book called "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. It goes through Toddler food too and is a great guide for how to shop for produce. I had to buy another one... I lost mine in the move, thank god for craigslist.
Kelly Freemyer
acmickelson said:
We just food process everything we eat for dinner or lunch. If we're having something spicy (or adding something baby shouldn't have (like eggs or peanuts), I just take baby's portion out before I add the spice or sauce and before I combine foods baby shouldn't have. The food processor is my friend. You can make babyfood out of ANYTHING if you process it enough! You can always freeze extras in ice cube trays. Have fun with it! :)
nancy said:
try peas and corn from the freezer instead of canned. They will have more nutrition and less sodium than canned, and not any more work than opening a can. I had good luck making cereals for Conrad - starting with rice, then oatmeal, than all kinds of other goodies. Eventually I was grinding and cooking a mixture of beans with grains and meat isn't as necessary at that young age since they are getting great protein from that combination. It is noisy grinding, but cooking it is just as easy as making mac n cheese from a box. (add water, boil, stir). I would divy it up into smaller containers and freeze what I didn't think I would use within a few days. Ultra cheap - talking pennies per serving.
If you decide to tackle apples - do a big batch and make an apple pie or apple crisp the same day :) I'm a big fan of using kitchen tools for these tasks. apple peeler/corer/slicer is awesome and/or consider buying a SauceMaster. The sauce master can be used to make lots of sauces (apple sauce, pear sauce), juice (tomato juice, grape juice), or salsa (thinking of Ben here ;-)
have fun!
mariahcharles said:
Bananas work well with using a fork, Sidney LOVED mangos! We bought them in a flat at Sams - she ate that all the time. I made all of Sidney's food - got ideas from the Petite Appetite book, or I would cruise the baby food isle to get ideas. I'd watch canned stuff due to the sodium, that's why baby food is so flat, lack of it. Peas were messy to make- well I steamed everything and then ran it through a strainer, they took time. I did do chicken, put it in a food processor - looks really weird though... Good Luck! I did try to make my own rice cereal from brown rice, I deemed it ok to buy it. It was noisy and very inconsistent in the texture.
marisanokes said:
I have nothing to offer as far as suggestions but I am really happy you shared this! I was talking about this yesterday and had no idea how to approach it. Thanks!
Prlinehan said:
You know I'd share and share and share some more :) Here are my tidbits from what you've written... apples may take some prep time (though not a lot more than sweet potatoes) but they smell AWESOME when they're steaming...esp if you add a little cinnamon. I've heard mixed things about using the canned stuff because of sodium content-- but I'm not educated enough about it to say anything more about it. Good luck if you decide to do chicken-- I made some but Owen would not touch it even if I mixed it with something. If you ever want to borrow my double decker steamer (means you can do two different kinds of food @ once), be my guest. Owen liked mango & papaya. Okay, gonna stop. I could go on and on. :)
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