Thursday, June 4, 2009

Pureed Peas Make Me Happy...




I'm a home baby food making Mama and proud of it.

I chose to make my own baby food for Bubbalu when I discovered that not only could I control what when into his food, but that is was CHEAPER and EASY.

And we all like saving some serious money.

My theory this this:
If I can purchase the product (say sweet potatoes) for less per pound in the grocery store produce section (or food co-op, farmers market or whathaveyou) than the prepackaged food then it is worth the hassle.
I have multiple gallon sized zip top bags full of baby food in my freezer. I just grab a bowl and open the door. SUPER easy. If I'm heading out for the day, I put two or three cubes in a small plastic container. When eatin' time rolls around they are usually completely thawed and ready to go. If not? A bit of boiling water and some rice cereal do the trick.

Here are a few of my favorite baby foods to make at home:

Sweet potato - BIG DOUBLE YES. I make huge batches of sweet potato and use it daily as a starter base for meals. Peel, boil until soft, puree, spoon into ice-cube trays and freeze.

Apple - Home-grown apples made into home-made applesauce lovingly donated by my parents are pureed to perfect consistency and frozen in ice-cube trays. SUPER easy. Lil Chick loves it. I usually mix in a bunch of oatmeal baby cereal. Applesauce oatmeal? Yes please!

Squash - Oh my lands, it's got to be the easiest thing around. Directions:
1. Go to grocery store
2. Purchase frozen cooked brick of squash (in frozen veggie section)
3. Defrost and spoon into ice-cube trays.

Voila. See? Not too difficult.

Pumpkin - I was wrong. Pumpkin is easier than squash. You can buy canned pumpkin and freeze it in ice cube trays. SUPER easy. Just make sure you don't buy Pumpkin PIE mix instead of plain pumpkin. Baby might be hopped up on the sugar for a good 18+ hours if you mix those two up.

Banana - Squish it around a bit before you even peel it. Then open, mash with a fork and spoon it in. Beware: Banana is slightly constipating. Might need some pureed prunes as a side dish with this one.

Avocado - Purchase, peel, mash and serve. Tons of healthy fats to help grow a baby's brain. Best to freeze in slices to prevent browning.

Peas - I buy frozen peas, microwave and puree them. Once again, spoon into ice cube trays and freeze. Watch the skins, they can be tricky. Add enough liquid to make sure it is truly a pureed consistency.

There are many many many more foods to make at home for the babes. Just think, with all the money you've saved making your baby food at home you can finally purchase that ferrari! Or a new washer and dryer. With the pedestals. And forgo the normal white and pick a COLOR.

I would love a happy and bright washer and dryer set. You KNOW that the green, blue, brown and red ones have more fun and are more satisfied (read : happy) with their appliance existance. And a happy washer and dryer means happy clothes.

And you NEED happy clothes, what with all the pureed sweet potato, apples, squash, pumpkin, avocado, banana and peas that your perfect baby will fling on you.

And where do I get all my home baby food making information? Right HERE at WholesomeBabyFood.com. Go check em out...

A

13 comments :

  1. I tried this with Isaac when he was younger, but I did one wrong thing and had offered him store bought food first. He refused to eat any of my homemade baby food :( If we have another baby I know not to give them the store bought stuff and just start with homemade. Great tips!

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  2. I love that website! Olivia actually prefers homemade (chunkier and tastier) versus store bought.

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  3. Homemade is so much healthier! Store bought food has so much water added, why pay for water when you can just add it yourself.
    If you are looking for another way to save money check out www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com. New cloth diapers are nothing like you might be thinking!

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  4. Carrots are another easy one: buy, peel (optional), cut up (optional), boil, mash. And if you use little enough water that it can all be mashed in and not poured off you save even more vitamins. Word of warning: if you feed a child too many carrots they will turn orange!

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  5. Thanks for posting about this! Someday I want to make my own baby food and it's great to know that it's pretty easy...I definitely want to make the effort in the future!

    Jen

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  6. Thanks for the great post! I just started playing around with making some baby food of our own for our little guy. I never took the time to figure it out and do it with my older 2. Your info is a helpful start.

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  7. I use http://www.babyfood101.com to help me find great foods to introduce to my baby.
    Happy eating!
    Lisa

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  8. I also did this for a TILT post a while ago. My little LOVES sweet potatoes. Great post!

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  9. I use zuchinni and squash, wash it, chop it up, steam it and then put in a blender until smooth. Its super easy and even cheaper than the frozen stuff.

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  10. We skipped the pureed foods, so I've never made any myself. Something I've always wondered: do you need a ton of ice cube trays??

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  11. I only have 3 ice cube trays. I fill them and freeze em, pop out the food cubes and store them in ziptop labeled bags in the freezer, wash the trays and good to go.

    Really quite easy.

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  12. WAY TO GO!!!!!!

    I too made all my own baby food for the Triplets from the same site soo easy. I did not buy one single of those nasty little jars YIPEE!

    YUMMY!

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  13. This post makes me hungry for some veggies myself =)

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