Making My Own Baby Food - Round Lake,IL

J.,

Making your own baby food is one of the most wonderful things you could do for you and your baby. It is healthier because there are no additives or food coloring and it will save you a ton in grocery bills. To start all you need is a food processor or a blender, ice cube trays, and some press and seal.
Buy organic fruits and veggies any way you can find them, whether it is fresh, frozen, or in a can. Boil or steam all your veggies and throw them in a food processor until they are smooth and then fill the ice cube trays and freeze. Cover the trays with press and seal and then they can be stacked on top of each other. I boiled most of the hard fruit the rest I just blened once it was fresh or defrosted. Sometimes you need to add a bit of water to get the right consistency so I would save the water that I boiled or steamed the food in because it was still packed with all the nutrients. Once the food is frozen pop it out of the trays and store it in gallon size ziplocs and label them with name of food and date.
Do not keep food for longer than 1 month and never cross contaminate the bags, espcecially in the beginning because of allergy worries. Each cube is 1 oz of food so you basically just add more cubes as you go along, and in the end you just start making the food lumpier than in the beginning.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist and you don't have to go out and buy food storage containers and baby food processors. In the end you only have left over ice cube trays and who couldn't use a few extra, and even if you don't want them they only cost about $1 a piece.

About 3 apples fills a tray, same with bananas. A can of peaches or pears fills a tray, and a regular size bag of frozen fruits or veggies does the same. Squash, 1 large squash will fill 2 trays, 1 sweet potatoes fill 1 tray.
Experiment and you will get it down in no time.
Just make sure to use a wide variety of colors, the different colors all have different and important vitamins.

I never made my own cereal, it is so cheap to buy a box of organic cereal than it is to make your own.

Hope all of this helps!
Good Luck!
J.

J.,

That's awesome! You will feel really good doing it too. I would ask your pediatrician what foods to begin with and then what foods to move to. You were given advice on making some root vegetables below (carrots, etc) and I was told NOT to do those because there are nitrogens in those vegetables that aren't so great for babies early on.

I spent a lot on my blender (a lot...). It is a Vita Mix. It was about $300 BUT I used it for all of her first foods (that saved a TON) and use it for smoothies now.

Good luck and have fun!

J.

Avocados were both my baby's first food and they still love it. It has a lot of nutrition and the fat is great for baby brains. It's easy to scrape and smoosh so you don't need anything but a knife to cut it open and a spoon to feed it.

The other ladies hit the nail on the head, I can't really add anything more about making it. The variety of foods you can try is limitless though, and you don't have to worry about your baby's favorite food being "out" at certain stores.
If you would've asked me 3 years ago if I'd be making my own baby-food, I would've said you were crazy. But it literally takes me 2 hours to make a month's worth of food, and my 6 month old eats a lot!
I have a great market to buy fresh fruits and veggies too...they're very cheap and very fresh, though not organic. It's called Sunrise Fresh Market in Mundelein. You can find the address online. It's principally a Mexican grocery store, but they've got great deals on fresh produce as well as fresh-cut meat. Fortunately for me, it's within walking distance of my house, so I save gas too!

Good luck, you're doing a wonderful thing for your baby!

Hi J.-
Making your own food is easy, cheap, & delicious!

I made food for both our kids- daughter 3 & son 8 months. I used the freezer method so I could make big patches.

For veggies, I bought frozen veggies, it was just easier. However, I have also used sweet potatoes, squash, & carrots. I've even purchased some frozen fruit this time around & used it on demand.

If you use the freezer method, you'll need a food processor or blender, & lots of ice cube trays.

Prepare what you like (ie, a large bag of frozen peas) & blend, always reserve some of the cooking water to smooth out your puree. Then, spoon into the trays & freeze. Once frozen, remove & store in freezer baggies labeled w/ product. Thaw as needed. 2 ice cubes = 1 small jar of baby food. W/ a large bag of frozen veggies, I yield around 12 meals.

When you bake (baking makes it sweeter) your sweet potatoes or squash, do the same. I always select the largest veggies for these.

Fruit is a little tricky, as apples & pears brown easily. This time around I've actually used jarred unsweetened applesauce. You can mash banana on demand, I use 1/2 for a meal.

Later, you can also make your own meat meals. Really!

Both of my children are good eaters & never turned away food. However, neither would eat jarred food the few times I offered it to them.

I truly feel making your own food is healthier, cheaper, & more controlled. All you need to do is buy a jar of food & then make your own & compare color, texture, taste.

Hope this is helpful, good luck!!