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When we become parents we start to look at things in a very different light. When I had my first child three years ago I decided to make her baby food. I distinctly remember taste testing my nieces baby food a few years earlier and being disgusted by the flavor… it tasted nothing like the food it was supposed to be.
My case in point: look a jar of bananas they are kinda pink and set color no change, no specs… then mash-up a real banana it is has varying colors and texture. To be fair the baby food bananas still smells like bananas… but then again perfume smells like flowers and it isn’t really flowers.
So went I first set out on the quest to make baby food I thought that Whole Foods might have a great selection of baby food, well my two local ones did not. I was disappointed. What I did find there was all the ingredients I would want to make my food.
When you decide you want to make your own baby food there are a few materials you need to do it (some of which you probably already have):
- Food processor (larger sized one)
- Steamer basket (also a larger sized one)
- Storage containers (lots of them)
What I have found in making baby food for two kids now is there are common ingredients in most recipes. So have a ton of these on hand:
Basic Ingredients:
- Apples
- Sweet potatoes
- Carrots
I recommend you buy as much as you can get organic. While they are more expensive the cost per serving for even the most expensive fruit still works out to much less than the cost of a jar of baby food. This fact is what makes people gasp the most when I tell them I make my own baby food, they assume it is more expensive. Many of the recipes make about 10 servings at least so if you spend less than $10 on the ingredients you are ahead of the conventional (non-organic) baby food.
Here is a favorite recipe for both my kids and the most expensive ingredients. Here is the cost breakdown:
- 2 – 3 apples (peeled and cored) cut into 6 pieces ($4.00)
- 2 pears (peeled and cored)cut into 4 pieces ($2.50)
- 8 oz bag of organic pitted prunes ($4.00)
- 8 oz bag of organic turkish apricots ($4.50)
- Total cost: $15.00
- Cost per serving: $0.60 (25 servings)
Directions: combine all the ingredients into a medium sauce pan and cover with water. Simmer till all fruit is soft (about 10 mins). With a ladle scoop the fruit out into a food processor and reserve the cooking water. Process and add more water if needed for desired consistency.
You can save the water for a fruit juice for the kids but I have never done that I am sure it is delicious.
I recommend you freeze some of this yummy mix. Because it has prunes in it I do not recommend that you feed this everyday (unless they have had a banana earlier in the day).
So as you can see making baby food is a healthy and economical decision. If you want some more ideas you can head over to my blog today for some more recipes and ideas.
About the author:
Leigh’s blog Green4u (Http://green4u.wordpress.com) is dedicated to giving tips to average person on how they can live a greener, healthier, and more environmentally friendly life. She is mother of two kids who inspires her to try to do all the things to she blogs about. She is also on Twitter @greenforu (http://twitter.com/greenforu) and Pinterest Green4u (http://pinterest.com/green4u/).
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[...] she prepared to give birth I jumped at the chance to help a fellow blogger out. Check out my post there about homemade baby food it is green (no packaging, natural, fresh, and [...]