Adventures in baby food
By Tara Roberts on Thu, Jun 11, 2009
My little guy is officially old enough for solid food (well, really runny rice cereal at least), so I’ve started paying a lot of attention to those little jars and containers of pureed peas and carrots and peaches stacked on the grocery store shelves.
The Cost Helper Web site reports families pay from $83 to $130 a month on food for babies ages 0-2 years old, according to a USDA agency.
Pre-Baby Henry, my family’s average monthly grocery bill was in the $160-$200 range. Can I afford to add another big chunk of money?
Or can I find a way to be on the underside of that average?
And so, the Roberts Family Makes Their Own Baby Food Mission has begun.
I pureed a tasty pear and froze it by the tablespoon in ice cube trays, as recommended by loads of handy books and Web sites on baby-food-making (WholesomeBabyFood.com is my resource so far).
It was easy, quick and pretty fun. Now, when Henry’s ready for a meal I can thaw a cube and feed away.
I’ve got about two weeks of meals in there (he doesn’t eat much yet), all from one (cheap) pear. No paying for the packaging, labeling or marketing. Why pay a company to do something I can do so easily at home?
This weekend I plan to shop the farmers market for some tasty looking veggies to prepare and store for the day my boy’s ready to sample a wider variety of fruits and veggies. With the basic tools in my kitchen, I can make a little fresh, local produce into a smorgasbord of tasty goodness!
Of course, this could get trickier as Henry starts chowing down on more than a tablespoon of mushed fruit at a time, but I’m ready to give it a shot.
Any other baby-food-makers out there have tips? Any other readers have recommendations for the tastiest affordable local produce?
Tags: Stretching A Buck
June 12th, 2009 at 1:03 am
Babies are very picky in the food that they eat. That’s you must search why they are picky and the best possible solution of the problem.
June 12th, 2009 at 9:01 am
I think you have a great start here. Don’t be afraid to hand him a whole pear and just let him suck on it. Enjoy the process (and accept the mess
My favorite website for homemade baby food recipes is:
http://www.babyfood101.com
The site suggests that you just cook for yourself and feed some to baby. There is a 6 month course of suggestions you can sign up for to guide you in introducing a variety of foods for your baby.
I hope this is helpful.
Lisa
July 1st, 2009 at 11:45 am
I’ve got a blog (http://adventuresinbabyfood.blogspot.com/) about my trials and tribulations with making my own baby food. The thing I’ve noticed most is that my baby LOVES flavor, so don’t be afraid to use spices and seasonings.