Babys First Year Blog
Homemade Baby Food Smuggery.
With a pumpkin like this, the baby will never starve.
I couldn’t be smug about breastfeeding for very long since everything went so terribly wrong almost right away. So I moved on to cloth diapering, there’s a bit of smuggery to be had there but I have to remind myself not to be too proud of myself since I have approximately a dozenhundred more loads of laundry a than someone who uses disposables exclusively. Which brings me to baby food. I posted on facebook that I realized why one of my best friends cans so much, the smugness that comes along with being able to do something that so many people rely on commercial food companies to do for them.
And it turns out I’m not alone.
Obviously making your own baby food isn’t anything new. My mom would brag about how she used to have a food mill and grind up all of my baby food as I spoon fed my first out of little glass jars. I remember thinking how archaic it must have been to go to the trouble of making your own smooshed up food.
Oh, you silly first time mom you.
Turns out making your own baby food has about a dozen benefits including knowing where the food came from. But one of the greatest benefits is that I don’t have to worry about running to the store to get more or worrying about what to do with all those tiny 2.5 oz. glass jars (glass recycling is hard to come by where we live.) Just like cloth diapers, there’s comfort in knowing that there isn’t much of an expense to anticipate in the coming months.
With farmer’s markets dwindling, I stocked up on some end of season vegetables, pureed them and froze them in ice cube trays. My freezer is full of little ice cube shaped green beans, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, peas and squash. I was also able to feed her avocado, one of my favorite green things and something commercial baby food makers are unable to supply. As she tries more food I’ll be able to make combinations easier with the little pureed food cubes than I could with food in jars.
Making your own baby food isn’t nearly the investment that cloth diapering is. A food mill and steamer basket is really all you need. I have a small food processor that works wonders however I’ve been using a Baby Brezza I received as a shower gift. I really like it, aside from it scaring the ever loving daylights out of me when it LOUDLY blends the food without warning after it is done steaming it.
Consensus on my facebook wall confirmed that there is a certain internal pride that comes along with making your own baby food, have you felt it?
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16 Comments
Daddy by Default commented on Nov 03 11 at 11:03 amI’ll admit I don’t cook a damn thing, but my wife has made all our baby’s food since birth. Breastmilk at first, then solids. It does cost a few dollars more (especially if you’re buying organic), and does take a few extra minutes more to prepare. But we both feel the benefits of having good natural food will do her well later. We put up some of our feeding sheets on my site for download here: http://daddybydefault.com/toddler-daily-feeding-worksheet/ and here: http://daddybydefault.com/tracking-your-babys-feeding-schedule/
Midge commented on Nov 03 11 at 11:08 amI make my baby’s food too. I made some for my daughter 4 years ago, but not nearly as much as I have now for my son who is 8 months old. It definitely feels good to make him fresh food and not buy jars of food. I made some apples last night in fact :)
Emma Johnson commented on Nov 03 11 at 11:14 amFor sure! I thought I had finally lost it when I called my grandmother to brag about my bags and bags of vacuum-packed freezer baby food. I get such pride from making it myself. I’d much rather make another batch of food than cook dinner, for example. When I slide my little ice cube tray in the freezer, I feel like I’ve cooked the Thanksgiving meal. Every. Time! And it was not difficult to take a long weekend away, because I packed a couple of food containers with various cubes, the defrosted during travel, and I served them over the next few days. I have yet to buy commercial baby food jars, and I feel like bragging about it a lot!
Heather commented on Nov 03 11 at 11:27 amYep. Count me among the smug over here. I’ve done avocado, banana, avocado-banana, butternut squash and sweet potato. All frozen in little cubes from this Oxo baby food freezer thingie I have (like a fancy ice cube tray). She has loved them all.
One thing, though, is there are certain things you shouldn’t make at home. My doctor has cautioned against homemade carrots, for one, because they can sometimes contain high levels of a chemical that can make baby sick. Baby food companies are able to screen for this …
Happy baby food making!
Marissa commented on Nov 03 11 at 12:07 pmI’ve always loved cooking and been good at it so making my baby’s food is a joy for me.
Damaris @KitchenCorners commented on Nov 03 11 at 12:12 pmI’m always surprised when I see comercial baby jars and more surprised when I see people using it. Unless you eat out at every single meal it seems totally impractical to use baby jars. I say this because My kitchen is tiny and I don’t have room to keep a month’s supply of those jars anywhere. At first I used to just steam the veggies and puree them, also used the ice-cube method. Then, at around 9 months I started just pureeing whatever we were eating so if were eating rice, beans, and chicken then baby would get the exact same thing in puree form. One of the benefits of this is that I was more careful about what I ate as well. At times when I would think “I’m making french fries and fried chicken for dinner” I would quickly be reminded that that “oh yeah O have to puree this stuff for baby, do I really want to feed my 9 month old pureed french fries and pureed fried chicken?” Hummm…. No! So we ended up eating better as a family. I think it’s really important at an early age for kids to learn to eat what the rest of the family eats
Courtney commented on Nov 03 11 at 1:25 pmTotally agree about the smugness (although I swear that’s not what I did it). My mom got us the Beaby Babycook, and it was seriously so easy that I can’t imagine buying the food. Chop up some veggies, pour in some water, turn a knob–that’s it! And I could make sure the food was organic, with no added *anything*.
I got pretty creative with it–check out WholesomeBabyFood.com and Weelicious.com. Lots of great ideas from purees to finger foods etc. My son really loved roasted bananas and pears mixed with quinoa and now he’ll eat pretty much whatever we give him–lentils, buffalo chicken, triple creme brie, you name it.
Kate commented on Nov 03 11 at 2:24 pmI started making our own baby food. It didn’t seem necessary and it was a whole lotta work. I didn’t it was worth it, but if you do, great. This is just an alternative pov…
Jarred baby food is usually just pureed veggies and fruit. No salt. No sugar. No juice. How is that any different from what I would make? (The store bought meat concoctions were universally disgusting so we mostly skipped those and made a few meat dishes in bulk.) Baby food is regulated in a way it wasn’t when first introduced on the market. I know exactly what’s in there.
I can provide a much larger range of flavours with jarred baby food than I ever could with home made.I still buy fruit baby food to put in plain yogurt. That way it’s sweet, and has ingredients I can pronounce. Fully of extra vitamins and yumminess.
How many mothers who made a fuss about homemade baby food are still making their own applesauce when the child is 5?
Katie commented on Nov 03 11 at 5:46 pmI’m another unable-to-breastfeed cloth diaperer and homemade baby food maker. The diapers, I will admit, are more work than disposables (not much more, and they have so many more benefits…but more). Baby food? Is easy peasy. My best tip–once you get into bigger batches (ie, you know that sweet potatoes are a huge hit), a cheapo immersion blender can be your best friend. Steam in a pot, blend, and into ice cube trays with only a single pot dirty.
Meat, though? I have to admit–I bought Gerber. (I also always have a package of dispoables on hand :) ).
Ann commented on Nov 03 11 at 8:59 pmThe homemade carrot problem is a myth. http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/nitratearticle.htm
Just don’t feed your baby homemade root foods if they are under 3 months.And has anyone heard of Yonanas? We got to try it and the baby loved it! We don’t give him ice cream yet so it was a nice substitute.
Whitney McQuarry commented on Nov 04 11 at 8:23 amYep. Right there with you. Only I will do you one better. I grow a lot of the food for him. I knew when I was pregnant I would be leaving my job and be a full time stay at home momma. My husband and I completely landscaped the yard to grow organic food. And it paid off. We have squash (butternut, acorn, yellow), Sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, carrots, lima beans, spinach, broccoli, lettuce cucumbers, onions, blueberries, apples, and an assortment of peppers, tomatoes, and herbs. If you have the space, and the time I highly suggest it. We saved a TON of money. We went through the entire summer only having to buy a few fruits and veggies that we couldnt grow (avacado, bananas, mangos, pears, peaches) meats, and pastas. We canned, froze, and pickled a lot of our harvest to the point we can make it through the winter without having to buy much. And no, I dont live in the country, I actually live in Virginia Beach. And yes, Im smug. ;)
Even the smallest yard/porch can grow a garden and many communities have public gardens.
chanel commented on Nov 04 11 at 10:13 amcount me end being smug, i make baby food than cook. its great an very easy.my 2nd not a picky eater like my first. my milk supply so low, making healthy homemade food substitute the lost.
MagPie commented on Nov 04 11 at 1:36 pmI guess what I dont understand is that my baby really only ate purees for about 2 months if that, and really only once a day. We started him a regular food pretty much as soon as he had a tooth — whole bananas, bread, cooked veggies that i would just cut up small and sort of moosh flat, tiny pieces of chicken and salmon. Why would someone puree rice and chicken for an 8 mo old instead of just feeding them tiny bitesize pieces (or better yet letting them feed themselves). He eats lasagna, waffles, rice, pasta, all kinds of stuff.
We did purees from about 6 mo to 7 1/2 mo — so for me it wasnt worth the effort to make and freeze so much food and buy the equipment when its something he’d only need for such a short time.
Nicole commented on Nov 04 11 at 9:09 pmI too have a freezer stocked with baby cubes, including avocado! Here’s a how to keep them from blackening; add a tsp of lemon juice per avocado after it’s milled. I’ve done it many times & my baby girl loves it :0)
Leah's Mommy commented on Nov 05 11 at 12:25 amI was lucky to get to do the nursing thing exclusively ’till she was 6 months, so I got to enjoy the smuggery that came off of that in lieu of cloth diapers (which I still can’t stand. We’ve considered them for #2, but I just can’t wrap my brain around washing poop and hanging cloth diapers outside in CO in February or March). I will admit – I LOVED making her baby food! It made me so happy to know that she had nothing processed or even non-organic until she was 16 months. It’s a great feeling!
~Natural Little Mother~ commented on Nov 05 11 at 3:38 pmAdd me to being smug! Now that my daughter is starting food I love growing my own food and cooking for her. Its so great that I can make a sweet potato for me, my 4 year old and my baby. No more baby food that came off the self and could be 3 years old with bugs milled up into it. I fully believe that our children will be healthier if we start them off on the right foods.
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