Parenting after a Loss
Those that make your own baby food...
Are there things you dont make because, they are to difficult, to expensive etc? I have made sweet potateos in the past and they were totally worth the money savings. Made pears and and squash also tonight. Thought about green beans and pea, but wondering about the difficulty with the skins. Also with peas do you use frozen? canned? Any thoughts?
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Re: Those that make your own baby food...
Hey! So good to see you back on here we have missed you
So far the only thing I made that I have decided might not be worth the time/effort are peaches. Peaches are pretty expensive right now (here at least) and I have found that they really don't make a lot of food. I think I used 4 or 5 peaches last night and only made 7 2oz servings. Plus it was irritating to peel the skin off after they cooked lol.
So far sweet potato and butternut squash make tons! I also made one papaya for when he is a little older... it was 99cents and made a LOT.
I made green beans.... I just snipped the tips of fresh beans and steamed them. It made a TON and was really cost effective. Unfortunately Owen hates them with a passion lol.
I bought store brand pea baby food... he hates that too FWIW.
None of the things we've made have taken much time at all. For peas I just bought a big bag of frozen. I cooked them as usual (in the microwave with a lil water) and then tossed them in the food processor and pureed. Super easy. For applesauce, I baked 4 apples for about 30min, (peel beforehand or after) tossed into food processor and wala. For carrots I bought a huge bag of organic baby carrots and did the same. Super easy, way cheaper and even healthier. The color in the homemade fruits/veggies is so much brighter than prepackaged. The easiest are the things you don't even have to cook......bananas, avocados, etc. GL!
So far I have made broccoli, carrots, corn, and avacado. All of them were super easy and cost effective. The avacado was the most expensive and I bet I could have gotten 4-6 meals out of 1 (which was $1). The rest cost me about $2-$4 to make so I bet I spent $11 total and it has lasted me 2 months!
i am running low though and would like some more ideas so I'm interested in what everyone else has to say. I was thinking of trying squash and sweet potato. I was also considering trying a meat but I think I'll talk to my ped first this wednesday.
One tip that I never really thought of when I started making baby food. For stuff that is expensive or out of season you can buy canned stuff really cheap. I've done canned beans (green, and other), Canned fruit. I soak them in a bit of water and rinse them really well to get rid of the extra sugars etc. (I buy the light syrup stuff, sugar-free and no sugar added ones seem to have too many wierd chemicals). Canned or frozen peas are ok but LO doesn't dig peas at all really. Banana's were a huge hit. I just mash up what I need for a meal with a fork. As for canned/frozen stuff I check the label if there is more than one or two ingreadients I skip it. Same with juices. I don't bother with baby juice now but apple juice should contain two things...water and apples.
Most of the stuff I did was veggies that would steam easliy, i've read that steaming presevres the nutrients best.
We are mostly onto table food type things now so I don't use the blender/precessor much anymore but we do use the portable food mill a lot (works good for on-the-go type meals or if you are eating out). He would only eat finger food if I'd let him but there just isn't a whole lot of nutrition in that.
I made everything until he was up to finger foods, and still most of those are provided by me (rather than Gerber). Green beans and peas weren't a big deal. The first batches I made I did strain so most of the skins weren't there and they were a little smoother. The next batch I made was only half-strained (and then mixed with the un-strained) so it was a little less smooth. Harris had trouble with textures for a LONG time, so I even had to strain sweet potatoes until the last batch I made in January (at 10 months old). Now he can eat the stringy things and skins without a problem.
I use frozen green beans and peas. I've done both fresh and frozen broccoli, too. He really loves to feed himself with all the finger foods now, so there isn't quite as much prep in all the food. I have done "batches" of finger foods and frozen them, which makes it easier since the veggies are already cooked and diced for each meal (carrots, sauteed squash, chicken, green beans). The only store bought "meal food" we use are the meat sticks. He eats store bought snacky finger foods like puffs, yogurt melts, Cheerios, teething biscuits, crunchies, etc.
Meats were one thing I attempted a few times but did have problems with. By the time I figured it out, the doctor suggested trying the kiddie meat sticks that Gerber makes, just cutting them into finger food bites. The trick with making your own meat puree is making sure there is enough fat/dark meat. I made chicken and it was just too difficult for him to handle the texture because I couldn't get it smooth. If I added milk it would just be watery and still have the difficult texture. However, once I tried turkey with dark meat only it pureed BEAUTIFULLY!! I couldn't believe the difference in texture and how smooth it was. He did really well with that. With this next baby I will make efforts to do more meats now that I know this. The meat sticks are great and the meat is soft; he also does well with hot dog bites/dices (without skin).
Another reason I didn't really do too much meat was because I don't ever buy or cook poultry with dark meat so it's not convenient. Now that he does finger foods I can just pull off a few bites of whatever chicken or ground beef we are eating and he does ok, so I don't have to worry about making meat anymore. The fibrous meats (not ground) are still difficult for him to chew without molars, so he grows tired of eating them and doesn't want to finish. I suppose if it took me 5 minutes to finish one bite of something I wouldn't want to take too many bites either.