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1st Trimester
jordycakes
member
Baby Food
jordycakes
member
Any one out there plan on making their own baby food? Anyone already made their own? I would like to do this but was wondering if it really does save money and if its really better than organic baby food.
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Re: Baby Food
I'll tell you that a 2 pack of Gerber is $1.25. I can buy two huge sweet potatoes and make 2 whole ice cube trays of food for the same amount. So, yes, it's cheaper...way cheaper.
P.S. I work full-time and just made a 1 lb bag of frozen peas into baby food last night. Took me 20 minutes. 5 to steam, 5 in the food processor, and 10 to spoon into ice cube trays (4 trays for 1 lb. of peas)
I plan on it, but I also realize that I may be too tired/overwhelmed to actually do it, and I am sure I won't exclusively feed homemade food.
I really want one of these, though I know I could just use a regular steamer/food processor, this seems nice and convenient.
WANT.
I make it for DD. It's a lot cheaper than organic baby food. It's probably about the same price as non-organic baby food, maybe a little cheaper. It's really easy to make (just steam, and puree in a blender) and it's so nice to see your baby enjoying meals you made all by yourself- plus, you know exactly what's going into their body.
wholesomebabyfoods.com is a great site.
I have made both of my kids their baby food. We do get jars as backup, or because my mom for some reason thinks it's better, but we always wait and get Earth's Best when it's on sale + I have coupons.
With DS, he starting eating solids around November, so it was SUPER expensive to get good organic fruits and vegtables out of season and they were not of superior quality either.
With DD, I planned ahead. I knew she'd be starting solids around Nov/Dec so that summer after she was born, I started picking up things and freezing them. I got a HUGE amount of peas and beans one time at a farmer's market before they were about to close for $1! Probably 5 lbs. I just prepped them, blanched, them and froze them in gallon ziplock baggies. Another time I got a whole box of peaches for like $6. I'd wait for corn to go on sale at the peak of the season and carrots. I even cubed watermelon and honeydew melon to puree and use in mesh feeders. Then around Thanksgiving, when squash and sweet potatoes and things were on sale for the holidays, I went ahead and made the baby food into cubes.
Some other tips.....
-this is probably the only "extra" baby thing I do that DH enjoys, so we make like a whole batch cooking day out of it (well 3 or 4 hours). Some things we'll get cooking in the microwave, some on the stovetop, some in steamers. Then we'll use my foodprocessor (just a small one) and our blender and blend everything in small batches.
-Some things I use breastmilk in, some things I just use the water we cooked them in....learned from trial and error
-Walmart has ice cube trays for like 3 for $1.22. We bought about 50 of those, fill them up, cover with cerean wrap and place in the freezer. Then pop them into ziplock baggies when we're done.
Also, the REAL money saver is once you get to finger foods. All those Gerber bitter bars and puffs are SOOO expensive. Wholesomebabyfoods.com has some wonderful ideas on those as well!
And FYI.....I work full time, DH works 80 hour weeks, and we have two kids. It really does not take that much extra time (maybe 3-4 hrs every 3-4 months). It's something I'm willing to take the time to do.
And to cut cost even furthur, this time around I have a friend who has the same due date, so our kids will likely be starting solids about the same time. DH and I talked about doing a cooking day with them, or even making baby food and then switching with them (so like we each make 4 or 5 kinds and then we'll have 8-10 total).
I love to cook, and hadn't given this much thought, so glad I read this. I think I will make all of the baby's food!! My grandma made mine, so I think I should do the same for my baby
I have a few questions, maybe someo of you with experience in this can fill me in... Can you start making the food now? How do you go about storing it? How long does the baby food keep?
Let me know of any tips you girls may have!
Those are some excellent ideas TCsbride! I know our budget will be a lot tighter with baby #2 and I think making baby food would save some cash big time!
FYI- Earths Best organic baby food can get really expensive. I know the small jars run for about $ 0.79 a piece and the large ones go for about $0.99 a piece. If your kid is eating 3-4 jars per day, this can get pretty expensive!
This is the cheapest I have seen them. Just something to think about!
Emily 8.8.08
Madeline 1.2.11
William 8.5.12
i made my own baby food for 6 months. super easy. i had the beaba babycook machine. i really did save a lot of money. say with peas you could buy 10 ounces for like 94 cents and i could make 12-14 ounces of peas for 40 cents.
it would take me one night to make 2 weeks worth of baby food with that machine. you steam it and puree it all in one.
I have it, and I love it. I *still* use it once a week to steam up veggies for DD. (um, she's almost 2) I don't use the puree feature anymore (haven't for almost a year) but seriously, the best $ ever. This, coming from a full time working Mama.
Yup. I did it. Yup it saves money. And yup it's way better than jarred anything.
And it wasn't that hard. I set aside an hour every Sunday to make cubes for the week. Ran everything through the baby food mill, froze it in ice cube trays, and popped them into baggies when they were done. After a few weeks, I had an awesome assortment of baby food available to me.
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I am going to make my own. Have to get recipes from mom though...when I tell her we are expecting that is!