Making Your Own Baby Food – Myths Busted

Posted by amanda on Mar 20, 2010 in Featured, Food, Healthy Eating, Mama and Baby | 2 comments

Myth #1: ”Making my own baby food would be hard.”

It’s actually really EASY!! I was definitely skeptical about making baby food at home. I felt overwhelmed at the thought of all the preparation of the different fruits and vegetables, some of which I had never eaten before, so how in the world would I know how to prepare them (butternut squash)? Of course I wanted to make sure my baby was getting all the right vitamins, minerals, etc. that he needs, but surely it would be less hassle to just buy baby food from the store. I’m here to tell you that I was wrong, and have actually really enjoyed making Chase’s food. While of course it is simpler to pack your grocery cart with jars and jars of Gerber and Nature’s Goodness, the benefits of using fresh produce and cooking it yourself make up for whatever it lacks in convenience (which isn’t much, I promise).

Myth #2: “There isn’t enough difference in the cost to make it worth my time”

Today I spent $1.40 on six bananas, which for my son is generally six servings. Six tubs of Gerber bananas at .97/2 is $2.91. That’s over 50% savings. Today I also spent $2.25 on a large bag of frozen peas, which will make at least 14 3oz servings. Seven twin packs of Gerber peas comes to $6.79, which means I saved nearly 70%. I could go on, but I think the numbers speak for themselves. If you’re like me, you’re looking for ways to save money any way you can. Here is a GREAT way to put money back in your pocket.

Myth #3: “Making baby food at home is too time consuming.”

Believe me, if it were too time consuming, I would not be doing this. I realize first hand how time seems to fly out the window without hardly a blink when you have a baby in the house. I’ll turn around twice and realize another week has gone by. I know any time you actually get to yourself is golden, so I promise that this does not consume too much of it! Many of the foods you prepare will bake while you’re doing other things, and this is also true for foods that require steaming, if you have a steamer. If not, steaming veggies or fruits over the stove requires minimal supervision as long as you have a timer set. The pureeing and storing process, for me, depends on how many foods I’m preparing that day. I like to get it all over with in one day, and then usually don’t have to worry about it again for a couple of weeks. You can get this done while your little one is napping, or if they don’t mind the loud noise, bring some toys into the kitchen and let them play at your feet while you work. Then when they nap, you can relax.

So how do you do it?

First of all, I rely on plenty of resources that tell me exactly what to do, and how to do it. Wholesomebabyfood.com has been a tremendous resource that I highly recommend. This site has EVERY BIT of information you can think of on which foods are appropriate for each age, how to prepare each fruit, vegetable, etc., nutritional information, how to store and reheat, recipes as babies get older, and so much more. I also have loved the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. It was given to me by a friend, and has been really helpful.

I bought this Oster steamer from Target…

and I can steam multiple veggies at one time. There are plenty of different steamers out there, and plenty that are way nicer than mine, but mine does a great job, it’s user friendly, and wasn’t expensive . I already had a food processor, but a blender works just as well for pureeing fruits and veggies. Once my veggies or fruits are cooked, I spoon them into the processor, pulse a few times, then puree, adding small amounts of water, until the food is a very smooth consistency. As far as freezing goes, BabiesRUs (as well as most other baby supply retailers) have some great containers with different portion sizes (Beaba makes one that is also available at Williams-Sonoma, and Fresh Baby makes one that looks like an ice cube tray). I prefer to simply use ice cube trays. I bought a set of 3 for 97cents at Walmart, and as soon as the food is frozen, I transfer the cubes to a labeled gallon-size ziploc bag for extended storage (each cube is approx 1oz). Defrosting/Thawing is easily done in either the refrigerator or microwave, and then the food is ready to serve.

Anything else we should know?

I am not, nor am I pushing that anyone should be, married to the Homemade-Baby-Food-Only idea. While there is nothing wrong with that plan necessarily, there are times when I do buy baby food from the store. When traveling, it is always easier to just buy what you will need for the duration of your stay once you get to your destination (with the exception of bananas or avacados, which are easily mashed with a fork and served immediately). I also buy some fruits that my son does not like when I puree them, but he loves from the jar (who knows??), so he can have more of a variety. Making baby food has been a super positive experience for me, and though it may not be for everyone, I do encourage everyone to give it a try, because you may be as surprised as I was. But do what works for YOU and YOUR BABY!! Never feel pressured into something that just doesn’t work for you.