To make homemade baby food, you will need:
– A bag of frozen vegetables
– A blender
– Ice cube trays
– Water
1. Cook the vegetables in the microwave until soft.
2. Add vegetables to blender with 1/2-1 cup water.
3. Blend and add more water as needed until it’s a smooth consistency
4. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze solid.
5. Pop the frozen cubes out of the ice cube tray and store in a freezer bag.
With one $0.80 bag of frozen peas, I was able to make 28 cubes. One commercial jar of baby food is equal to about four cubes. That means one bag of peas is like seven jars of baby food… which equals roughly $0.12 per jar. Since even the cheapest baby food is $0.55 a jar, I am saving at least $0.43 per jar. If my baby eats 2 jars a day, that means I am saving $6 per week, $24 per month or a whopping $312 per year. Totally worth the time investment!
These are the varieties of baby food I usually make:
– peas
– green beans (use frozen or unsalted canned)
– squash (buy a butternut or acorn squash, boil, bake or microwave until soft, blend and freeze)
– sweet potatoes (same as squash)
– carrots (I use frozen)
I introduce fruits (bananas, apples, peaches and pears) when my baby is about 7 months old. When baby is about 9 months old, I start mashing table food with a fork and feeding her whatever our family is having for dinner. Sometimes I’ll even blend up leftovers for her… you’d be surprised how well spaghetti works as baby food once it’s been through the blender! Ha! Then it’s straight to normal food when she turns 1. It’s what works for me. 🙂
Comments & Reviews
I made all of the baby food for our first baby (veggies, fruits, meats, everything!), but knew I didn't want to try this time unless we bought a better blender. I really wore out the old one! Our new little one loves food and started eating chunkier foods & finger foods within a few months, so we didn't bother this time.
My blender isn't great, but I'll keep using it until it dies. It works well enough!
Our first would throw up everything if there was any hint of a texture in his food, so I had to make very thin purees for many, many months. I was pretty sick of the bad blender by the end of it! 😉
I've even added chicken to the frozen cubes menu! Cooking chicken breasts in the crock pot until it's nice and tender, blending it with it's own juices, and freezing it in cubes the same as veggies. When I thaw it, I just mix it with whatever veggie we're eating that day. I've also frozen bits of roasted garlic to mix in, and bub LOVES it mashed into his food.
I have a pretty crappy blender, which makes for some slightly chunky purees (and by chunky, I mean, barely chunky), but apparently (I have read) this isn't a bad thing, as long as baby is 6+ months, as they need to get used to chunky food anyway.
I actually haven't done any meat in the blender, but I think I'll give it a try with this kid! Your post makes me feel brave!
I've been making/blending all my baby's food this time and it is really fun! Apples, pear, peaches, avocado, banana, peas, spinach, dates, carrots, sweet potato and butternut squash- I also cooked a bit of chicken and blended it up with some rice and broth. I just add a cube in with a veggie at dinner time!
I am impressed… You're baby is getting a big variety of food. Way to go!