I have a 5 month old son who is just starting out on solid foods and I don’t want to buy the expensive jars of baby food. At his age, he only eats a small amount from the jar and then the rest is wasted. Yesterday, my doctor told me a great way to make and store baby food.
1. Fully cook or steam the vegetables.
2. Puree the vegetables in a blender. Remove any stringy or solid pieces. You want the food to be super smooth.
3. Pour spoonfuls into an ice cube tray. Each cube is a serving.
4. Cover tray in tin foil and freeze.
When you’re ready to feed your baby just remove one of the veggie cubes from the ice cube tray and let it defrost for about an hour. Then it’s ready for baby.
If you feed your baby 3 times a day, each tray makes 5 days worth of food. This is perfect if you are just starting out, because when one tray is done you can start a new vegetable. I’m excited to do this and save some money by not buying premade baby food.
Anyone else make your own baby food? What other ideas do you have to make it?
My friend Melissa emailed me with a great tip.
“I would buy the ziploc containers, I think they were 1/2 cup size and use them. That way I could take food on the go, it would thaw by feeding time, and either throw away or carry home to clean/sterilize for another use. My favorite cookbook was Blender Baby Food.”
I do the same thing and it’s so easy. After I fill up an ice tray and it is frozen, I put all the cubes in a freezer storage bag and then just take out 2 at a time whenever I need them.
We haven’t started solids yet (we’ve practicing spoon feeding him some breastmilk), but we’re going to give it a go in just a few weeks and we’ve been wondering just what the best way is to go about making our own. This is a great idea! Now we just have to figure out what vegetable to start with.
I have a son who is 11 months old that I am going to make some homemade baby food for the first time. I have always bought the Gerber baby jars and since he is my last baby, I want to at least try to make it once!
I fed my three monkeys almost exclusively “homemade” baby food. At first, we did a lot of things like avocado (they LOVED that and it is very healthy) and plain (don’t use seasonings) vegetables and fruits, cooked down and then pureed. Once they were a little older and able to eat other things, I kept one of those mini food processors on my counter and would just puree whatever we were having for dinner (prior to seasoning). A lot of things I made (for instance, beef stroganoff, chicken casserole, etc.) were just like the Stage 3 baby foods. It’s amazing how much LESS picky kids are when you feed them “normal” foods from the start. I loved making baby food!
One thing I forgot to mention: See if your library has “Super Baby Food” by Ruth Yaron. That was a wonderful resource! Have fun!!!!
I did homemade baby food from the very begining I just got my ideas of the jars I saw at the store and then prepared it at home. I also had a food processor but mine was a special food grinder for baby food. My dad got it 20+ years ago and I have no idea where. But when preparing food for our family I just made theirs too but since I was preparing I could leave out sauces or other things that they were not physicaly ready to handle
I just started this after making fun of a couple of friends that did it! But it is so easy and saves so much $$. I agree with the “Super baby Food” by Ruth Yaron. Also, the site http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/downloads.htm has been very helpful. Remember the 3 day rule when trying a new food. I have enjoyed using the freeze method with ice cube trays because you don’t waste much if they don’t like it and you can always add more but it is a great way to cut waste. I had thought it would be a pain to take to a restaurant but just take the cubes in a bowl w/lid and they will defrost on the way, take some rice or oatmeal and ask for a small cup of warm water and it is easy. Don’t knock it until you try it:)
This has been a HUGE money saver for us. I have a 9 month old and have never bough baby food! There is a great website for recipes… http://www.wholesomebaby.com that I recommend. My son loves Banana Guacamole! I do too, actually!
wow. We’ve been looking for ways to save $$ and this is such a great idea. My boy is 15 weeks and we’re going to start with the rice cereal soon. I’m totally going to try making his food myself! thank you!!!!