Baby Food... Yum! Yum! YUM!!

My little Bug is 4 1/2 months old and he is so ready to eat some solid food! 

We have been trying rice cereal and oatmeal cereal for about 2 weeks now, and he LOVES it!  But I feel it is making him a little constipated... sorry for the TMI! So we are trying out some veggies starting this week.  My husband gave Bug a taste of the green beans while we were making it and he looked at him like "Dad, you're such a tease! Give me more of that!!!" :)

I decided to make all my own baby food purees.  When I first started looking into making baby food, the word "puree" scared me because it sounded so fancy!  (Insert slightly embarressed face here!)  But then I learned that it just means really really blended up baby food.  Just like the kind you would get in the store.

It is so much cheaper to make your own food and it is SO easy!  I made all the food listed below in about three hours give or take.  (Two hours for the veggies one day and one hour for the fruit the next.)

Hope you and your baby enjoy these veggies and fruits.

Green Beans
16 ounce bag of frozen green beans

Steam for about 20 to 25 minutes.  I got a new cookware set that has a steam basket with one of the pots, so I just used that.  It worked out really nice.  The water was green, but I feel like so much more of the nutrients stayed with the food by using the steamer and not just boiling them.  

Blend them in the blender until very smooth.  Add the water you used to steam as necessary.  My blender needs it really "sloshy" so I probably used about a cup to a cup and a half when making it.  But start out slowly adding water to avoid making it too runny!  

**I tried to use my food processor first, and I liked that you didn't have to add so much water (because I wanted to add breast milk to the food when I fed the Bug)  but it really didn't get it nearly as smooth and creamy as the blender. I think the food processor will be good for second and third foods when they don't have to be so smooth and the baby can handle some texture.  

Pour or scoop the green beans into ice cube trays and cover with saran wrap and freeze overnight or for about four hours.  Once frozen, crack the trays and put in a ziplock bag and label with contents and date. 

Sweet Potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes - the orange kind (some call these yams)

I simply poked holes in them with a fork and then I put these on a piece of aluminum foil to avoid them dripping in the oven.  I baked them for about an hour or so. 

Once they are nice and soft, you can do one of two things.  Blend them with a little water, or just mash them with a fork.  

Once again, I feel like blending is good for first foods, and the mashing for later stage baby food.  If you do mash with a fork, you might want to cook them a little longer to get the sweet potatoes good and soft.   

Pour or scoop the sweet potato into ice cube trays and cover with saran wrap and freeze overnight or for about four hours.  Once frozen, crack the trays and put in a ziplock bag and label with contents and date. 

Peas
16 ounce bag of peas

Steam for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Blend them in the blender until very smooth.  Add the water you used to steam as necessary. I used about a cup of water for the peas. 

Pour or scoop the peas into ice cube trays and cover with saran wrap and freeze overnight or for about four hours.  Once frozen, crack the trays and put in a ziplock bag and label with contents and date. 

Carrots
2 pounds of "real" carrots, not baby ones

Peal and cut the carrots into about two to three inch pieces.  Steam for about 45-50 minutes.  Depending how big or small your pieces are will depend on your cook time, but you want them to be very soft.

Blend them in the blender until very smooth.  Add the water you used to steam as necessary. I used about a half cup of water for the carrots. 

Pour or scoop the carrots into ice cube trays and cover with saran wrap and freeze overnight or for about four hours.  Once frozen, crack the trays and put in a ziplock bag and label with contents and date. 

Apples
5 pounds of Braeburn apples - I used these because they are nice and sweet and not tart, but any kind would work.

Peel, core and quarter the apples.  Place into your pot and let them steam for about an hour.  You can add about a cup of water, but as the apples cook, they will get liquid-y. 

Once they are soft, scoop them into the blender and puree.  You should not need to add any extra water, but if you do, that's fine too!

Pour or scoop the apples into ice cube trays and cover with saran wrap and freeze overnight or for about four hours.  Once frozen, crack the trays and put in a ziplock bag and label with contents and date. 

** I made a first batch of apple sauce with just putting the whole apple in the pot.  That's what I generally do when I make apple sauce.  But I usually use a food mill, and that really mashes everything up.  When I put it in a blender using the whole apple, it did not blend up the seeds and the core stuff really well.  So needless to say, the first batch can not be used for baby.  But adults could eat it.  Just a bit of insight so you don't make the same mistake as me! :)

Pears
2 pounds of fresh pears and two cans of pears in light syrup.

Peel, core and quarter the pears.  Place into your pot and let them steam for about an hour.  You can add about a cup of water, but as the pears cook, they will get liquid-y.  I cooked the fresh and canned pears separately.  Mainly because I wanted to see if they were different.  The were not different tasting, just different in color a little bit. They could be done together if you wanted to. 

Once they are soft, scoop them into the blender and puree.  You should not need to add any extra water, but if you do, that's fine too!

Pour or scoop the pears into ice cube trays and cover with saran wrap and freeze overnight or for about four hours.  Once frozen, crack the trays and put in a ziplock bag and label with contents and date. 

Bananas 
**I made bananas buy mashing them with a fork and then freezing them like the rest of the food, but when I un-thawed them, they tasted rotten.  Not sure if that was a freak thing, because I know others who freeze them, but I just make them fresh each time because they can very easily be mashed up with a fork!

I had so much fun making the baby food!  And it really was so simple!  I also love knowing that my little Love Bug is not eating fresh food that his mommy made for him with love! :)

Here is a breakdown of prices...

Green beans - $1.00 - made 15 one ounce cubes
Peas - $1.00 - made 18 one ounce cubes
Carrots - $1.69 - made 22 one ounce cubes
Sweet Potatoes - $2.12 - made 27 one ounce cubes 

Apples - $4.40 - made around 50 cubes!
Fresh pears - $2.24 - made 18 cubes
Canned pears -  $0.96 - made 18 cubes 

So as you can see, a huge money saver too! Most baby food is about one dollar per can/container.  And let's say you  baby makes two meals out of one container, that's 50 cents a meal.  This is crazy cheap when comparing!

Hope you enjoy making your baby food as much as me!  I just can't wait to start mixing flavors! :)

Have fun!

Cassandra :)