Adventures In Baby Food

Baby food is gross, especially after you get past the "Stage 1" varieties.  Justice wasn't much into baby food, he started out with the typical sweet potato and peaches stuff but very quickly moved onto regular old people food.  He didn't get the pureed stuff for long because he didn't get solids until he was six months old.  Poor little guy had terrible reflux so we waited until his stomach was a little more mature.

Jack LOVED baby food.  He ate jarred baby food until he was old enough to get the jar down and ask for it himself.  He was my only kid to actually eat Stage 3 food from the jar.  And let me tell you, Stage 3 food is nasty.  Guess what else he liked?  The jarred meat!  Ack!  He loved it though so I gave it to him.  No sense recreating the wheel.

This time around, I thought I'd try my hand at making my own.  I never had the time nor desire to do it before, but I figured "what the heck?" and set to work.  

Now, let's keep it real for a second.  Most people make their own baby food so they can make their kids  wholesome and organic food.  It's allegedly healthier and no preservatives, and blah blah blah.  We really don't eat like that.  I see no point of going through all that trouble to feed Bo organic produce and all that when I'm just going to turn around on his first birthday and give him a giant fat-laden smash cake and a slice of pizza.  Because I guarantee you that's what I'm going to do.  

I decided to do it for the sport of it.  Yes, that's right.  For sport.  I didn't have anything else going on right now and it's too early to start the annual panic over Halloween costumes, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  And, in keeping in Mack Family Mom tradition, I don't do anything half-way.  No sense in making just one batch of something easy.  Let's just go on and make three months worth in one shot, shall we?  That's something I need to work on, I know.

First, I scoured the internet to make sure I had the "correct" foods and equipment.  Wow, this is where I ran into my first problem.  The first website I found was clearly meant for a different kind of Mom than I am, because it was all about the pesticide free garden and growing veggies especially for making baby food.  It was also all about the equipment, recommending a special high-end all in one steamer-and-puree machine.  Ha.  No thanks.  I have an old microwave Tupperware steamer that rocks and I'm sure my food processor will whiz everything up just fine.  So, being a little distrusting of that first site, I found another one that was on the opposite end of the spectrum.  Too much fat and sodium in everything, and I disagreed with many of the "recipes" they had for one reason or another.  Babies just starting on solids don't need butter nor sugar nor salt to season their food.  No good.  I was in over my head, and The Coach came through with his voice of simplistic reason.

"I don't see what the big deal is.  Open a can of peaches and blend it all up and slap it in the freezer." 

Oh.  That simple, huh?  I suppose it could really be that simple.  So I went on and just let it be that simple.

I did use fresh produce when it was in season and looked good at the store.  I also used some canned fruit (packed in it's own juice, no syrup or sweeteners) and some frozen vegetables.  I went with whatever looked best.  I did NOT use any canned vegetables because of the sodium.  I bought a dozen ice cube trays and a box of freezer bags to use for freezing and storing, and then got busy.  What I expected to take an entire evening took an hour and a half!  And I'd venture to guess three months worth of food if not more.  

The apples are still in the freezer so they didn't make the picture, but this is quite a lot of food for a small amount of time and money.

I spent 18 bucks on ingredients.  I finished up with the applesauce today, and ended up with 17 ice cube trays of food, with 16 servings per tray.  Not sure how that stacks up to store-bought food, but I'm sure it's a little bit cheaper.  I'm not sure it's cheap enough to justify making it if that's the only reason you want to do it though. 

And most importantly, Bo likes it.  He's taken to solids like a champion.  He's only been eating solids since last Saturday and he's already up to cleaning the bowl three times a day.  He has also cut back on his bottles too, which was why we started him on solids now instead of six months.  He was up to 40 ounces of formula/breast milk per day.  Wayyyy too much!  He's down to 24 now, thank goodness.

He's a big feller.  He sure doesn't look like he's starving to death.

Moob, anyone?  I promise there is a diaper in there amongst the rolls, haha.

The Bumbo seat is the greatest invention in baby stuff.  And I'd know because I've been having kids for a LONG time.  This is the clear winner of awesomeness.  

Who am I kidding?  Nobody cares about homemade baby food, not even me.  This entire post is a random ploy to have the opportunity to post a whole bunch of random baby pictures!  :)

I honestly don't think I will have to make babyfood again other than a random batch here and there of new foods to broaden his diet.  By the time this is all gone, he will probably be ready for mashed up people food!  

It was fun though, I'll definitely do it again if I need to.