Make Your Own Baby Food

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Making your own baby food is easy and a great way to save money. Even easier nowadays as you can use a food processor or a coffee grinder.

Baby food is expensive, compared with grinding your own peas or making an applesauce puree-you can expect to save $0.15 to $0.20/oz of food you make yourself.

For great recipes check out: www.wholesomebabyfood.com To save time you can make food in bulk and then freeze individual serving sizes in ice cube trays for later use. It may sound daunting--but once you start you'll find that it is not that much work.

Posted by anonymous on June 11, 2008 1:11 PM

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To make your own baby food , puree the food you like in the blender or food processor and then put it in ice cube trays. Once frozen you can dump them in ziploc bags and mark what it is and the date. For a feeding you easily get out a couple or three ice cubes and warm them up. ( Toaster oven , stove top or get them out early so they thaw a bit . ) Be careful with microwave warming...it can create hot spots. But many use the microwave.

Posted by anonymous on July 16, 2008 7:56 AM

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IdealBite.com has a tip about this too:

"Commercially processed baby foods sometimes contain added fat, fillers, salt, and sugar that your baby really doesn't need."

http://www.idealbite.com/tiplibrary/archives/small-plates-baby-week/

Posted by anonymous on August 27, 2008 3:31 PM

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I began making my own baby food about 3 months ago, and it wasn't as much of a "chore" as I initially thought it would be. I buy frozen veggies, thaw about 1/2 the bag, then put them through the blender with either a little water or homemade chicken broth. Then I freeze it in ice cube trays. I also cook a small whole chicken in the crock pot, pull all of the fat & bones out once cooked, then put it through the blender with some of the broth. I've done this with a tip roast, too. Everything I make for my son, I puree and put in ice cube trays. This has been working out for me very well and my son loves the food! Once I heat up a portion of the food for one of his meals, if it's too hot, I stir in a little applesauce from the fridge to cool it off. I've sampled this, and it's actually quite tasty. My son likes it, too. This way, he's getting his meat, veggies, and fruit all in one serving.

I do keep a small stock of jarred baby food on hand, but only use it for when we go away for a day or when we go visiting.

My efforts were rewarded when my son's pediatrician told me that I was doing a good thing by making my son his own food. He even told me it was safe to give him "big people" applesauce and yogurt (but always check with your pediatrician first), which is a huge savings in itself. I can get a big tub of yogurt for under $3.00 - which I can share with my son - vs. buying the brands targeted for babies and children, which cost substantially more than "adult" brands.

It's all worth the effort and really, it's not as much of a chore as it sounds (to make your own baby food). I'm a full-time working mother whose husband is on an opposite working shift, so believe me, if I can do it, anyone can.

Posted by Lauri on September 21, 2008 12:17 AM

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I am so impressed and inspired by your post Lauri!! Such a healthy a way to feed your child and save money in the process. Thanks for the encouragement.

Posted by anonymous on September 23, 2008 12:27 PM

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I made almost all of my sons baby food...for the amount of money you save it is no work at all. Like Lauri I ground up the food and froze it in an ice cube tray. When he was older I ground up what we were eating, and that worked really well(we do eat really healthy though). I also ground up specialty flours and grains for the nutrients. I would recomend a book called Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. I got a copy at a garage sale and just love it. I still grind up things like spinach, kale, and broccoli, and freeze them. When I want to add nutrients to nutrient void things like macaroni and cheese I throw 4 or 5 ice cubes in for a few minutes at the end of cooking. Another great reason to make your own baby food...the lack of fillers (sugar, chemicals...), your kids learn what real food tastes like, and they will eat healthy foods.

Posted by michelle martin on September 25, 2008 9:35 AM

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omg another thing i did was blend up all our leftovers at the end of the meal and freeze them ...you know the little dab you throw away ... i have always made my own baby food and my older children are in thier 30s

Posted by jenna on September 30, 2008 1:22 PM

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If you are worried about the time and energy involved in making your own baby food, you should definitely register for the Beaba Babycook--about $150, but totally worth it. It is a miniature food steamer and processor all in one. It makes making your own baby food a breeze!! In the long run you'll gain back the initial investment as so much cheaper to make your own baby food. And you won't have a million glass jars to recycle.

Posted by lindy on October 20, 2008 11:19 AM

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Another great resource for homemade baby food instructions (and other great money-saving tips as well!) is the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. Her website, providing updates and other helpful information, is www.superbabyfood.com. Check it out!

Posted by juliann8301 on January 18, 2009 3:19 PM

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I just started making my own baby food this week! I picked up a couple of large sweet potatoes at the store. I peeled, chopped and boiled them. And then pureed them in my food processor. I then simply scooped out enough (before adding seasoning) to fill four plastic Gerber baby food containers that I had saved and washed for this very purpose. Then stuck 'em in the fridge. The remaining mashed sweet potatoes were then seasoned and stored for the rest of the family to munch on. I fed them to my daughter just last night and she loved them. The only thing I will do differently next time is maybe add a little water to hers, because they did get a bit thick after cooling. I just can't believe I hadn't done this before!

Posted by missusdunlap on March 26, 2009 4:47 PM

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Check out a book called "Feed Me I'm Yours". It's an oldie but goody. Get a baby food mill and grind up whatever you had for dinner, as long as you're eating healthy and watching the salt and sugar you;re all set.

Posted by anonymous on April 06, 2009 1:33 AM

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