The Mom Crowd

When it came time for my son to start eating solids, I knew I was going to be a DIY mom.  There is something about knowing exactly what my infant is ingesting that put my mind at ease when it came to introducing new foods into his diet.  Any change for a mom and her infant can be a stressful time, I found this approach to be especially comforting during this transition.

I had been lucky enough to have been gifted a Magic Bullet for one of my wedding gifts, which certainly came in handy when embarking on my homemade babyfood endeavour.  Although, I did find that most veggies were easily mashed with a fork, for making applesauce, I couldn’t beat the Bullet.  Now they have the Baby Bullet which seems super convenient, but for the sake of saving money, do not bother with expensive gadgets, any blender will do the trick.

Getting Started

To start with, I went to the store and chose a few items I thought my boy would particularly enjoy.  I picked out a couple apples and sweet potatoes.  Most doctors recommend only introducing one new food at a time to ensure that your child does not have an allergic reaction.  Unfortunately, there is no better way to find out if your child has a food allergy then to introduce it to to their diet.  We were lucky and our son did not have any reaction to the new foods we gave him.

I peeled the apples and potatoes and placed in a saucepan filled with enough water to cover the ingredients.  I brought to a boil and cooked the fruits and veggies until they were soft.  Since I sometimes put the fruit and vegetables in the water together to save time and energy, I would remove the stuff that got done first.  I removed the apples with a fork and let the potatoes continue boiling.

Once the apples were removed from the water, they were ready for the bullet.  I could easily blend the apples and clean the container before the sweet potatoes were ready to be removed from the water, another time saving technique.  Of course, once in awhile,  I would blend multiple ingredients together, but only after I was certain that any one food item would not give my son a reaction.  Plenty of fruits and veggies go well together!

Storing Your Homemade Baby Food

After the food was blended, I would put them into reusable containers.  For this, I got creative.  I had a few small canning jars around the house that were perfect for this purpose.  I also had baby food containers that were given to me by friends and family members.  I would also use small tupperware that made perfect single serving sized storage containers.  I would fill the jar, seal it and then label it with a piece of tape that said what was in it and when it had been stored.  This made it easy to chose from the variety of meals I would make, and let me know when stuff needed to be served before I had to toss it.

I felt great joy from feeding my son this way.  We would also take him along to farmer’s market with us during the warm summer months to pick up an array of fresh ingredients.  Our son enjoyed; squash, zucchini, pears, turnips, apples, and many more locally grown vegetables and fruits.  I would also mix in his rice cereal if I was serving him fruit for a meal, which helped keep him a bit more full than just having the fruit alone.

I definitely plan to do the same thing with our next child.  Making your own baby food not only gives you peace of mind, it also saves you and your family a few dollars at the grocery store because, for example, one sweet potato can provide two to three meals for your child for only cents per serving, while an organic jar of baby food may cost a few dollars each!  I encourage every mom to give this technique a try.  I cannot say with scientific certainty that this is the reason, but my son is definitely a healthy eater, he LOVES his fruits and veggies!!

Check out our book review of the outstanding book: “The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet.”