Make-your-own baby food

Sunday, February 28, 2010

When I made the transition to being a stay-at-home-mom, I was searching for ways to save that would truly impact my family. I have found that making my daughter’s baby food myself is a true savings! For instance, a 16oz. bag of Great Value brand frozen broccoli runs just over $1.00 at Wal-Mart. By steaming and pureeing the vegetables yourself, you can get about 6 - 4oz. jars of baby food for around $1.00 instead of spending around $.45 for each jar at the grocery store. Here is the process:
1. Steam the vegetable according to package directions or slightly longer for easy pureeing.
2. Drain the water from the vegetable, PRESERVE WATER
3. Puree vegetable using a food processor or hand held processor.
4. The more of the preserved water that you add, the smoother the pureed vegetable will be. It is more useful to use the vegetable’s water than tap water because the nutrients from the vegetable are still contained in the water.
5. Portion into plastic baby food jars or small containers. Before I began this process, I started collecting the plastic 4oz. food containers that her packaged baby food came in. Once I had about 20 containers, I felt prepared to make her food myself. I then let the vegetables cool on the counter and freeze. I have tried boiling chicken, but it was a bit dry for my taste (and hers), probably because I didn’t add enough of the preserved water. It was crumbly and she did not care for it. I now purchase her meats. I also purchase her fruits because it is usually not cost-effective for me to buy frozen fruit and puree it. I can save myself the work and simply purchase her fruits at Big Lots (see yesterday’s blog!). However, frozen vegetables (or even when the raw carrots are getting a little bit dry and ready to be tossed, steam ‘em up!) are very inexpensive and they are sold in a variety of combinations. I have yet to find a vegetable that my daughter refuses to eat. (Ok, ok, I know I’m fortunate when it comes to her eating. Don’t hate me!) I prefer to make the mess only once and steam/puree all of the vegetables that I can prepare given the amount of containers that I have. Try it, I think you’ll really find that its kinda fun and saves a TON of money!