How to make your own baby food and save lots of moola!!

Alright, I'll be honest, I never thought I'd be the kind of mom to make my own baby food. But, after receiving an immersion blender for Christmas and thinking of ways to save a buck, I started my days as a baby gourmet.

It's really easy.

No really, it is.

You don't need that $100 plus Baby Breeza or the Baby Bullet system. Just take your butt down to Walmart or Target and invest in one of these (look at picture) immersion blenders that comes with a cup. I believe you can get one for about $20. I'm pretty sure Target has one for like $19.97 or something close. And then you may wanna take a short trip to the dollar store for a few packages of small, reusable/disposable plastic containers with lids. The, you need to go through your cupboards and find an old, small cake pan, some cheap bandaids (also available at the dollar store) and a sharpie or other permanent black marker. I use the bandaids and sharpie to label what I make so it's not confusing in the freezer. Mangos and carrots look alike as does Mexican squash and lima beans.

Next, you need to determine what kind of food you want to start with. Babies starting on solids are good with single ingredient foods like just a banana or apple or carrot. Older babies can have meats and multi ingredient food. It's up to you to decided these things. For me, I started Logan on solids when he was 3.5 months due to his reflux. We were already giving him formula with rice cereal, so I started rice cereal from the bowl and then moved on to pumpkin (I was cooking my Halloween pumpkins), bananas, apples, etc. Logan is really into solid food, so now I try to make it interesting.

Anyhwoo... Some foods need to be cooked or steamed and other don't. A nice ripe banana or pear can be pureed as is. You can add water or formula to make it as thin or as thick as you like it. Just pop the banana in cup of the blender, add your water or formula and blend. Start with a small amount of liquid and add more as you see fit. Some babies like it watery, some like it with more texture. It's all up to you.

Other foods like apples and most veggies need to be cooked or steamed before you puree. Cook or steam them a little longer than you would if they're going to be on your dinner plate and do the same thing... pop them in the blender cup and add liquid as needed.

Once you have your puree, you can portion it out into little containers with lids, label and freeze. I would make about a week's worth of food at a time (about 14 portions = breakfast and dinner). Make as much or as little as you like or need or have room for. It's easy to store the containers in an old cake pan in the freezer for easy access. Check out the pictures for an idea...

An easy dinner for an older baby is chicken and apples puree. You need one chicken breast (or three tenderloins) and one (preferably sweet) apple. Skin and core the apple and cut into about 6 sections. Add the apple and chicken to a small pot of water, cover and simmer until the apple is mushy and chicken is cooked through. Strain the apple and chicken from the water it was cooked it (save the water for the puree) and add to the blender cup. Using the water it was cooked in, puree as thin or thick as needed and portion and freeze.

Fruits and veggies can be frozen, fresh or canned. If canned, you will need to buy a low sodium option, strain and rinse before pureeing. If you buy canned or frozen veggies on sale with coupons (like I do!), you can get a serving for about $.17, which is much less than a 3 oz package of Gerber food, that sells for about $.50.

It's also nice to make your own food because you can use whatever you are having for breakfast or dinner. Putting a banana in your Cheerios? Use half for your bowl and puree the other half for baby. Making broccoli for dinner? Save a few florets to make into a puree. It's not that hard at all!

Making my own baby food has also made it easier to transition my baby to eating more table food. OK, I know a lot of babies aren't ready for that or a lot of parents may think it's too early. But, I have a baby boy that is a real foodie, loves to be part of the family at meal times and is ready to try new things. Of course, peanut butter, honey and a few other things won't be making it into his tummy just yet, but he can share my peas at dinner or my yogurt at breakfast.

I didn't do this with my daughter and she has turned into a very picky eater. So, I'm hoping that in the long run, my son will be easier to please at dinner time. Only time will tell I guess.

I hope this helps other moms out there that aren't sure where to start with making their own baby food. I also hope it helps save a few cents for them!!

Until next time!!!