Would you like to know what my latest obsession is? Making baby food. Yep. I love it!
My journey with baby food has been interesting. Like everything with me and motherhood, it has been an evolving process of me thinking beforehand that it would be one way and then it panning out to be a completely different experience. I started off wanting to make my baby's food mostly because I thought it sounded cool (just being honest) and of course because it is good for him. In the mix of me finding my rhythm of momminess, I made a couple of homemade meals and then decided to go with "Earth's Best" jarred food for a bit, because I felt overwhelmed with lack of time. THEN, we ended up spending a butt load of money on jarred food because my little handsome boy eats like a horse. Between 1 can organic formula a week and organic baby food... Good night! It was pricey.
One jar of baby food is cents shy of a dollar, and my baby was eating 2-3 jars per meal. I got out my baby food maker, motivated to help my family funds and make things I actually liked the taste of. I fell in love with making baby food and have been for a couple months now. It's so much cheaper, and the nutrients are richer, since your food is fresh and then instantly frozen. It tastes much better, too. Sam and I would eat anything I've made for Káel so far.
Yesterday, I paid $1.69 for a bag of sweet potatoes and it made 18 jars of food. $1.69 would have bought almost 2 jars of earth's best baby food. I still buy jar food if we are gonna be out and about for a few hours. But, in general, making your baby food is so much more cost efficient. I have a Beaba baby food maker which steam cooks AND blends it up for you. But when I want to make large batches I just steam my veggies/fruits on the stove top then use the Beaba like a blender. I love it! I took some pics of my creation process last night. :) Enjoy.
yum yum! and what a great deal! It's such a slap in the head when you see numbers like that.
ReplyDeleteThis was always my goal... but then someone gave us a BUNCH of free gerber... it lasted us 4-5 months! Just up until recently, really. so now i just started buying in.. instead of making it. doh! mainly just because he eats table scraps, these days
i really want to start doing this for the little miss! where did you get the baby food maker?
ReplyDeleteLove this post! I want to eat at your house! And, thanks for including the banner to vote for your blog...I always forget otherwise. =)
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! When I have a little one, I'm totally going to make baby food too (I hope...I'll look back at this post for inspiration). Good for you Jess!! :)
ReplyDeleteLove it! I totally hear you on "Like everything with me and motherhood, it has been an evolving process of me thinking beforehand that it would be one way and then it panning out to be a completely different experience." That is EXACTLY where I am. : ) Yet, I think that's part of the beauty of it. : ) And I am encouraged by your baby food making experience! I have been nervous about finding the time to do this when she is old enough to eat solids- but this looks great!
ReplyDeleteSo happy to see you using this! We got that processor for my brother & his wife when they had my nephew & they maybe used it once. I was sad but hey, to each their own. =)
ReplyDeletemandy-oh yeah.... you're right, it IS the beauty of it all. It's totally a realistic thing to shoot for-and it doesn't really take too long if you do a little bit of planning. just don't pressure yourself and you'll find your grove if you end up doing it. it tastes so good! haha sometimes it will be like, one bite for you, one bite for momma. haha ;) i'm lovin' all the lily action going on at your home blog love! I'm in love with her!
ReplyDeletelorni- i got it off of gilt group. It steams AND blends. But it doesn't make that big of a batch of food-which was fine in the early months but now i just steam it stovetop and blend it in the beaba.
ReplyDeletei found mine for like 60-70% off. kristina said she used an electric coffee grinder to blend it too. I bet you could use a normal blender.
I love reading posts like this - they give such a great glimpse into day-to-day life as a mother, even though that experience is likely years away for me still :)
ReplyDeleteMaking my own baby food is one of the things I'm looking forward to most! Easy to say now of course, but it just seems like a natural extension/progression of nurturing. Not to mention the cost difference!
I've wondered about how much purchasing the Beaba would be worth the price since I already have equipment to steam and puree, but it seems so convenient with minimal mess! [Plus it's a cute little thing :) ]
Do you notice a big difference in Kael's preferences? I was shocked by how bland baby food was when I tried it while a friend was healing from having their wisdom teeth pulled.
Hope little man is feeling better!
The one thing I wanted to do was make my own food for my lil man and try baby led weaning.
ReplyDeleteAs my lil boy loves vegetables I found some good recipes in a book called "New Complete Baby & Toddler Meal Planner" by Annabel Karamel, she has a few children's food books
Yay!! Yeah I made all of Judes food for him from the day he started eating solids! I just steamed it and blended it in a regular blender and YES they work GREAT too! I use the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron! It has amazing recipes for tinys and mommys too! Making your babies food is so much healthier and cost effective for your family! So happy food making ladies!
ReplyDeleteI've been following your blog for awhile, as our little ones are about the same age.. I JUST started looking into a Beaba, and am glad to hear that it is worth the $. I am tired of buying baby food, and it's hard to get enough variety, in my opinion.. Plus, fresh fruit season is coming up, and I've gotta get that good stuff to my baby!
ReplyDeleteI totally want one of these!!!!
ReplyDeleteI think its awesome that you make your own food for Kael. Here in Germany its getting more and more popular and if I had a baby i would definetly do it too. Ironically the people here in germany who are on wellfare all buy expensive cans of supermarket baby food. Thats a thing i dont get, because its really so much cheaper if you do it yourself (thats what my mama - girlfriens tell me).
ReplyDeleteI used to make baby food for the baby I nannyed for and I used that machine. It was awesome! I plan on doing the same someday when I have kids of my own. Good for you, mama! :)
ReplyDelete♥ Steph
http://mrssms523.blogspot.com
Such a good idea! I will definitely do this one day :)
ReplyDeletewow what an awesome idea! definitely makes me want to look into them!
ReplyDeleteI'm really pleased to hear this - I'm not a mum yet (and I probably won't be for a long time!) but I never buy processed or instant food for myself, I always cook from scratch, so why would I buy that stuff for my baby? However I do also appreciate what little time vampires they can be, so I undertsand the convenience of buying jars! It's nice to hear from a real mum (and a first-time one too!) that it CAN be done, and fit into your daily routine. Well done!
ReplyDeleteJess,
ReplyDeleteWhere did you happen upon those wonderful baby food containers. I haven't seen any like that with the tray and everything. I love what you're doing and look forward to making food for my baby that is due in August, among learning from other things you've posted on your blog! Love it!
Sarah
but that thing retails for $149 bucks. That's 1,000 jars of food he won't eat that much esp. since you're hand making it. Just use a blender? Works find at our house and we paid $15 bucks. It's a neat little gadget though.
ReplyDeleteJess... where did you get the containers shown in your post? Are they beaba also? They are so amazing, looking for just something like that!
ReplyDeleteThanks... super cute lil mister btw:)