When my baby was getting ready for solids I decided to make homemade baby food. The benefits I wanted were 1. controlling what ingredients my baby was consuming. 2. Feeding her things that we regularly eat. and 3. cost!
There is so much extra additives in all foods and baby food is no different. I wanted to make sure that my baby’s food was 100% food. Also, by making baby food, I use fresh local fruits and vegetables. I prefer to eat these myself. No preservatives, no added sugars, just 100% fresh food.
I also wanted to feed her foods that we regularly eat. So I started her out with sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, apples, etc. I definitely eat much more vegetables than my husband so this was more of a me thing. I wanted to give her a variety of foods and by using fresh I do so. Another thing is this allowed me to gradually increase the texture because I was controlling the puree. It was also convenient to make my own combinations by mixing and matching foods I had made for her.
Cost! It was very very cost efficient to make our own baby food. We do not qualify for WIC so I would have had to spend lots and lots of money.
Also it was less wasteful! I used reusable glass jars so there was no plastic, glass, or pouches being thrown away constantly. Don’t get me wrong there were times we used pouches (so so handy on the go!) and I did buy some pre-made baby food (specifically prunes for constipation!). But 99% of the time we gave her homemade food.
So how did I do this?
I invested in a baby food maker and some glass jars. We already had extra ice cube trays but I recommend getting those as well!
Then I purchased some fresh vegetables and fruits and cooked them in the baby food maker. The one I purchased cooks and blends all in one. It comes with a guide for time settings for each type of food. It was super easy. It did stop working at one point. I contacted the company, and they sent me a replacement!
I made one food at a time and then poured it into ice cube trays. Once it was frozen I removed it from the trays and put them in sealed bags in the freezer. Then the night before, I would take a cube out. I put it in a glass jar in the fridge to thaw for the next day. She started with just one cube at a time but then moved up to 2 cubes. This is when I started mixing flavors. For example I would do one cube of sweet potato and one cube of apple together. It was easy to mix and match flavors to give her a variety of tastes! She is now such a good eater and I think this really helped contribute to that!
Some vegetables would be really thin when they thawed. Specifically zucchini and green beans. I always kept a little rice cereal handy and would mix that in to thicken if needed.
Overall I wouldn’t say this was as time consuming as I though it would be. I would prep several foods on the weekends and have a lot of food to last. Especially since she was only eating a few cubes a day! Well worth it to me. Again, fed is best. So if you choose to feed store-bought, then that’s okay too!