I did it! And I am utterly pleased.
I made a batch of baby peas and a batch of baby carrots — froze them in ice cube trays, and am storing them in labeled ziptop bags in the freezer. Woo hoo!! And it was only $0.44 for the peas and $0.50 for the carrots, and then whatever a little water and a little propane and a little electricity cost. For 16 cubes of peas and 20 cubes of carrots! So pleased. 🙂
If anyone has any tips on making homemade baby food, let me know. I’m new to this.
Like… do any of you cube/freeze fruit, or do you always mash it fresh? How about adding citrus juice to keep avocados or bananas from browning? Do you thaw a cube in the fridge, on the counter, or in the microwave?
Well anyhow, it was so fast and easy and cheap. This little mama is quite thrilled right now. 🙂
Fun stuff! 🙂
I’m ashamed to admit (since it really lowers my crunchy hippie mom street cred) that I hardly made any baby food at home. 🙂 Jenna did eat a lot of fresh sweet potatoes (baked and then mashed), avocados and bananas (hah..those are still her dietary staples). So…I can’t really offer much advice on storage, but I would say a couple things:
1 – I think since there’s pretty much a blanket-ban on citrus for kids under 1 yr, avoid putting it in avocados or bananas. Those are so simple to do on the spot, it’s probably easier to just use them as-needed and not make ahead. Fruits and veggies that have to be cooked first are probably the best candidates for making and freezing ahead.
2 – I’m neurotic, but I’d also avoid microwaving really anything for baby. 🙂 Microwaves are fine for grown-ups, but they do change the structure of the food and can probably do a lot of damage nutrition-wise. Plus, you tend to get food heated unevenly. When Jenna was eating baby food, I’d heat it up in warm water over the stove, or just give her cooled, cooked foods. I tried to not let her get too attached to having foods at a certain temperature (because I’m mean)…but now she can tell when foods are supposed to be served hot and asks to “heat it up!” if it’s not suitably warmed.
But yeah, that’s about all the help I can be…maybe with #2 I’ll get around to doing more homemade food. Especially w/ a car to do real grocery shopping (when I need it!), I guess I’ll have less of an excuse. Plus, jarred baby food is super expensive, especially the organic stuff, which is the only kind I buy. If you can find a store that sells organic veggies (which aren’t that much more expensive than regular), you can just buy a bunch, make the baby food, freeze it…presto. 🙂
Have fun! 🙂
thanks Laura — pretty much echoed the thoughts in my head. 🙂 I appreciate it!
and can I see your bump again?? I’m craving preg bellies & tiny sweet newborns. 🙂
my niece & nephew will help that soon, lol! 😉
Wow, that’s quite the savings and doesn’t seem too hard to do either.
My mom use to make some of her own baby food for all of us when were wee ones
but it’s been so long, I don’t remember 😉 We had one of those little cup blender things that fit right onto the upright blender. She cooked the veges till soft and then blended them up. I think she did freeze some though I don’t know what method she used….
But I have heard about freezing them in ice cubes and then putting a few in each ziploc baggies and then you just pull them out and put them in a bowl ahead of time to thaw
out…
Have fun! 😉
Sam