As a first time mom, I wasn’t sure all that I was getting myself into, so I made life easy for me and my son. I bought disposable diapers, wipes, and jarred baby food. As we had more kids, I continued this trend. As commercial baby food brands came out with organic baby foods, I readily bought the better options for my cuties.
I’ve heard for years that after the third kid, any others kinda just fall in line and the adjustment isn’t that bad. I bought it, and with three hungry, growing boys ahead of him I decided for our fourth boy that store bought baby food was just a bit too much for the budget. Buying and preparing my own baby food also allowed me to determine the quality of his baby food.
It seemed simple that by buying just a little more produce (our boys love fruits and veggies) I could easily puree some for the baby. So I began my research to learn how to make baby food and find a cheap but excellent gadget that would make the process quick and easy with minimal mess.
Behold the Amazing Baby Food Maker
Ok, so while my blender is decent at making smoothies, it doesn’t quite puree anything and I broke my food processor making my first batch of peanut butter. So I wanted a gadget or appliance that would hold up well to pureeing foods of various type, a multi-purpose tool if possible.
I looked into (and dreamed) of a Vitamix, but it sadly is way out of my budget. I read many reviews on various food processors and baby food making machines and found that all of them had some defect that made the product unworthy of its cost.
So I went to consult my best friend, who happens to be a crunchy, homesteading, homeschooler that totally rocks (she even has tattoos). She told me about how she uses a hand blender and that it is a versatile tool for her kitchen. So I went to research.
I was very pleased to find ones with very few negative reviews and lots of overwhelming praise, and they came in a multitude of colors! So I settled on a Cuisinart Hand Blender. It is so easy to use and easy to clean. It makes any job a breeze and does a fantastic job pureeing raw fruits and steamed veggies for baby food!
An Abundance of Food Options
I very quickly realized that by making baby food for my child I could go beyond the selection found in the jarred store brands. While, yes, there are foods that you need to wait on until the child is older, there are several that are suitable for infants 4-8 months of age that are not offered in pre-packaged form. I found this blog to be very helpful in thinking outside the aisle.
So then I headed to the store for some produce. I started out with the 16 or so foods that my 7 month old had already tried, and just added one fruit and one veggie that he hadn’t tried. For just $35, I had about a pound of each beginner food: apple, strawberry, blueberry, peach, pear, mango, banana, plum, avocado, squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, asparagus, green bean, pea, carrot, spinach and corn. Count ’em, that’s 18 lbs of baby food for $35! That much packaged baby food would cost roughly $80.
The Fun of Blending
For my first batch, I peeled and steamed each food type individually and stored each type of frozen cubes in its own freezer bag. This gave me the flexibility to choose and mix his flavors and medleys as I wished. By keeping plenty of fresh produce in the house I can also make food for him in less than 2 minutes, at any time.
I love it! Sounds like you are getting a lot more high quality for a really incredible price! That hand blender looks pretty awesome also, similar somewhat to our hand frothier!
I love making my own baby food! I would puree it and put it in ice cube trays to freeze then put 2 or 3 in a baggie and store it in the freezer. I think when Sadie gets going on food I will use the reusable pouches. It really is easy making baby food and much less costly! Good job.
Yes, Janell, that is how I keep them. I don’t have the reusable pouches though…right now, Jonny has difficulty with those.