Today I made my first batch of HOME MADE Baby Food! Yay! It was actually really easy and I got a lot done in a shorter amount of time then I thought.
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| What a big helper! |
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| The Before... |
I chose some of the basics to start with, one, because Dylann is still on Stage 1 foods, and two, because they are easier. ;-) I went to the the grocery store with Dylann around 9am this morning and bought organic green beans, butternut squash, bananas, avocados, and carrots. Today was also the first time I brought Dylann in without her car seat to sit in the front of the cart like a 'big girl'! She did great sitting up, but I did have to put some things around her to keep her from falling to the sides.
When we got home I put D down for her nap and got to work. I decided to bake the squash in a baking dish with about an inch of water in the bottom. This took about 40 min at 400 degrees. While that was cooking, I watched a DVRed show, shredded and chopped the carrots and snapped all the ends off the green beans. (And just for Grandma B, I saved all my trimmings for compost ;-) )
From there, I steamed my green beans while I blended the squash in my Cuisinart. I added some of the water from the baking dish to make it a little more mushy. After I steamed my green beans, I reserved the water from the pot to mix in with the beans and carrots. (I read that carrots have more natural nitrates than other veggies and these are not good for young babies, so you are not supposed to use the steamed water from carrots.) Finally, I mixed up a bunch of bananas with some breast milk and a squeeze from a slice of lemon to ward off browning (which didn't work very well-as you can see). Right now I have the food in Tupperware, but I am going to go get some ice cube trays tomorrow to distribute the food into and freeze. Then I can just take a couple of "cubes" out at a time and microwave them for meals!
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| The After! Looks appetizing doesn't it? ;-) |
All in all, I spent about 4 hours cooking, mixing and cleaning all the dishes/mixer I used. It was very easy and I got a ton of food out of it. I spent $14.21 on organic fruits and vegetables and made about 20 oz of green beans, 20 oz of bananas, 32 oz of squash and 24 oz of carrots (I only used half the carrots I bought). I also bought the same things in organic Gerber 'jars' so I could compare price. I got 10 packages of 2(2.5oz)jars equaling a total of 50 oz for $13.90. That means 31 cents for 46 ounces MORE! That's almost double-Yay!
The food I made this morning will probably last me a month or two, which makes me realize I can make my own baby food maybe once a month and be set. Not too hard after all. Anyway- feeling very healthy, motherly and productive today. :)
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| My camera assistant, su chef, and inspiration. |
That really is a good savings! I made Amelia a couple of things, but then stopped and got lazy. Maybe you can make Jillian some and send it to me? :-)
ReplyDeleteLol- Trust me, I was feeling really ambitious and just wanted to try it out. I wouldn't be surprised if my cupboard is full of Gerber in a couple of months. :)
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