Show and Tell

Kelli is hosting show and tell Friday again

So, here's mine.




You are looking at homemade babyfood peas. I stated in a meme that I make my own babyfood simply because it's cheap. I thought I'd show you exactly how it's done and let you make the price comparison.






I always start with bags of frozen vegetables. Usually we get a generic brand but as you can see, we're high class this week! Now I have known moms that started with fresh veggies, some had gardens and grew their own, but I've always used frozen.

I cooked up 2 bags of peas just as though I were going to serve them at dinner. Without adding any butter, salt...or anything else. Then I drain the peas. Now, I usually catch the "cooked in water" in a pot under the collander.

I then put the peas in my blender, I add back enough "cooked in water" until the water level is about 1/3 as high as the level of peas. (This is a good starting point, especially when they're little and you have to add more water to get the food thin enough for them...as they get bigger you add less water and blend for shorter time...think stage 2 foods.) Then I start-er-up.




I stop every few seconds and stir the peas and see if they need more water till I get them the consistency I want.

Note: I only use the cooked in water because I've read that some nutrients leech out of veggies into the water as they boil...since you have to add water anyway, why not? It isn't necessary, you could use water straight from the tap if you want.

Next step:


I spoon the babyfood into ice cube trays. Each ice cube is about an ounce. This is 2 (1lb) bags of peas (see 2nd pic) and it made up 46oz of baby food. I encourage you to figure out how much you'd pay for 46oz of baby food made at home versus what you'd pay for the stuff on the baby aisle next time you go to the grocery store. From start to here, this batch has taken me about 30 minutes to fix.

Next I put the trays in the freezer for several hours. When they're frozen solid I transfer the baby food cubes to a baggie for easier storage.




At meal time I just grab a couple of cubes, zap em in the microwave and call it good. If we're going to be out and about at meal time I usually thaw them before we leave and take them in a tiny tupperware, since all there is in there is veggie and water they aren't going to spoil in a day. On trips I take a cooler. I've been known to thaw babyfood and breastmilk on the dashboard. :-)

She's currently eating about 5oz of food a day so this bag will last me more than a week. As they get bigger and eat more/larger variety I will have several bags in the freezer at a time to pick from. I think the most time I spent making food was about 1-2 hours a week. I just picked a day (usually on the weekend) and made a bunch of baby food. I usually write on the bag what is in it...although after awhile you can tell from the color. Spinach is darker than green beans which are darker than peas.....

At one time when I was making for Sonshine I'd exhausted all the fruit and veggie choices I could come up with to introduce him to so I went cruising the baby food aisle looking for ideas. I found out that he was eating a much larger variety than they had available, so I quit worrying. :-)