My Husband "Subvet" says that when our first son "Sonshine" was born the sun rose on our world, when our second son "Gator" was born the sun laughed and when our daughter "Sugars" was born all the flowers bloomed. That says it all.

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...
It's about learning how to dance in the rain."
Anonymous

Your mind is the garden, your
thoughts are the seeds, the harvest can either be flowers or weeds. — William
Wordsworth

Friday, August 17, 2007

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. :-)

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well done! Good for you (/$$) and good for your babe! I'm impressed...

MightyMom said...

Oh gee, don't be impressed. That was the point of the post, to show how EASY it is!

Pen of Jen said...

I am so impressed!I never froze my baby food, I didn't think of that!

Hey I finally finished the response...sorry I am often looong winded, so forgive me. I have been gone all day..and I am suffering from the stinky feet van smell! Oh never let the boys take the shoes off in the van!

Tragic to the olfactory senses.

Anonymous said...

I'm gonna remember that!!!

I've got a list of things I want to do with the kids when they're a little older....I'm writing that tip at the top!! No bare feet in van!

Julieann said...

Wonderful post!!! I have always made my own baby food too--such a wonderful thing to do for our babies. We have babies almost the same age---yours is 5 months? Mine will be 4 months on the 26th--not eating baby food yet though:) My daughter absolutly loved smashed avocados---and it is still one of her favotire foods. Thanks for sharing!

Julieann

Stephanie D said...

I was never that conscientious, I'm afraid. Oh, and when her doc told me to add yellow veggies to her diet, she loved them so much that's all she wanted--and her skin took on a nice orangey hue from all the carotene. Went well with her red hair. 8^P

We quickly added green stuff to balance her out a little. lol

You are such a good mommy!

Mohawk Chieftain said...

Just one more reason women are handy to keep around the tipi.... Yer momma can be proud!

Susan said...

What a great Show & Tell and what a great idea. I am far removed from baby food but I think it is so wonderful you do this and that you passed along the how to. I believe in saving in any way we can. We are called to be good stewards of God's blessings.
Susan

Carole Burant said...

When my boys were babies I use to make all my own baby food too and you're right, it's easy enough and sooo much cheaper!! Like you, I always used the water I had boiled the veggies in because a lot of vitamins are in it from the veggies. When the boys got old enough to have meat introduced in their diet, I would cook beef, chicken, etc, and put it through the grinder to mix it up with the veggies.

MightyMom said...

Julieann, Hello and welcome! Please feel free to come on back anytime. Yup, my littlest will be 6 months Sept 2, next oldest will be 2 1/2 on Sept 18 and Oldest will be 4 on Nov 25.

Stephanie, back when I worked in the office, I saw zillions of orange babies...I would ask the parents, so her fav food is either carrots or sweet potatoes (usually the latter)..parents were always amazed I knew that...I guess they didn't realize their kid looked like a pumpkin because it'd come on gradually. Hey, you are what you eat! ;-)

Chief, actually, Subvet has made baby food a time or two himself...

Susan, thanks.

Pea, yup to meat. Do that too. The boys' fav baby food was pureed brisket. hahaha. Try finding THAT in the super market!!

Anonymous said...

Oh this brings back memories. My kids never ate "real" babyfood and they ate a LOT of peas and bananas. When they graduated to finger food I brought frozen mixed peas and carrots (you know--the tiny ones) and those were their first finger foods.

Anonymous said...

You have inspired me!! I've never made baby food, but now I see it's easier than I thought. I always buy huge bags of frozen veggies, so I am going to cook peas tonight and puree some of them. My baby needs to try some vegetables. He loves all the baby cereals and fruits. I tried some turkey last night but... he didn't like them at all. (that is putting it mildly) When I was telling the kids this morning that he hated his turkey last night, he started bawling. I swear he recognized the word!!! =)

MightyMom said...

meat has a different texture, no baby ever likes it at first, keep trying it....remember, 1 new food every 3 days, this is in case of allergic reaction, then you know what the reaction was to.

good luck!!