I just made 27 servings of peaches for only $4!

I know a few of us have talked about making our own baby food. Last week a store by us had peaches for only .38 lb. I picked up a little over 10lbs and tonight I finally got around to making them.

I saved about $25 verses store bought. Gerber's peaches come in 2/2.5 oz packs for $1.09. I made 27 - 3/4 cups for about $4. I can't believe how much I saved by making it myself.

I also find that they enjoy the fresh fruits and veggies more. So far I've only done peaches, sweet potatoes and mixed veggies. I'll do bananas but I feed it to them right away.

 

Wow that is great. It is definately worth it to make it yourself if you can save that much.

 

Do you mind telling us how you do it? Thanks

 

Good for you! It's great that they like it, and that you are saving so much money!

 

Isn't it great saving so much money!! I did bananas yesterday. Not something I normally keep on hand for too long. I can only eat bananas when they are still green and when they start to get the small speck of brown I don't even want to look at them...i know, I am very odd...so got some ripe ones and went ahead and pureed them. I have done, peas,green beans, zucchini, sweet potatoes,carrots, avocado, apples, pears, bananas. The only thing I found I didn't save money on was the apples so we are going to start buying the jar of unsweetened applesauce. So much fun!!!!! Once they have had all of these...and once they hit six month, there are tons of other first foods they can have that you wouldn't find in baby jars. Can't wait!!!

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
This is the website I am using. Lot of great ideas. Even thinking of trying to make the teething biscuits.

Has anyone done that?

Dianna

 

QUOTE(Dianna @ Aug 21 2008, 06:40 AM) [snapback]940292[/snapback]
Isn't it great saving so much money!! I did bananas yesterday. Not something I normally keep on hand for too long. I can only eat bananas when they are still green and when they start to get the small speck of brown I don't even want to look at them...i know, I am very odd...


I'm the same way

I wish I could find peaches so cheap! I have everything ready to start making my own baby food once we start... but with the price of fruit and veggies I'm not sure it's not cheaper to buy them already made (BJ's has 18 portions for less than $8).

 

QUOTE(Fran27 @ Aug 21 2008, 08:26 AM) [snapback]940392[/snapback]
I'm the same way

I wish I could find peaches so cheap! I have everything ready to start making my own baby food once we start... but with the price of fruit and veggies I'm not sure it's not cheaper to buy them already made (BJ's has 18 portions for less than $8).

For us the saving money is great but I am doing it more for the variety. So many fruits and veggies you can't get in a jar.

Dianna

 

Amen to making your own baby food!!! I made all of my first born's baby food (even the meats) and I loved it. Not only did I save a TON of money. But I felt that I was offering him more nutritious meals. Has anyone tried jared baby food? YUCK!!! As an aside, I do think that it's made my little man a better eater. My nieces and nephews are horrible eaters. Preferring junk and not willing to try new things. My little guy loves fruits and veggies and trying everything under the sun. The other night he ate about ten asparagus stalks. Not a fun diaper the next morning but I loved that he was willing to try them... and liked them!!!

I am totally planning on making my own baby food again for my twin boys. I actually can't wait to start.

Here's a question for you all... how long do you or will you store the baby food? I was reading somewhere that it should only be stored for six weeks. Granted I might be flying through it with two mouths to feed this time around, but I would think that it would be fine to store for longer than that. It's made fresh and then frozen. What can go wrong?

 

That is what I am hoping...for good eaters. We dont' have the best eating habits in the is house, but we do eats lots of fresh veggies and I want the boys to be willing to try new things and so on.

I read 30 days. But I don't know. Would love to hear what other people say too. Right now just made a little bite of each food to make sure they don't have any reactions and all that but then will start to figure out how much I need to make at a time and knowing how long it will keep for is important for figuring it out. I am ok with having to make it even weekly if I have to...just another excuse for being in the kitchen, so I don't mind.

Dianna

 

I made all of our babyfood (other than applesauce and blueberries....cheaper to buy it) and found that I had no problem using it up in 30 days. Mine have a healthy appetite! I tried some jarred food (veggies and meat) and they refused to eat it!!

I loved making their food, and it never took to long to do

 

Most cooking gurus say that fruits and veggies will do 8 to 12 months in the freezer.... on the longer end if it is a stand alone freezer and not attached to a refrigerator. The big thing is how it is wrapped. Flavor suffers less if you get the extra air out (my husband uses the straw method... hillarious to watch).

Beef, uncooked, can go a year. Chicken, about 6 months. Pork about 3. Cooked meats don't last nearly so long. And Noodles and Rice will be fine if stored WHOLE (not pureed) and as stand alone items (not combined in something) for at least 3 months.

So cook ahead.... get it NOW while its Fall and CHEAP. Even though mine aren't due until January, I'm going ahead and filling the deep freeze now while the peaches are tasty, the watermelon is divine, and the squash is to die for. And the prices are low... at least at farmer's markets and such.

And if you buy organic, then you get the added bonus of saying the baby food is too!

BTW.... the smallest size of the glad-wear is twice the suggested serving size for first foods. Perfect for a twin mom. Finally.... something made for us!

Dominique

 

QUOTE(greengirls @ Aug 20 2008, 10:17 PM) [snapback]940126[/snapback]
Do you mind telling us how you do it? Thanks


All I did was wash, cut the peaches into small pieces and then put them in a huge pot with water. I let them simmer for about 10-15 minutes. I recently bought a food processor and it has made making baby food so much easier. Once they were done on the stove, it only took about 10-15 minutes to puree. I poured each batch into a huge bowl and then I measured out 3/4 cup into each container.

I had gone to the same store earlier in the week and they were .48lb which I thought was a great price. I went the last day of the sale and they dropped them to .38lb. Maybe they needed to move them out. I think from now on, I'll try to hit stores the last day of the weekly sale.

When shopping, my DH will ask the employee's in the produce dept if they have any old bananas. There have been numerous times he has got 5lbs or more of bananas for only $1 and there is nothing wrong with them, except they are not green or light yellow.

We have a huge freezer in our basement and that is where I store everything. I figure I'll feed the peaches every other day just so they don't get bored with them.

QUOTE
So cook ahead.... get it NOW while its Fall and CHEAP. Even though mine aren't due until January, I'm going ahead and filling the deep freeze now while the peaches are tasty, the watermelon is divine, and the squash is to die for. And the prices are low... at least at farmer's markets and such


Hmm, I never tried watermelon, I'll have to give that a try.

 

I never thought of making my own food, but I think you have inspired me to try sometime

April

 

QUOTE(erin102205 @ Aug 21 2008, 09:39 AM) [snapback]940512[/snapback]
Amen to making your own baby food!!! I made all of my first born's baby food (even the meats) and I loved it. Not only did I save a TON of money. But I felt that I was offering him more nutritious meals. Has anyone tried jared baby food? YUCK!!! As an aside, I do think that it's made my little man a better eater. My nieces and nephews are horrible eaters. Preferring junk and not willing to try new things. My little guy loves fruits and veggies and trying everything under the sun. The other night he ate about ten asparagus stalks. Not a fun diaper the next morning but I loved that he was willing to try them... and liked them!!!


Yuck? I have tried my babies' foods. Actually I don't give them anything until I try it myself including medicines, formula and breast milk. I refuse to give my babies meat from a jar bc I don't eat meat from a jar, but fruits and veggies - all it is is water and the fruit/veggie. The Beechnut tastes the best IMO, but the Earth's Best is great for thicker texture adding in grains and such.

I make a lot of things for the twins for dinner now and they do finger foods as well. I don't cook them fresh green beans every night, I use canned or frozen, but I would do the same for DH and I. I don't see any difference between serving canned or frozen and jar baby food. :shrug:

I agree that if you can buy produce when it is on sale and have the time to cook it all and freeze it that it can be a great economical approach, but honestly produce is rather expensive here unless I can find time to get to the big farmers market.

 

I agree, I don't think I'll ever give my kids the meat jars! Yuck. All I got is the fruit/vegetable kinds, unless I find good deals on fruit and veggies... I'm going to have to pay more attention from now on. Or I might just end up using frozen stuff, if only I could find frozen fruit!

Oh, what do you use to prepare the meat?

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my steamer. You can cook everything in there at once. I steamed my mixed veggies and turkey (there are different levels of containers) then threw them into my blender, added the dripped water and blended. It took little prep on my part. Maybe 5 mins to set it up to cook... left it for almost an hour, 5 mins to strip skin and bones, and another 5 to blend. Then I pour it into ice cube tray and freeze. I put some into a container in fridge to use over next few days. The next day I transfer the blend from the ice cube tray into freezer ziplock bags which I label before.

Steamers are the BEST!! They help to retain moisture as well as nutrients.

I figure, I'm going to have to cook for them when they eat table foods, so why not get into the habit now. This way, the "extra" time it takes will already be put in my schedule. Otherwise, if it's not a habit, for me at least, I would probably start resorting to precooked/processed foods for them to save time. And that is not what I want for my children.

 

That's great! Making your own baby food can be so rewarding.

 

QUOTE(smiley_ca1 @ Aug 21 2008, 08:20 PM) [snapback]941652[/snapback]
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my steamer. You can cook everything in there at once. I steamed my mixed veggies and turkey (there are different levels of containers) then threw them into my blender, added the dripped water and blended. It took little prep on my part. Maybe 5 mins to set it up to cook... left it for almost an hour, 5 mins to strip skin and bones, and another 5 to blend. Then I pour it into ice cube tray and freeze. I put some into a container in fridge to use over next few days. The next day I transfer the blend from the ice cube tray into freezer ziplock bags which I label before.

Steamers are the BEST!! They help to retain moisture as well as nutrients.

I figure, I'm going to have to cook for them when they eat table foods, so why not get into the habit now. This way, the "extra" time it takes will already be put in my schedule. Otherwise, if it's not a habit, for me at least, I would probably start resorting to precooked/processed foods for them to save time. And that is not what I want for my children.

Can you link to the steamer you have somewhere? Have been thinking of getting one but didn't know what kind would work well.

Dianna

 

I never thought of a steamer! It seems easier than boiling.

 

I have this pot which comes with a steamer basket. That's what I've been using to do all my steaming for baby food.

 

Thanks Beth I love seeing different products/gear people use and finding out how they like it. Does help when going to make a purchase

Dianna