Is anyone making their own baby food?

I decided to make some of our baby food. yes I love knowing exactly what is going into their bodies but I wish it was that noble. Its mostly $$$. I am learning quickly that feeding 2 babies baby food more than once a day will get costly fast. So far I have made sweet potaotes, green beans (not a hit) squash, applesauce and pears. Going to attempt carrots today.

What do you make? What was a big hit? What if any seasoning did you use? So far I have only used cinnamin on the sweet potatoes.

 

I made quite a bit of our baby food. I did carrots, peas, applesauce, pears, peaches. I never had much luck with green beans - I couldn't get the consistency right. I also did some mixes - sweet potato, pear, carrot was one, and the other was squash, pear, carrot. Once we got to more of the combo foods, I started buying food until they could eat more table food.

 

I made their food, like you said it's easy.

wholesomebabyfood

there's a link to a great online resource. It has lots of great info including recipes but also a great chart as to what to introduce and when.

when whole milk yogurt was age appropriate I mixed that with lots of the purees and the consistency didn't matter so much since it was mixed with the yogurt.

yeah, green beans weren't a hit at our house either! I think with carrots you want to make sure to use fresh water to thin them out, and not use the cooking/steaming water something because of nitrates?

sad to say I didn't do a lot of seasonings... mainly b/c I'm lazy, but also it's nice that the kids like the foods and don't "have" to have a special flavor on their broccoli or something... good luck! I used to have lots of different big freezer bags in filled with many many icecube sized purees it was easy to have the next meal ready.

 

www.wholesomebabyfood.com has some great recipes and ideas for making your own baby food. We made all of our girls food and I believe we saved quite a bit of money that way.

ETA-I was too slow in posting that; maybell beat me to it. So, I second using that site!

 

wholesomebabyfood.com is the best!

When we got more into mixtures of meats with veggies I added all kinds of seasonings like oregano, rosemary, thyme, curry powder. Anything that seemed like it would be tasty.

As for green beans, keep offering them, and even try mixing them with peas or sweet potato. My kids never loved the pureed ones, but once we moved onto finger foods and they had steamed ones they would gobble them up

 

My oldest didn't like baby food green beans but loves green beans now. I LOVE that website. Its where I get all my ideas. I need to get a steamer basket but I have been roasting alot of the veggies, sweet potatoes, squash and today carrots. its not hard and is so much cheeper. I do still get some baby food mostly fruit because its not in season right now, I can't wait til spring and the farmers market and taking them so they can feel and smell the foods whole. My daughter LOVES going to the farmers market.

 

I made all my DD food and plan to do the same with the twins. I use a book called Super Baby Food and a book called Into the Mouths of Babes. Both were great. She is not a picky eater at all, eats all her greens including spinach and kelp! I never seasoned any of the food. I think it does save money although I never did a cost comparison. Plain whole milk yogurt mixed with sweet potatoes and mixed with avocado was a favorite! I need to check out the website as well.

 

I also do all baby food myself. So far they have been eating pureed carrots, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, spinach, broccoli, zucchini, beef, apples, pears, mango and avocado. I mix and match everything: meat with zucchini and apple, sweet potatoes with carrot and avocado, oats with fruits, millet with fruits ... basically whatever color-combination I feel like giving them that day So far they have liked everything, even beef with spinach. I never use any seasoning either as I think they should discover the real taste of foods.

 

I've made some too. I've done avocado, sweet potatoes, and green beans so far. My babies don't really like the green beans either! So funny to see others say that. They were a great consistency when I first made them, but they didn't freeze well. It was like the water separated out when I deforosted them. I haven't used any seasonings yet, just making it plain. I think sweet potatoes are their favorite food so far. We're still in the phase of trying out a new food every four days. Tomorrow we'll try carrots, but the Gerber kind.

 

I also made all my baby food. My babie were not all that fond of the very soft pureed food and we quickly transitioned into finger foods from about 9, 10 months.
I would do all veggies and freeze it, then i did pasta and bolognise sauce and froze that too, they loved it. even chicken caseroles and shepperd's pies.
They dont like the commercial food stuffs. I found alot of interesting receipies on the web>
and safed a lot of money!!

 

We're making our own baby food to save money. We've made sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, green beans, peas, apples, and pears. My boys do ok with the green beans, but absolutely hate the peas! One tip I read was to dunk the container you're pureeing with in cold water for the green beans and peas. I also find that I need to blend them up once more when I thaw them and the consistency is ok. Kind of a PITA to blend again, but it does help.

I also like the wholesome baby food site!

 

I initially tried making string beans pureed, and the girls hated it. But I mixed it with some potato and chicken stock, and they ate it all up. When it was mixed with the potato, they didn't seem to mind the choppy consistency of the string beans.

 

I made almost all their food. Quick, easy, healthy, and a big hit was banana and avocado smooshed together. If they're younger, you can thin it with milk/formula. I just experimented a TON. Lots of combos- root vegetables, fruits...I feel like I did a TON of root veggies with apple mixed in to add a little sweetness. I steamed carrots, squash, and yams with apples. I had a great cranberry/apple recipe the kids loved...

I used wholesomebabyfood, http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com and got books from the library.

 

I love the wholesome baby food site. We've puréed apples, bananas, plums, pears, peaches, strawberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squash, green beans, sweet peas... I think that's it. At about 6 months I started using a food mill and I would grind up whatever we were having for dinner (just introduce one new thing at a time) until now, at 9.5 months they eat whatever we are having for dinner every night, usually as finger foods. I have an almost 4 year old that eats nothing but chicken finger and pizza, so it's nice to have 2 decent eaters. And they love food! I never made mixes of my purée, I always freeze the food by itself, then when I make them lunch or breakfast I just mix whatever I feel like doing that meal. Lol. It's best to thaw the food in 15 second increments and stir so that it doesn't get too hot. Anyway, good luck! I love making food for them

 

thats funny everyones lil ones hated green beans. mine loved it. you can basically can take most anything you make and zap it in the processor!

 

Mine are a year tomorrow! I have always made all their food. I still try to keep several batches of purees in the freezer, then for dinner if we are eating something that will not blend well, or is on a no no list, or just we are eating after they go to bed, I take a grain (pasta, rice, couscous, etc or beans), some chicken broth and a puree or 2 and blend it all together. Sometimes i add in parts of what we are eating, using the grain to make an even consistency. My guys are picky. They refuse to eat new things with their fingers and many days I dont have the mental capacity to watch how much they are eating vs floor vs older kids, so making a mix for dinner I know they are getting a full tummy.