Making your own baby food and My Birthday!

I've growing a love for making homemade baby food. It's fun for me and I love knowing that I'm giving him fresh food that's made with love. I always say food that's made with love tastes way better! It's not hard at all and can become kind of time consuming if you don't have the right appliances. I feel that making our own baby food is cheaper then buying the jars. I talked to you before about the Ella's Kitchen Organic baby food that I give to B. This is only because it's hard for me to get green beans made in the right consistency. They also have some amazing combos like spinach. apple, rutabaga that I've given to B. This is still new to me, so once I get the hang of it I'm sure I'll be making it all myself.

 To start your going to need something to puree the food. If you have a food processor at your home, that's perfect to use. I started out with a small grinder, it's perfect if your going to be doing something quick for that day. I didn't know if I would like making the baby food so I didn't want to end up wasting money. I use this for now to make all the baby food. Believe me when I tell you at the end my arm hurts! So hopefully I'll be able to upgrade to the Baby Bullet soon. The Baby Bullet is a another way to puree it does the same job as a food processor but smaller. The good thing about this is it comes with all the storage containers you can refrigerate and freeze all the food you make. This is a popular one among moms. The Baby Brezza is a system that I've been looking at as well. It steams and purees all in one bowl, this would save so much time. It's the most costly of the three, costing about $100.00 on Amazon, but saving time is always a plus.

Munchkin food grinder $10.00 on Amazon

Baby Bullet $60.00 on Amazon

Baby Brezza $100.00 on Amazon

Cuisinart food processor $35.00 on Amazon

 For the first couple months all fruits and veggies should be cooked. Either by steaming, boiling, or baking. I suggest taking a look at my favorite baby food website they have tons of information on which foods should be steamed, boiled, or baked. If you are steaming you can use a food steamer or what I use is a colander inside a large pot of boiling water.

Once your fruits or veggies are cooked your going to puree them into the consistency that right for your baby. You can thin out your puree with water/breast milk/formula or thicken with cereal. I would suggest you do this before you freeze your puree. Once the puree is completely done I use ice cube trays to freeze them. Cover the trays in plastic wrap and place into the freezer. I normally will do enough food to fill 2 trays. Once the puree is frozen you can remove them and place in Ziploc freezer bag. Make sure you write the date on the bag so you'll know. For optimal quality you only want to keep for 3 months, even though they'll remain safe for 6 months. If you choose not to freeze your baby food keep refrigerated for 48 hours (many safety authorities say 72 hours is fine).

When your ready to feed your baby you can thaw the baby food in the microwave, but be careful because this can cause hot spots and burn your little ones mouth. Many bottle warmers also will steam your food to De-thaw, this is what we use most of the time. You can place frozen cubes in a closed container and refrigerate over night.

I know making your baby food may not be an option for everyone, but I hope your able to try it out and see if it's for you or not. You can buy organic or regular old fruit I've found that farmers markets have some great prices. Whole stores like Sam's Club and BJ's also have bulk size fruits and veggies that can be cheaper per pound. With meats you can save a little of whatever you make, for example I made fajitas for dinner and before I seasoned the chicken I took out some for B. I ground it up really small then placed it in his puree. Since he just started out on meats he doesn't need a lot, but I plan on just saving whatever we make for dinner then freezing it for him. I hope you were able to get some ideas and tips, if you have any new information to share with me I would love to hear it.

Today is my birthday and I had a wonderful day celebrating turning 26. My wonderful fiance brought me a watch that I've been eyeing. He made me pancakes this morning and woke me up with the baby signing happy birthday, it was so sweet. Then we spent the day lounging by the pool and just hanging. It's been one of my best birthdays. I got to spend it with my two boys, and for that I couldn't be more thankful!

Eating like a champ!

We have been eating solids for a full month and it's going great! I'm probably one of pickiest eaters you'll ever meet. So I've been making an effort to offer B everything, even if I think it's gross! I started doing all the purees myself, and love it. To me, it seems like it's way more cost effective then buying baby food. We skipped over rice cereal, due to the fact that it's not a nutritional as fruits and veggies. So far we have had squash, sweet potato, carrots, bananas, peas, pears, plums, and green beans. I've found green beans and peas to be the hardest to make. The consistency tends to be a little more chunky because of the skins. I make a batch of 1 or 2 different fruits or veggies. Each batch is 1 full ice cube tray frozen, then stored in freezer bags. I've found so much helpful information on www.wholesomebabyfood.com. They tell you everything you need to know about making, storing, and feeding your baby.
 Today I was at Target and I was strolling down the baby aisle, and I stopped and was checking out the Ella's Kitchen organic baby food. They had so many wonderful fruit and veggie combinations. I decided to try 2 since I had some trouble getting the right consistency with some of my purees. I picked up spinach, apple, rutabaga, which Bobby loved, and broccoli, pears, peas. They were a little pricey, about $1.79 each, but perfect to stick in your diaper bag, or to give your little one different flavors to try.