Baby Food!

I have to confess, one of my first thoughts on learning we were expecting baby number four was, "I get to make baby food again!"  (That was after the slightly panicky, "But where are we going to PUT it?!") Now, the time has come! Our little one is six months old and after a steady diet of breast milk she's ready to sink her gums into some veggies! I'd like to start by saying I'm just sharing how I prepare like to prepare food for my babies. Everyone does things differently and that's cool.

I like to start with vegetables - sweet potatoes, acorn/butternut squash, peas, green beans, avocado, etc. After Lauryn has tried several different veggies and enjoys them eagerly, I'll slowly begin adding in natural applesauce, mashed banana, pureed peaches, etc. While I prepare a lot of vegetables ahead of time and keep them in the fridge and freezer, I mostly use fresh fruits. I do puree peaches and plums, but that's pretty much it. As she slowly weans, I will begin adding some dairy into her diet - cottage cheese, plain Greek yogurt. The older babies are, the more they want to feed themselves. I usually put a few things on their highchair tray for entertainment and occasional consumption while I am feeding them. Cooked pasta, whole peas, diced cooked carrots, even plain Cheerios all work well. That slowly transitions to them feeding themselves alone!

Here's what I prepared today:

Green beans and peas (1/2 bag each); acorn squash and sweet potatoes

The squash and potatoes I roasted on a baking sheet in the oven for about an hour. After they cooled I scooped the flesh out (minus the squash seeds, of course!) into my food processor and blended them with some water.

The frozen veggies I microwaved with a little water, then cooled and pureed in the food processor.

"Whatcha doin', Mama?"

I poured each veggie puree into separate 4-ounce containers:

I don't bother labeling each container, since it's pretty obvious what's inside, but I do like to mark the green beans with a "G" since the difference in color is so subtle.

Green beans, peas, squash, and sweet potatoes.

To make this batch of food, I spent about $0.57 per container. That price includes the food purchased as well as 16 of the containers. Obviously, the containers are reusable, so the next batch of food I make could cost as little as $0.30!