As you know, I am expecting my first child. This can be so overwhelming and I know that other first time moms probably feel the same. I have so many questions and would love to hear the opinions of moms who have already been through this a time or two before.Because of this, I am hosting a weekly series to try and get some answers to some of the most common questions.
Here are the topics we still have for future weeks:
Buying vs. Making Baby Food:
Buying Baby Food
I'm excited to be guest-posting for Kaitlyn today! My name is Callie, I'm a Christian wife and mother, and I blog over at Through Clouded Glass. I hope you'll stop by and say hello!My husband and I have been married for five years (our anniversary is today! You can read more about us here), and we have two precious kiddos, a two year old and a 6 1/2 month old. I have successfully kept them alive on store-bought baby food so far, so today I'm here to talk to you about those fun little jars of pureed goodness.
One day a few months after we started my son on solids, we realized we were completely out of baby food jars. In desperation I opened a can of peas, mashed them up, and gave my son a bite. I was feeling really on-top-of-it and resourceful until he swallowed and then promptly threw up the peas all over his high chair tray. Thus ended my baby food-making career with my son.
In my defense, he never liked peas that much, and he still hates them. I think he has a true, natural aversion to peas (at least I tell myself that to counteract that pesky feeling that I may have scarred him for life with my baby food cooking). But that little incident is not the sole reason that we never got into making our own baby food. It just didn't seem worth the time and effort to me.
When I started this post I realized that I couldn't fairly write about reasons to buy baby food as opposed to making it when I had never tried making it - so I bought five common baby food ingredients and whipped up my very first real batches of homemade baby food. Here's what I found out.Money: This is the one area where jarred baby food can't really compete. If you make your own, you will save money. However, how much money you save is pretty variable. As part of my baby food experiment I made broccoli, green beans, carrots, peaches, and bananas, and then I compared the amount I spent on the amount I would have spent had I bought the same amount of baby food. I could get each of these baby foods in 4 ounce jars for 50 cents each. I saved on making everything except the peaches, and if I add the total amounts of baby food together, I saved $4.39 cents. Averaged out, it comes to about 29 cents per baby food jar, which is about a 40% savings. This is going to vary a lot though based on what food combinations you do - I just stuck with single-ingredient foods to make it simpler. It took me two hours to make the baby food, so put a different way, I essentially earned $4.39 in two hours. That number would be bigger had I done bigger batches at a time, but it's a little questionable to me whether that is enough to make the effort worthwhile to me. It might be worth it to you if it's something you have fun doing, but it's just something to think about.
Time: Buying your baby food is the obvious winner here, because it takes zero time to put a few jars in your shopping cart. I found that making the batches of baby food took 5-15 minutes for the bananas and peaches, and 30-60 minutes for the vegetables, depending on how much work was involved in peeling and chopping them up. If you have the time or don't mind spending the time doing that, go for it! If you think you'd rather use that time to do something else, then go for the jars.Convenience: Jarred baby food is the big winner here too. Not only do you not have to put in any effort to make it, you also don't have to worry about preserving it or defrosting it when you are ready to use it - you can stick a few jars of baby food in your diaper bag and you are set. Homemade baby food is just not as easy to use, especially not on the go.
For The Fun Of It: I think some people make their own baby food because they think it's fun. And after having done it myself, I can see that - it's kind of fun to figure out what you want to make and then do it. But I also think it's kind of fun to browse the baby food aisle and see what flavor combinations we can try next. Let's face it, baby food is kind of fun either way.Peace Of Mind: Some ladies like the peace of mind of knowing exactly what went into their child's baby food. I never quite understood this argument because I feel like I also know exactly what's in my baby's food by looking at the little ingredients section that the FDA requires food manufacturers put on the jar. See?
I trust that when it says all that's in the jar are carrots and water, it means that there are only carrots and water in the jar. If I'm concerned about how the carrots are grown, I can always go with a certified organic baby food. Actually I felt a little less peace of mind making my own baby food, because I worried about microorganisms on my fruits and vegetables and whether I was killing them all by just boiling them. So some The Trendy Supermom Factor: Supermom. We all want to be her. The mom that makes her baby healthy (and tasty) baby food combinations, uses cloth diapers, plays educational games with her kids, teaches her baby to communicate through sign language before their first birthday, volunteers at church, has a thriving career, and does it all with perfect looking hair and an organized show-room-like home. You may think you have met her before, but I have to tell you something.
That stereotype of a "Supermom" who does it all is an urban legend, only to be found in TV commercials. That's not real life, and it shouldn't be our definition of a supermom in the first place. If you want to feel like Supermom, I'd tell you that your capacities as a mom are not based off of your ability or choice to make your own baby food or not. Any mom who cares for her family, knows what works best for their individual situation and personalities, and proceeds to do it confidently is pretty Supermom-like in my book. And you can do that whether the baby food you whip out of your bag is Beechnut or of the homemade variety.Overall, making your own baby food will save you money, but will cost you in convenience and time. Doing it for fun or peace of mind are subjective issues. And you can be supermom with or without making your own baby food, because your baby just cares that you are there and that you love them - they don't care how their food was made! So whether you decide to make your own, or just stick with the baby food aisle at the grocery store, proceed with confidence!
And what about me? I'll probably be sticking with the jars for vegetables and fruits that are more expensive or require more prep time. I don't like to cook - I'm more of a baking kind of girl, so peeling and and boiling and all that isn't really my forte. But you can bet I'm not wasting money on buying jarred bananas anymore! We always have bananas going brown on us (my husband and son are super-picky about what kind of bananas they'll eat), and peeling them and throwing them in the blender takes two seconds. And 13 cents a jar for so little effort? Yes, please! Who said things have to be just one way or the other anyway?
Making Baby Food
Hi everyone! I’m Jess from Being Mrs. Beer…and yes, that really is my last name! I’m wife to Chris and mom to Abbie, born in December 2012.When Chris and I started talking about kids, I always knew I would make our kids’ food. It was really important to me that our kids knew how real food tasted, and didn't grow up on processed foods. Chris was a picky eater as a child, and I always had problems with my weight, so I wanted our kids to know what fresh, healthy foods tasted like. I wanted to do everything I could to prevent my kids having problems with food or weight.
I received several books on baby food while I was pregnant, and have taken books out of the library. I also found websites with baby food recipes – weelicious and wholesomebaby food are two of my favorites.
The process of making baby food is actually pretty easy. First, you cook the food. Fruits and tender vegetables (green beans, peas) are typically steamed, while heartier vegetables like squash and sweet potatoes are roasted. It’s important not to use any added salt or sugar – your baby doesn't need it! You don't need a special appliance to do this - I just use a steamer basket I picked up at Target!
Next, you pick an appliance and puree the food to the consistency you need. I use a food processor most of the time, but some vegetables puree better in a blender (peas and green beans). The appliance you use is really up to you - I've even used the magic bullet I got years ago. How long you process the food depends on the consistency you're looking for. With Abbie, I started out making completely smooth purees and slowly started giving her chunkier ones. Again, you don't need a special appliance to make baby food.
Once it’s pureed, either baby eats it or you store it. I store Abbie's food in the freezer, but I first freeze it in silicone ice cube trays before transferring it to labeled bags. I like to make big batches on weekends so we’re set for the week. Abbie goes to a sitter during the week while we're at work, so it's easy to defrost a few cubes overnight in the fridge to send in with her bottles.One of the things I love most about making Abbie's food is how easily I can adapt it. It’s very easy to create different combinations just by combining different cubes, which has made it easy to introduce new foods, especially vegetables. At first, Abbie wouldn't eat peas, but once I added some pears (her favorite), she gobbled them up! I slowly lessened the amount of peas, and she'll eat peas alone.
Another thing I love is that Abbie will have a chance to try anything I can find, and we can really take advantage of the farmer’s markets in our area. Every time I see a fruit or vegetable we don’t eat often, I try to see if it’s one Abbie can eat. There’s no reason for me to be confined to the flavors the baby food companies provide.
I love knowing that I’m controlling the quality of Abbie's food. I can add seasonings to introduce her to them, and am now starting to give her finger foods so she can learn about them too – she just has a bit of what we’re having. It’s a great balance and is working well for us so far! She’s willing to try anything and loves both purees and whole foods.Obviously, this is just what works for me and our family, and I love doing this for Abbie. I do believe that everyone needs to do what’s best for their own families. I do keep some purchased baby food in the house in case of emergencies and for travel, and I totally understand the convenience of having it done for you.
I hope Abbie continues to try everything, and I’m so glad we made the decision to make Abbie's food ourselves.
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