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
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
-------------------------------------------Grab A Button & Link Up!
An InLinkz Link-up