8.11.2010

meals for the Queen


I don't know why it's taken me FOUR babies to figure out that making baby food is not rocket science. Before Wren was born, my friend Liz brought me a big bag of empty baby food jars and instructed me to to tuck them away until the baby was ready to eat.


I foolishly thought one needed a fancy food mill and special recipe book and blah blah blah lots of other things. Nope. Liz told me that all you need is some kind of blender, a steamer, an oven, and the glorious internet (this site has any and all information you need to know should you too want to make baby food).


The best part is that Liz was totally right. It's super easy and I am now a baby-food-making-maniac. I can't stop and my husband will thank you for listening to me because I think he might possibly be getting tired of me calling him at work to tell him about my latest blend. Speaking of which, my most successful batch so far consisted of 4 pears, cut open and baked at 325 for 25 minutes on a cookie sheet with about half an inch of water on it. Then I scooped out the middles from the skin and blended them up with a bit of cinnamon, some water to thin, and the tiniest little drop of vanilla. So delicious! And the smell... fall in a jar. (FYI, the four organic pears cost me about $2 and made 10 one-ounce servings, which I froze. To buy 10 jars of organic baby food would cost me about $7. And, as the site I previously linked to says, you can easily freeze baby food in ice cube trays.)


See? No one can resist the charms of the cinnamon vanilla pears.

15 comments:

Allison Drew said...

When I have a child I will absolutely be doing this!

The Hammonds said...

You've inspired me. Esther may just get some homemade zucchini followed by some Crenshaw melon tonight.

Em said...

and in case you ever needed another reason, buy a jar of baby food. say, prunes, and give it a taste. it tastes TERRIBLE. not like prunes at all. that convinced me, along w the savings, that it was much easier and healthier to make my own for my babes. they love it. :)

Unknown said...

oh yes, I've always used icecubes trays... especially at the beginning when babies eat such a small amount!!

nanny said...

How cute.....she is a doll!

Unknown said...

LOVE this post! I have no babies, but I just may make some for myself!!!:)

Cate said...

I have always made my own baby food, but it has taken me FOUR babies to think of storing it in empty store bought jars, so you're not alone there! I'm off the visit that link you put up- thanks

Liz R. said...

yes... i am quite smart {wink}

sometimes i throw in a few blue berries for good measure.

AND

since i have all of this pureed goodness, and have kids who consider fruit snacks a fruit... i sneak this stuff into their food - pumpkin in pancake mix, squash in their mac n cheese and i've even spread a thin layer of carrots on toast before layering it with jelly. ha!

btw - i love that top picture w/ wren's feet in the back ground. your labels are so clever too. i'm so glad this is working for you!

melissa said...

Oh, baby Wren is so beautiful! And so healthy eating all her homemade baby food. I only wish I knew about this when my kids were little!

Lauren said...

Those pears sound tasty. I love the picture with her little legs in the back. She is one healthy, happy baby!

Erica said...

I too just discovered the joy of making your own baby food. My third child is four months, and I have been making her first foods. I cannot believe that I purchased prepared baby foods for my first two. I have to admit that I did splurge and buy a Beaba Babycook, which I love:) I am going to use your pear recipe for my daughter. That sounds delicious.

Anonymous said...

I loved making my son's baby food. I did use the ice cube tray method quite often when I made large batches.

Susannah said...

I'm giggling right now. I bought one of those little food processors (A Magic Bullet) for making small batches of baby food for my 3rd. I loved it! However, make sure that if you are bragging to your church's woman's group about how much you love your Magic Bullet that everyone understands it's a food preparation device...
LOL~

Unknown said...

Susannah, that is the funniest thing! I will laugh about that all day long!!

Corrie said...

adorably cute jars of food! with my first daughter I tended to buy in a lot of her food but having the twins meant I made it all and it was like derrrrrrrrrrrr this is so easy:)

Corrie:)