Most of you know that we have an infant in our house, Garrett is now 8 months old and true a delight. Today's post is about baby food, a topic I was a bit rusty on until recently when Garrett entered the world of solids. When my older son Lukas was a baby I happily bought all of his baby food and kept Gerber afloat. Unlike some of my friends I did NOT have visions of homemade baby food. I was happy someone else (Gerber) did the hard work and all I had to do was choose between sweet potatoes or squash. Fast forward nearly 7 years, with Living Large with Less as my middle name, I have reconsidered my stance. A friend gave me a book on making baby food which was a beautiful book with lots of pictures and super simple recipes. My summary of the book: cook vegetables and put in blender with a little of the cooking liquid. And needless to say, I have been going to town making baby food for Garrett. Once or twice I have consulted my own Betty Crocker cookbook for reminders on how long some vegetables need to cook, but other than that it has been an easy road. The cost was a primary driver as Garrett began eating more than one 2.5 ounce container of food per day. Gerber charges anywhere from 12-25 cents per ounce, depending upon the food, where you purchase it and whether or not it is organic. It doesn't sound like a lot of money but when I can make my own baby food for about 4 cents/ounce, the savings start to add up. In addition to the cost, I can also control the quality of the ingredients as well as use my own creativity in making "meals" for him. Currently Garrett eats a lot of the same foods that we do: soups, pasta dishes, lentils, rice & beans and other ingredients. Once Garrett starts eating non-blender food, his palate should be similar to the rest of the family's as that is what he has already been eating. When I cook a vegetable for him I make enough to fill several empty 4 oz. Gerber baby food containers. (Yes, I did buy some Gerber product and now I re-use the empty containers). I have found that making the food doesn't take a lot of time, is easy, fulfilling for all involved AND it saves me money. If you have an infant my encouragement to you is that you give it a try. You may surprise yourself as I did.
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