Cheap Baby Food

I know this is not a new concept, but I wanted to share my way of preparing baby food.

Once we got the OK to start baby food, I went out and bought the little jars of baby food. I liked the fact that she was eating food, but I never seemed to buy enough jars. I kept going back to the store just for baby food. It was also getting expensive.

For Christmas I asked for a food processor.
And I got one!

Since then, I have been making and freezing Millie's food.

This is what I do.

Buy a big bag of veggies. Fresh or frozen.
I have trouble finding frozen carrots, so I found this 5lb bag at Costco.

Boil veggie until tender.

Put in food processor and process until desired consistency.

 Then put the food in ice trays.

This was about 7 cups of carrots.

Not the whole 5lb bag.

Cover with plastic wrap and then foil.
I read somewhere that shards of foil could get in the food. That is why I do the plastic wrap first.

Then freeze!

Once frozen take out (you may need assistance with a butter knife) and put in Ziploc bag.

Now food is ready when you need it.

When you do need it, just put it in a microwave safe bowl and heat for about 30 seconds. Make sure it is not too hot for baby. You could also add a splash of water for better consistency.

I do this for peas, carrots, and green beans.

Sweet potatoes are even easier.

Poke holes in sweet potato, and microwave for 5 minutes.

If potato is soft enough then take it out. If not, then microwave a few more minutes.

Let it sit out and cool off for a little while.

Then just scoop out the insides in a bowl and mash up with a fork.

Then do the ice cube tray thing again.

For fruit, I give her apple sauce and bananas. She will eat about half a banana in one sitting.

Leave the other half in the peel and put it in a Ziploc. The peel will look gross and turn black, but the banana inside is still good. So we normally eat this half the next day.

I have found it a lot easier and cheaper to give her food from the freezer than to continue buying countless jars.

We do still buy a few jars of fruit that may be difficult to make ourselves. I also have a few jars for when we travel or just go somewhere at a meal time.

As for the price, making my own is definitely cheaper!

One sweet potato is less than a dollar, and it makes 6 or 7 servings.

A 2 lb bag of frozen peas cost about $2.99, and it makes over 2 dozen servings.

These jars cost over a $1.50.

And she would probably eat about 6 jars a day. 

I also recently bought a bag of black eyed peas.

Cooked them last night.

Millie loves them!


Making my own food might look time consuming, but the longest part is waiting on the water to boil. It pays off in the end. It also helps Millie get used to textured food.

Here a website that can give you more info or answer questions.   http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/FreezePage.htm