Monday, January 3, 2011

$1.82

That is how much it cost today to buy 4 jars (4 oz size) of baby food today for the Professor.  This was without coupons or anything, but seriously I cannot believe how expensive this is.  I tried making homemade baby food for the Genius...I had a baby cookbook and a cool baby blender.  However, she had major eating problems and ended up not being able to even eat baby food or ANY food til she was almost 2.  I tried again with the Hippie and she wanted nothing to do with it.  She just sort of by passed baby food and chowed down on what we were eating. 
Now we have the Professor.  I have no baby blender and no cook book.  But I do have time and energy and the desire to feed him as healthy as we can.  So I am appealing to anyone who reads this blog.  What were your baby food recipes? Any advice?  I tried making him homemade oatmeal and he gagged.  I tried making homemade applesauce and he hated it.  Now, maybe it is because I do not have a baby food blender?  Maybe the applesauce was just too sweet for a first food?  I just don't know.  Please leave your advice, thoughts etc....
I do not want to be stuck buying baby food at $1.82/4 jars.  Thanks!

14 comments:

StephieD said...

Look online! I know allrecipies.com used to have some baby food recipes. Do you have a food processor? Or a food mill? I don't have a blender or cookbook, but I do have a crap load of baby food I would be willing to send you a box to help you out until you can get what you need! :) My doc told me to start with veggies for the Monster because they tend to not like the sweet as much. She was right too, Monster would much rather have veggies then fruits even now.

Unknown said...

I found that Maurice loved the sweet potatoes and butternut squash that I made for him. He also liked the applesauce. I didn't add any sugar to anything and later added a touch of cinamom to the applesauce. (You don't want to add it before 9 months I think due to the potential for allergies.) But I didn't have a cookbook, baby food grinder or anything except my normal blender. The butternut squash doesn't even need anything added to it. It just puree's on it's own. I did add a touch of water to the sweet potatoes. Could also do pear sauce easily. Mashed potatoes also went over pretty well. Banans too, but you have to watch for constipation...
You can freeze the extra portions in a ice cube tray and then sit them out on the counter in the morning...they'll be ready for lunch then.
I never had luck with green veggies this way. I always had to buy the ones that were already mixed with fruits and other stuff. But the yellow veggies he really went for.
I also kept trying avocado mashed up with some breast milk because it is so good for them with the good fats and all, but he never, ever, ever liked it! ;-(
Good luck!

Yanet @ 3 Sun Kissed Boys said...

When the boys weren't eating solids yet I use to blend EVERYTHING I'd fix for us in a regular blender! Rice, chicken, beans, veggies, combo of them all even. I used broth (left from cooking chicken) to smooth it out, so there was no real texture. I would set it at milkshake, I think.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Trinka said...

What makes a baby blender different from a food processor or regular blender?

My friends have always just blended up whatever they were eating. Maybe you could try that first, since you wouldn't have to buy anything special to give it a go.

Hope you find something that works!!!

Belinda said...

I use/used a generic magic bullet blender thing. It was the perfect size and worked great! I have a great book full of baby food recipes. I'll send you an email with some of them :)

Cash & Elsie's Mama said...

I made all of my sons baby food. I would just poach/steam whatever fruit/veggie it was then toss it in our blender from starbucks. I eventually got a cuisinart food processor but the blender worked great. Some of his firsts were sweet pot/yams, apples, pears, peas, golden beets (yes he ate them!), blueberries. I didnt' add ANYTHING to them. Just cooked. Blended. Froze in ice cube trays and then placed in single serving sizes in ziplock freezer bags. I would let a baggie sit out to defrost or pop it in the microwave for a few seconds. This "real" food made it easy to switch him to whatever we were eating as well. GOod Luck!! =)

Kristina said...

I make all my own baby food for my 8 months old. I just cook something organic and throw it in the blender with a little bit of filtered water. No special equipment needed. So far we've tried peas, sweet potato, butternut squash, carrots, pumpkin, spinach, red pepper, parsnip, turnip, apple, pear, banana, avocado, cranberries. She's liked it all. Spinach and red pepper did bad things to her tummy and diaper. There are some good recipes on wholesomebabyfood.com. I just mix together something new with something she's been exposed to and don't worry about whether it's a traditional combination. Sometimes, instead of exposure to new solids, I expose her to new herbs and spices. (Her MD said it was good). She's had basil, thyme, cinnamon, and ginger.

Heather Snow said...

I followed the Super Baby Foods guide. It has great recipes and ideas. But basically we just steamed or boiled whatever we wanted to feed (except fruits) and blended.

Unknown said...

I just used a regular blender or food processor to make baby food for Natalie. I didn't use any sort of recipe at all; I just blenderized whatever we had.

Unknown said...

I just used a regular blender or food processor to make baby food for Natalie. I didn't use any sort of recipe at all; I just blenderized whatever we had.

Myn @ fresh graNOLA family said...

Can I just say I know exactly what you mean about your first two kids- same plan, same outcome. First one had health issues so I couldn't get her to eat, and the second one is currently refusing all the purees I've made him and only eats bananas, mum mums, and crumbs off the floor that I miss! I would look at wholesomebabyfood.com, and I'd say just use your regular blender. Mine works out better than my special "baby food processor" anyway. Good luck!!

Unknown said...

Hey! I have a mini food processor that I used to make salsa when we were in the little apartment at Knox. I just saw it the other day back in the cabinet and wondered what in the world I should do with it since I never use it anymore. Would you like me to send it to you? I don't know how well it would do with the food but if you steamed the veggies (or fruit) it would make them super easy to blend. I don't have a steamer but I found a way to do it with just a pot. You put a shallow layer of water in the bottom, let it boil, put the veggies in, cover with a lid for a few minutes (make sure the water doesn't completely evaporate or the veggies will burn!) and let the veggies steam. This is how I make Calebs squash to put in his mac and cheese and spaghetti. Anyways, I have been there with the baby food frustration! I hope the little man will decide to eat some fresh veggies! Lmk if you want me to mail you the food processor and I will! Seriously, it will probably end up at Goodwill otherwise :-)

Little Luvies Shop said...

www.wholesomebabyfood.com will get you going in the right direction. Baby Cereal Panckes are one of my 7 month olds favorites! Emilee, however is like you middl child...she would rather eat what we are having than her food. I tried making her homemade babyfood with a small food processor for her first foods, and she didn't like the texture...it wasn't smooth enough. Now, though, she loves textures and does better with it. But check out that site. They have a ton of tips on ways to cook things when using them in baby food, what foods are appropriate for what age. A lot of things, if it is soft enough, you can just mash it with a fork or get some of those mesh feeders and let him puree it himself by sucking on the mesh. My daughter loved that!

hopeyliz said...

I always just put whatever we were eating into a small food processer that I had for salsa... That way they were used to different tastes, flavors & textures - with breastfeeding, they are used to variety! I think that is why my kids never liked the really bland stuff like the rice cereal!?