Baby Food

Dear Diary,

When I got pregnant, all sorts of things went flowing through my head. Would it be a boy or a girl? Will he/she look like me or B? What kind of personality will they have? Will they be sweet and shy like me? Or crazy and hyper like their daddy? Do I want to breastfeed or give formula? Will they love eating or be super picky? 

All sorts of questions. But there was one thing I was most certain about, one thing I always told Bobby I would do. And that was make their baby food. And it wasn't until recently did someone question me as to why I wanted to make his baby food over buying prepackaged ones at the store. 

(It was my Grammy because for Christmas I asked her for a Sam's membership so I could bulk buy veggies and she asked what for) 

A good friend of mine was very particular on her baby girl eating real food. She explained to me that some baby food products have other ingredients in them and the actual vegetables don't taste like the actual vegetables or fruit doesn't taste like the actual product. If you have ever had banana's from a baby food jar, you know exactly what I am talking about. The food in the baby food jars are sweeter and a lot of them contain citric acid. I had no idea or even cared before I had Brody. But once I did, I really started looking into making his own food. My friends baby girl is the BEST eater in the world and I chalk it up to her eating the actual product. When my friend went from the pureed stuff to the actual product, it didn't taste any different so she never refused the product. It always tasted the exact same way, the only way she knew it would taste. 

Not only that, it is extremely healthy and super fresh. I make it one day, freeze it and he has eaten the batch within 3 to 4 days. There's no shelf life, there's no expiration dates or sitting in plastic. 

But the best thing about it, is the cost. Brody eats for 30 cents a day! The large frozen green beans at Sam's cost $6. In the frozen green beans is a package of 5. So that's $1.20 a pack. In one pack, I can make 8, 2oz servings. Each 2oz serving is 15 cents when you get down to it. He eats 2 of those a day. 

If you were to go buy the Gerber stage 1 veggies, depending on where you go, they cost anywhere from $1 to $1.38 for a package of 2. Even if I found them for a $1, I am still saving 70 cents a day which is $4.90 a week, which is $254.80 a year. And that's only if he ate 2, 2oz servings a day! 

So you're saying, "Dani...do you know how easy it is to just grab them off the shelf and open them and give them to him?" Sure, I know time is money but do you know that it only takes me no more than 5 minutes to make this for him (Minus the microwave time). If you have time to make yourself a sandwich, you have time to make your child 3-4 days worth of food! 

Let me show you what I do! 

We have a Bullet at home so I use that. But you can use a regular blender or immersion blender if you have one of those too. Because I did know I wanted to make his food, I was able to register for some Baby Bullet products. Since we did have the bigger version at home, I didn't register for the whole package that comes with a blender. I only needed the steamer and the freezer containers. (The steamer will come in handy once I get to non frozen products that need to be soften before blended). 

I get one of the packages out of the bag. I follow the instructions on how to microwave it in the steamer bag it comes in. If for some reason you do decide to buy a can of green beans, you would just cook them on the stove top as it tells you to do and then blend them. 

Once they are fully cooked, I put them in the largest glass the Bullet has. And I shove them in. I add about half a cup of water to them. You can always add more water! If you add too much water, they will be super runny. 

I put the top on and blend away. This time I ended up adding a bit more water. I just eye balled it this time. Didn't measure but you will know what to look for once you get going. The second picture shows you where I stopped because I needed more water. So I just added a splash and continued and did that a few more times. Like I said, you can always add more water. 

And just like that, you are done! Pour them in freezer safe containers, either mark them with the date you made them or if you do get the Baby Bullet containers, they have a side dial you can turn to show the day you made it. If you keep them in the fridge, make sure they are eaten within 72 hours. If frozen, no more than 3 months! 

(side note, one of these containers takes 1 minute in the microwave to get unfrozen, so that's 30 seconds per ounce)

Or you can just serve it to them like this! I let it cool a minute or two and give it to him. He loves it! He is a very messy eater but oh well! 

This is what the Baby Bullet looks like. It cost around $60 for all of this. The steamer is sold separately and it cost around $30. 

The steamer is also good for sterilizing pacifiers or you can even make hard boiled eggs in this. You can soften any sort of veggie or fruit to make it easier to eat, once they are eating non pureed stuff but can't quite eat hard stuff yet due to choking hazards or lack of teeth. 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask! I do know days get hectic, and time slips away without you even looking and if you work full time, it is even harder. If you would love some help or want me to make you food for your child for small fee, let me know too! I would love to be able to help you out by providing a healthy alternative for your child and the peace of mind for you. 

Love, Me