Make Your Own Baby Food. When you make your baby’s own foods, you can save money and reduce waste. You also can choose more nutritious options and know exactly what your baby is eating. Fresh foods are typically more nutritious than canned and don’t contain those preservatives that can be harsh on baby tummies. If you can, purchase organic food and consider preparing your baby’s food early (meaning before they come).  Keep it simple.  Blend up some spinach and apple puree.  Sound gross?  Try it.  You’ll like it!

Not in the mood for spinach slime?  Try a sweet nutritious blend of strawberries and bananas.  Most babies drool for this one!  Just blend it up with some ice cubes or just water.  Some mixtures can even be blended with breast milk for easing dry foods into the diet like baby cereal.  Baby cereal and a bit of formula with some bananas and you’ve got a meal on the cheap.  Have fun and get creative.

Keep it light and simple.  And always remember the 4 day rule when it comes to introducing new foods into the baby’s diet.

Making baby food doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming. In fact, the easiest and cheapest way is, in fact, making your own baby food.

The easy way to making your own baby food:
1) Don’t bother with buying one of those baby food grinders. They’re hard to clean and too much hassle.  Instead get one of those mini Cuisinart grinders that also chops with a two way blade.  Here’s a link to see what I’m talking about.  Amazon.com has amazing deals!  See Cuisinart grinder (baby food maker).

2) If you wait until your baby is 6 months old to start solids, you can just mash it up with a fork to the desired consistency.

If you’re breastfeeding, you can even wait until baby’s “pincer grasp” is developed and offer him small finger foods like peas, and bits of grated apple. The pincer grasp is developed when baby can pinch small objects (like those bits of carpet fluff or food on the kitchen floor!) in between his thumb and first finger. In fact, if you have a family tendency towards food allergy, waiting longer to start solids may be preferable. No matter what baby’s age, always offer one food at a time and wait several days to watch for signs of allergy before offering another. Take it slow.  No rush.

3) Start with fresh single ingredient foods like:

• Banana
• Steamed carrot, turnip, potato, yam
• Avocado
• Ripe pear, peach, melon, plum
• Cooked squash
• Grated apple- raw or steamed
• PeasWell cooked beans
• Hard cooked egg yolks (avoid the whites until 1 year)

Some of these foods could be served raw. Others are lightly steamed (steaming retains more nutrients than canning), to make them softer for baby.

4) It’s not necessary to make a big deal of preparing baby’s food.

If you want to take a lot of time blending your baby’s food and freezing, then think about using ice cube trays or small plastic cups that you can easily bend or defrost from. Getting int the habit of preparing “slightly larger” portions at one time, and freezing half of what you make will definitely save you some money in the long run.  ..Not to mention turn out to be a huge time saver.  ..That’s when mom’s get to put their feet up.

Although you do want to avoid giving baby salt and sugar (and spices that may upset the tummy), you can usually just take an ingredient from your own menu and “make” baby’s dinner.

For instance, if you’re steaming veggies to serve at dinner, take a tablespoon of them out of the pan before you add butter and salt. Put this in baby’s plate and mash away. Voila! Instant baby food with no extra work. Or take a bit of beef from your roast and mash mash mash until it’s very soft.

Even when you’re at a restaurant, you can either bring an apple with you and “grate” it finely with a spoon at your table, or bring along a banana or other portable food. Any restaurant with a salad bar would have cooked beans or avocado. Or give baby a bit of your baked potato (before you add the goodies on top).

Life with a new baby is challenging enough. Keep starting solids simple!

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