Baby Food

I posted the picture below on IG and several people asked/commented that they'd like to know my baby food "recipes"...

I've made baby food for all three of my kiddos because I like doing it. Yes, it's less expensive as well - but it also takes some time.  I don't really follow recipes, I just kind of do it :)  

This weekend I made a BIG batch of food since Griffin is eating solids three times a day.  The first food I made was butternut squash.  I bought a BIG squash, cut it in half and then scooped out all the "guts".  I put it cut side down in a baking dish with a little big of water and then baked it at 400 degrees for close to an hour.  I like to use the heat to help me puree, so as soon as the squash was REALLY soft I scoop out the "meat" throw it in the food processor and pulse it until it's really really smooth.  I didn't have to add any water, but you could if you wanted it thinner.

Since my oven was already set and on at 400 degrees, I pierced a few sweet potatoes and put them in at the same time as the squash.  They also stayed in the oven for about an hour and then I just sliced them open, removed the potato part and pureed!

Once I have things pureed, I spread them into ice cube tray to freeze.  Then I just pop the "food cubes" out of the tray and into a big gallon ziploc bag.  Easy!

I don't have any special baby food making machine, steamer, etc.  I always boil or bake the veggies and fruits and then use my mom's 37 year old food processor to puree everything (my mom made MY baby food in the same robot coupe!)

Next, I made a fruit mix.  I peeled and sliced 4 peaches, 1 mango and 2 bananas (because that's what would fit in the food processor).  About 25 seconds of pureeing and I was done!  I also microwaved a bag of frozen peas, added a little water and made a pea puree as well.

Avocado is SUPER easy.  I bought 5 avocados, peeled and sliced them into eights.  I laid the slices out on parchment paper and froze the avocado slices. I dumped all the frozen slices into a ziploc bag and now about 15 minutes before a meal I just pull out a slice and let it thaw and then mash it up with a spoon.

 I also steamed carrots and pureed those as well.   All in all, I ended up with about 140 "cubes" of fruits and veggies.  I haven't  measured, but I'm thinking that's about the equivalent of 75 - 90 jars of food... so about $40 - $50 in baby food.  My bill at Sprouts was $18, but that also included $6 worth of dark chocolate covered honeycomb for me and strawberries for the boys :)

My method/recipe definitely isn't anything fancy - pretty much just bake/steam and puree!  It's easy, fun and rewarding and so far all three of my kiddos have loved the homemade food.  I'm not adding in any spices or anything like that at the moment... I'll probably do cinnamon apples the next go round, but for now I'm sticking with just straight fruits/veggies.  I also like to feed Griffin off or our plates... if we're eating spaghetti I'll squash some up and feed it to her.  If the boys have yogurt I'll feed her a few spoonfuls as well.  Since food allergies do NOT run in either of our families I'm pretty relaxed about what she has (except for eggs and honey).  

Let me know if you need any other info or have any questions!