My little guy Isaac is 8 months old now, so I've gotten back into the practice of making homemade baby food. I do it partially because its so much cheaper, but also because I know it's healthier. Honestly, though, I don't think either of those reasons would be enough if it weren't so incredibly easy to do!
Store-bought baby food can cost upwards of $0.30 per ounce, depending on exactly what you buy (brand, store, organic, etc.). I read somewhere that, ounce for ounce, it is the most expensive food you'll ever buy. However, if you make it yourself, you can easily save as much as 75%, depending on the cost of your ingredients. Here, I'll show you how to make vegetables that came out to about $0.08 per ounce. Now that's what I'm talking about!
As far as being healthier, it's as simple as this--when I'm the one making the baby food, I get to choose exactly what goes in it. Store-bought baby foods often contain added sugars and salt or modified food starches that are used as fillers & thickeners. When I make the food myself, I can skip the salt and sugar, use whole grains, and even use steamed organic veggies if I want to!
I love that I can use quality ingredients to make my baby's food healthier and tastier than store-bought options. Seriously, have you ever tasted baby food? Not a lot of flavor in there. I remember when I was about to start Cadence (my first baby) on solids, her pediatrician told me that baby's tastes buds are fully developed. "If you think it tastes bad, she probably will too," she told me. That knowledge, combined with my determination to raise well-rounded eaters, emboldened me to experiment with cooking for my baby. She often ate the exact same thing as the rest of the family--just pureed. I've pureed spaghetti, soups, smoothie, chicken with rice & veggies, chili, risotto, and a variety of vegetables, and fed it all to my babies.
Today I'm walking you through making some veggie baby food using Green Giant's "Digestive Health" blend of yellow carrots, spinach, and white navy beans in a garlic herb sauce. I bought a couple boxes of these for our family to try and they weren't a big hit...so I thought I'd give them a try with Isaac instead of just throwing them away. Lucky boy, I know!
Prepare vegetables as usual. Really, you can make them however you would when serving them to your non-baby family members. The Green Giant blend is steam-in-the-bag preparation. Easy as that!
Next, put your veggies in your food processor (or blender) and puree.
Puree it for 10 or 20 seconds and then check its consistency.
Add water, one tablespoon at a time, until you've reached your desired consistency. I like it thick enough that it doesn't run off a level spoon, but not so thick that it will stick to a spoon held sideways. It's really up to you (ok, and your baby)!
Continue to puree the food until you've reached your desired texture. The longer you puree it, the smoother it will become. When your baby is just starting on solids, you'll want the food to be as smooth as possible. You can slowly introduce more texture in the food as time goes on.
Now the food is ready to eat. You can serve it immediately, refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze to use as needed. For convenient freezer storage, spoon the pureed mixture into ice cube trays and freeze through.
To store, remove frozen cubes from tray and place in a labeled freezer bag.
To serve, grab a cube or two and warm in the microwave.
It's as easy as that!
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