Homemade

When Caroline began eating solids a few months ago, I began a new past-time as well -- making my own baby food. I have to admit that at first I was a bit intimidated. I had never really seen the process first hand, and I always feel much more confident trying new things that have actually been explained to me in detail (let's just say I'm not the most creative person you'll ever meet). But with a few helpful tips from friends and a handful of library books, I decided to jump right in. After all, when I compared the price of the jars with the price of making my own, there really was no comparison.

Boy am I glad! Making my own baby food has been far easier than I anticipated and incredibly cost effective. Then about a month and a half ago, I won a giveaway on my friend Carrie's blog, with all that I've been given. She focuses her blog on stewardship and writes often about different ways to be frugal and thrifty at home (it's a great read - you should check it out!). In one particular post, she mentioned 10 of her favorite kitchen gadgets, one of them being an immersion blender which she said she loved using to make baby food. When I won her giveaway, I decided that was what I wanted to put my Amazon money towards.

I was like a kid on Christmas morning when this thing showed up in the mail! I immediately got to work on some of the baby food I needed to make that day since I couldn't wait to try out my new toy. After I made peas in no time flat, I texted a picture of my new toy to Dan and said, "this is changing my life."

I was only slightly exaggerating.

Here is a very brief tutorial on the art of making baby food...and a big plug for an immersion blender if you don't own one :-)

1) Cook your food according to it's kind (sorry - we've been studying Noah's Ark in church. "Each animal, according to it's kind..."). In this case, I steamed a bag of frozen peas. It doesn't get much easier than this. Then drain them and put them in your hand-dandy cup that came with your immersion blender.

2) Admire the beauty. Then pull the trigger and puree peas in about 5 seconds. Add a little water if necessary.

3) Scoop the lovely green substance into an ice cube tray to create individual portions. Then freeze it.

4) Pop off the end of your amazing new toy and wash it. That's it. That's all you have to clean up! (Well, for the mixer anyway - you'll still have to deal with the pot and cup. Still, not bad.)

5) Try not to trip over the cute little baldy that has you pinned in the corner. She's dangerous in this thing!

6) Pop the colorful cubes out and put them in some freezer bags. Don't forget to label them! (These are not peas, but sweet potatoes rather. See, that's why we label things.)

7) Feed them to your hungry beast. Or in my case, try really hard to get her to take just one bite. I believe I was successful in this instance.

**Side note** Does anyone have any tips on how to get an uninterested baby to eat? It took her a LOOOOONG time to really get the hang of it and we were finally cruising along with the solids. Then after her stomach bug last week, we're back to square one. She'll take a few bites of something (if that...and it doesn't seem to matter what it is) and then she's done. I'm worried she's not getting enough since she was eating so well before. Any suggestions are welcomed :)

My only problem now is that I'm running out of freezer space! I guess I'll just have to take a little hiatus from the frozen pizza section for awhile.

Here are a few of my other creations:

Peas & Squash

Mango, Zucchini, & Carrots - colorful :)

Just thought I'd offer a word of encouragement if anyone else out there is intimidated by the idea of making your own baby food. It's so easy and totally worth the effort! Just...spoil yourself a little and buy an immersion blender, okay? Tell your husband it's for the baby. You won't regret it!