I am sure all of you are way ahead of me in this area, but I am in the learning process of making my own baby food for Karis. This week I was evaluating if the extra work was really worth it. The convenience of buying prepared baby food in the jars is so tempting for me. Earth’s Best has organic baby food! I have proven that it is indeed true.
My Calculations
I bought 1 lb of carrots & 2 large acorn squash = $2.27
This will be sufficient for at least 14 meals @ 4-5 oz per meal = $0.16 per meal
If I had bought an equal amount of Earth’s Best, I would have needed approx. 21 jars = $21 (at the sale price of $0.99 per jar, normally $1.14)
Divided by 14 meals = $1.50 per meal
I saved approx. $18.73
That’s worth it in my book!
How it works for me
I try to make a large batch of food every two weeks or so and freeze it. This week I cooked up two large acorn squash, and 1 pound of carrots. I cooked the squash in the oven as I would normally do for us, except I cook it longer to make it most squishy and easier to mash in the blender. Then I peel the skin off, throw it in my blender with some extra water, and process until it is a puree.
With the carrots, I boiled them in water till soft, and then I did the same in the blender! Easy! I pour it into ice cubes, freeze it, then remove and put it in Ziploc bags. When we need it for a meal, I will just put it in a small pot and stir until it melts.
Again, easy! Fresh, nutritious and the best for my baby!
Resources
Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron – a super book on learning how to make wholesome baby food with tons of extra information including recipes and more! Can’t recommend this more highly! Read my review here.
Wholesome Baby Food – lots of tips and tricks for making your own baby food!
Nourishing A Growing Baby – Nourishing Traditions approach to introducing solids
Nutritional Cost & Quality of Commercial Baby Food
By the way, for those last minute forgetfulness, I did find a coupon for Earth’s Best Organic Baby Food ($1 off 8 jars). You can sign up for it and print it out up to three times.
Congratulations Danielle! What an exciting time for you! I am pretty sure steaming is the best way to preserve nutrients (whenever water touches the food, nutrients are lost). I don’t know if steaming would be better than baking though – it probably depends on what veggie you are working with. I baked sweet potatoes and squash, steamed carrots, kale, broccoli, etc. Ruth Yaron’s book will be a great resource for you “Super Baby Food.” Lindsey has info on her book also. Best wishes to you and your growing family!!
Cool, there are really some excellent points on this post some of my readers may find this relevant, I’ll send a link, thank you.
OMG my baby turned out soo pretty using this baby face generator http://bit.ly/9C5rgd
Hi Lindsay,
I remember you mentioning a “food mill” at some point (not in this post)…that you can just add whatever cooked stuff you’re eating and grind it for her…which mill do you have?
Thanks!
No, I just use my blender for all of that.
One of my daughter’s favorite homemade foods was dried apricots that I had boiled till very soft, then blended it with ripe bananas. She loved eating
Or combining sweet potatoes and bananas. I did the same as you and froze them in ice cube trays. I rarely fed her jarred foods once she got the hang of solids and she is my best eater. When our next baby is ready for solids I’m sure I’ll be doing the same again 
It’s fun too.
Is it more beneficial to leave the skin on the acorn squash before baking? I generally peel it before baking.
No, there is no benefit to keeping the skin on. You can prepare as desired. i just find it much easier to remove the skin after it is cooked. It comes off very easily.
I use a vegetable peeler.
Hi Ladies!
I just found out I’m preggers and I’m excited about making baby food. But I wonder, when you cook it down to make it squooshy, are you cooking away the nutrients? Is there a particular cooking method that’s better than others? (for instance baking as opposed to boiling). Thanks!
Congratulations Danielle! What an exciting time for you! I am pretty sure steaming is the best way to preserve nutrients (whenever water touches the food, nutrients are lost). I don’t know if steaming would be better than baking though – it probably depends on what veggie you are working with. I baked sweet potatoes and squash, steamed carrots, kale, broccoli, etc. Ruth Yaron’s book will be a great resource for you “Super Baby Food.” Lindsey has info on her book also. Best wishes to you and your growing family!!
I also made homemade baby food for my babies who are now 1 and 2 and it was great. I just wanted to mention though for those times when you are traveling and need some jarred baby food I have found the Earth’s Best brand at Target for 62 cents a jar and at Walmart for 67 cents a jar. I know the prices at major chains or even the natural foods store are pretty high so if you are near one of these, the savings are great. I also would buy in bulk and use Earth’s Best coupons at Target. Love your site Lindsey! Lisa
I hope you know you are not supposed to prepare homemade carrots for babies because of the high level of nitrates in them–along with collard greens, beets and turnips. If you make these veggies homemade, you must buy organic. However, these 4 veggies are actually safer for your baby when bought in jars. Baby food manufacturers test veggies before processing them and avoid using any that are high in nitrates.
I understand that the nitrate problem is only an issue for infants under the age of 6 months, and they are not safer in jars, because they cannot be removed. Infants above 6 months have the stomach acids necessary to break down the nitrates. The risk of any problems from these vegi’s is about 0%. Of course organic vegi’s are the best anyway, if you can afford them. Read more about this whole issue here.
My 2nd lil one is 9mth old and I am havin a blast making baby food for Her! Though I am finding Steaming is the Most Nutritious way of cooking. It preserve nutrients best when compared to boiling.
The website Lindsey posted is a GREAT Tool to get the facts straight as some foods do need more caution then others.
Good for you! I made all our baby food for our daughter too, except for the first cereal, that I bought because I could get organic dirt cheap.
I was talking to my sister-in-law who was saying how disgusting baby food from the store was, and I was wondering how come we feed that to children if we would not eat it. Just wondering, and she had just bought the meat, and vowed never again! She would continue making her own stuff!
As for banana causing constipation, it is sometimes nice mixed with apple sauce, and sometimes avoids that problem….
Great job!! I make my own food but I tend not to go to the trouble of freezing it. I just make it as I cook for our family. I buy Earth’s Best and it’s a good second choice (though you are right, it’s expensive!!) I love the fresh food feeders too! They are great to have when you’re at the table and your baby can mush up something fresh and eat along with you without fear of choking.
With our first two, I just made it from what we were eating as a family…back then I hadn’t thought of a different way to do it. “Lady Why” how does it look at your house when you just make it as you cook for your family? Give me an example, please.
We’ve had a great experience with making baby food for our little one and I’m now making him Super Porridge for breakfast (from Ruth Yaron’s book “Super Baby Food”) and he loves mixtures of kale, sweet potato, avocado and yogurt. I’m also starting to make him some meat-based meals (see my blog) with great success.
Best of luck with your journey!
Sarah
What about fruits? Do you just make 2 vegetables for those 2 weeks?
I actually also include pears and bananas at this stage (normally for breakfast if I have some). I just didn’t add pears to this batch, but I normally steam these on the stove before pureeing. Bananas have been a cause of constipation for Karis though.
I did this same thing with my 3rd & 4th children and whoa! what a savings this was. I also did green beans from our garden. Great Job! Lisa