Before we ever conceived Alayna (my littlest little), I knew I wanted to make my next baby’s food from scratch.  The price of baby food adds up pretty fast, especially in that 7-12 month stage when babies seem to eat heaping adult-like servings!   I also love to cook and knowing exactly what my kids are consuming makes it all the more enjoyable!

Making your baby’s food from scratch is such a great decision to make for so many reasons!  You know exactly what elements are entering into your child’s food because it is all being made by you and under your supervision.  You are able to pick and choose the quality of what your baby consumes.  Making your baby’s food is so much cheaper and not as hard as you may think!

Where you can purchase your ingredients

Always support small businesses and check your local farmer.  If you’re around my area, Bilbrey Family Farm [Click Here] is the best! Their produce is always fresh, organic, and they are all-around great and knowledgeable farmers that truly have a passion for their customers and what they do.  You can usually get veggies and fruits in bulk at a great price and the best part is that you personally know your farmer and your food. It doesn’t get better than that!

If you live in the south, you’ll know that Publix runs sales throughout the year on their produce and frozen veggies.  I often purchase the bulk bags of veggies and they are already cut and ready to throw in a pot and steam.  Sometimes they’ll even have BOGO’s on their organic frozen fruits and veggies.  You can also use canned and save even more! Buying bulk canned green beans at Wal-Mart is so simple and economical.

This is an economical choice

We were spending at least $20-$35 a week buying pre-packaged food for our little “Mrs. Piggy”.  My expenses reduced to about $25 every 2 weeks, providing around two weeks of food.  I am always looking for any way I can save money on everyday items for my kids and this one is on the top of my list along with cloth diapering! (I haven’t bought Alayna any disposable diapers since she was a newborn, but that’s a whole other blog post!)

I’m sure you can also imagine the thousands of pounds of disposable plastic baby food tubs and pouches that get thrown away and fill our landfills each year!

Get creative!

I love researching and creating different tastes and combinations of food.  The possibilities are endless!  You can go as simple as chicken and apples, or as extravagant as kale with white beans, barley, and quinoa.

Supplies

I use a Baby Bullet baby food grinder and regular ol’ pots and pans for my cooking.  I also use a steamer insert like this one [Click Here] for my fruits and veggies.

Storage

I store my baby food in these containers [Click Here]  and I also use the Infantino feeding station with the disposable pouches for when we are away from home or when we go eat out, which are so convenient because there are no big messes to clean up after she eats!  I simply label and date her food and throw it into my freezer where I keep it for no longer than a few months.

Here are a few baby food combinations I’ve come up with and my little girl loves.

Mixed veggies with chicken breast and pasta

This combination is one of her favorites for dinner or lunch.  She gobbles it up so fast!

I just boil 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts in water with a dash of turmeric, steam any variety of mixed frozen veggies, and cook one serving of pasta, following the instructions on the box.  I add this combination along with some of the broth from my chicken to my Baby Bullet blender and blend away!

Green beans with chicken 

I love to use fresh green beans for this recipe.  I just boil my chicken, steam the green beans and blend adding the broth of the chicken as I go until I get the desired consistency. Super easy and babies love it! You can also add different herbs and spices to the chicken as it’s cooking!

Chicken and rice

Boil your chicken and cook your rice separately following the instructions.  I combine the chicken, rice and broth to my blender and that’s it!

Pot roast with carrots and potatoes

This one is pretty convenient because all I have to do is make extra pot roast in my crock pot when I make it for dinner and use the left over to blend together with fresh-steamed carrots and boiled potatoes adding water until I get the texture I want.

Avocado with banana

You don’t even need a blender for this one!  This is like, healthy fast food for babies!  Grab a fork and “mush” ½ of an avocado with 1 banana.  A super food your baby is sure to love! If it’s too thick, simply add about a tablespoon of breast milk or water.

Blueberries with oatmeal

This is great for breakfast or if baby is constipated.  I just boil the blueberries for about 1-2 minutes ( just enough to soften them up) throw them into the blender and add fresh water and Earth’s Best oatmeal instant cereal.

Apple, banana and rice

I chop and steam the apples until I can easily push a fork through the flesh. Then I add them to the blender with a banana and some Earth’s Best brand instant baby rice and add the water that I steamed the apples in until the consistency is nice and smooth.

Mixed fruit with Multigrain cereal

Boil any bag of frozen mixed veggies until tender and add to your blender with water and Multi grain instant cereal.  Voila!

Rice cereal

Read your rice package’s instructions and cook as instructed, doubling the water measurement it calls for. The only other difference is that you’re going to grind the rice grains with a mill before you cook them until they have a powder-like consistency. I also add about 4 ounces of breast milk to make it creamy and boost nutrients.

I hope this post was helpful to you who are curious about making your own baby food.  Please comment or Email me if you have any questions(:

From Love, Christa.