I just got an awesome gift from Angie the other day, a book on how to make your own baby food. I dove right in and read, I think, half of it this past Sunday. Told a friend I was going to try to cloth diaper and make my own baby food, and she shot me down saying that I was trying to be a super-mom and had to lower my expectations of what was actually achievable when you are home all day with a baby. Um, how you say… disagree?
I’m excited to try my hand at making baby food because 1) I love to cook, 2) I love to save money, and 3) I think I have no excuse not to. I have fourty hours a week that I’m not in an office, so my full-time job will be taking care of Penelope and managing our budget. And by saving money on things like diapers (by cloth diapering) and home-pureed carrot grossness (by making it myself), I’m going to be able to buy plane tickets to visit my family, thankyouverymuch. Also, really? Do you recommend I spend that time watching General Hospital instead? Because is it just me or has Jax not aged a day in the past ten years? THAT’S believable!
So I picked up the book to find out just how complicated this whole making-your-own-baby-food thing really is. About halfway through Super Baby Food the author mentions that an ice cube is the perfect size for one portion of smashed up frozen veggies or fruit, and you just might want to pick up some more ice cube trays.
And here’s where I need to confess a sin. Nearly every apartment we have lived in has had a few ice cube trays in the freezer when we arrived. And when we moved out I took them – every single one. I am swimming in ice cube trays. In fact I’ve never actually purchased one. Only when we moved to Nashville did I finally have a fridge with an icemaker. But even after Matt installed said icemaker, I stashed my ice cube trays in the pantry cabinet, because guys, YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU’RE GOING TO NEED MORE ICE.
Just watch. Penny won’t want anything to do with food that doesn’t come in a Gerber screw-top jar. Something about karma?
March 15th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Priscilla… You are awesome. Don’t listen to the critics… do what your heart tells you. I’m planning to cloth diaper, make my own baby food too and work part-time. I think if you stay organized and just make the time to do a bit of extra laundry, it’s really no big deal.
I registered for these fabulous things:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2721830&fromRegistryNumber=45045464&product_skn=75162
they are BPA free and dishwasher safe. I think 3-4 per week do the trick and they stack and are flexible (so you can just pop the food out when you need it).
I mean really, it does mean less trips to the grocery store. And less lugging of huge bags of glass jars every week.
I support you! And we can share success (and failure) stories. Go money-saving eco loving moms
March 15th, 2010 at 4:14 pm
good for you! nothing wrong with canned baby food and nothing wrong with making your own either! i work and i make my own baby food and i’m no super mom!
however, i do have to say that making your own is not ALWAYS cheaper (just so you know). i found that unless you get a great deal on peaches and pears they are either around the same price or more expensive when you make your own. everything else however, is generally cheaper. 
i also found out that if you happen to buy too many bananas and cannot eat them all before they would go bad you can unpeel them and freeze them! they thaw well enough to mush up and give to a baby (i, as an adult, probably wouldn’t eat it though unless it was still semi frozen and covered in chocolate). and i have no advice on cloth diapers as i did not do them because we have a sketchy old washer and thought it probably wouldn’t get them clean. 
but i’d be doing them too if i had a great washer!
March 15th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
crystal, those containers look awesome! glad you’re going to try this along with me.
sheli, i’ve wondered that about the different food prices, but i tend to shop the sales on produce anyways. i’ve also been shocked by how much cheaper the stone fruits are down here, probably because they can be grown locally. but i’m also hoping to start a backyard garden this year which means that most of the veggies, at least, would be organic and whatever comes out of my garden. ever the optimist, i guess.
March 15th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Still cloth diapering 18 months later and I made both my kids’ baby food. And that’s with 2. You can do it
I used ice cube trays too. They’re perfect size portions. Make up a whole bunch at a time and it’s not like you’ll be pureeing (is that a word?) daily.
It’s definitely a money saver but I also like knowing exactly what is in my kids’ food. I know there’s organic baby food out there, but there is a LOT of extra sugars and junk in some conventional baby foods and I’d rather avoid that altogether when they’re so tiny, know what I mean?
March 15th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
haha!! i collect ice cube trays too!! we just found some the other day, and i refused to let adam put them in the goodwill pile! i made most of lou’s veggies and could’ve done more. and for things like sweet potato, it was easier, cuz i’d just make it for all of us, and puree/cook hers longer. lou definitely ate more than an icecube worth though, so i reused the little plastic containers that baby food comes in. (those are great to have anyway.) you’ll have to buy some for when you’re traveling anyway, so you can just reuse those containers if penny eats like lou!! and you might as well start out with big expectations for yourself because you won’t feel like adding any new expectations once she actually arrives.
March 15th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
P-la, I’m not very crunchy but I did smash up veggies and fruits regularly for the little hooligans. They especially liked avocado, sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Also bananas. It’s easy. The little buggers turned up their tiny noses at the jarred stuff. Baby snobs.
March 15th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
yeah, you need to just ignore people (except me!) But also don’t be too stubborn. If one day you think, screw it, I’m going to Target and getting a package of disposable diapers, then throw them on for a couple days! And if life is insane and you want to supplement with some Gerber’s, then do it. But I’d love for you to not do any of that and then put all your mommy blogs together into a book so I’ll know how to do it. =) You’re going to be a good mom!
March 15th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
I am certainly no super mom, and I was a little on the lazy side, so I didn’t often batch cook and freeze food for Alex, although that’s a great way to go! I just mashed or blended things as I made them. (a magic bullet or something similar is great for that) Sweet potatos blend well with so many things, and after you’ve ruled out allergies, it’s easy to purée whatever you and Matt are eating. Brown rice is also a great addition, and I did keep some dry baby cereal on hand to add some thickness and grains when it was needed.(
March 15th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
My sister-in-law made her own baby food. As a result, my 9-year-old niece Katie has an aversion to salt, sugar, and fat to this day. Hmmm. I could live with those results! Go for it, Priscilla!
March 15th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
you can do it! the beauty of parenting (and i get one of the freaky things if you’re a control nut) is that it’s a fluid, organic experience. you learn as you go.
March 16th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
You can definitely make your own babyfood! I’ve actually never bought a jar of babyfood! It takes only a few short minutes and a whole batch will last a long time, plus you know exactly what is in it.
I cloth diapered my first daughter for a couple of years. My second daughter was cloth diapered for several months. I have very fond memories of cloth diapering!
March 17th, 2010 at 8:14 am
I work and I still cloth diaper and made my own baby food. If I can do it, I know you can!
Ice cube trays worked really well. I put the frozen cubes in to tupperware containers so that I could reuse the trays for more food. It’s easier to grab a few cubes that way too. I had an awesome cookbook that also has great toddler recipes. I can’t remember the title but I’ll send it along. I always really enjoyed making Ben’s food. Especially when he loved it!