Roll Your Own Baby Food

We’ve been kind of lazy parents. When it came time to get Liam started on solids, we reached for the Gerber instead of the Vitamix. It’s pretty easy to get caught up in the convenience, but homemade baby food isn’t all that tough to figure out. This isn’t to say we haven’t had our misses. My first attempt at making macaroni and cheese didn’t go over with him so well, nor have some of our attempts at pear. (And don’t for a moment think that freezing pumpkin is a great idea; the water separates like nobody’s business.) But if you have a little persistence and are willing to experiment, your pocketbook will thank you for it.

Tonight’s menu? Pureed carrots. After a 15-minute steam, I tossed them in the Vitamix with some water and ran it until smooth and slightly runny. Liam gobbled up the entire bowl that I fed him. And the cost? A mere $0.15 per container. The pre-made stuff runs about $0.50 a pop. That doesn’t sound like much, but figure that he’s eating a good four containers of food per day and that adds up. Over a year, you’re talking serious money for the convenience of not spending a whole 5 minutes a few times a week to make the stuff. Not bad, eh? And bonus: we know exactly what went into it.

So far, we’ve had success with pears, carrots, canned pumpkin (when not frozen), and a pear/pineapple blend. There’s some squash on the counter just waiting to be roasted and pureed. Maybe I’ll have to try some meats next.