How to Puree Your Own Baby Food

Making Your Own Baby Food

When the doctor gave us the okay to start introducing baby food to Averi when she was four months old, I knew I wanted to make my own. I had talked with other mammas about baby food and their experience with making it. It was important to me to feed Averi nutritional, fresh, and healthy foods. I feel by making her own food that it will help transition her to eating big girl food that we eat normally.

I decided to make Averi's baby food for three reasons:

1. I have the time.

2. It is a lot cheaper... A LOT cheaper!

3.  I wanted to know exactly what I was feeding my baby. 

In no way do I think that baby food from the store/jar is bad or unhealthily, I just wanted to know what I was feeding Averi and save lots of money!

Even though I knew I wanted to make her own food I was a little hesitant to get started. The main reason was that I didn't know where to begin and I thought that it was going to take a lot of time to get it all started. I didn't know if I should puree all kinds of vegetables and fruits, or if I should just do a couple of vegetables to start it off or even which vegetables to start with.

A lot of trial and error went into making Averi's baby food. But in the end I even liked the taste of her puree foods. All of the vegetables actually tasted pretty good. I would catch myself testing it several times to make sure it wasn't too hot or too cold...but really  I just wanted a couple more licks! ;)

Breaking Down the Cost

As I stated above, one of the reason for wanting to make Averi's baby food was because it is a lot cheaper. When I was looking at jars of baby food from the store the cheapest I found was a 4 ounce jar for around .50-.65 cents. There were some that were more expensive but none that were cheaper. Averi eats on average 4oz of solid food at each meal! I can buy a can of carrots that are 14.5oz in each can for .68 cents and cook and puree them and it will make about 20oz of baby food. 

So to put that in perspective for 1 day. If I was buying the jars of baby food from the store I would need 4 jars at a minimum price of .50 cents each. That is $2.00 a day! It only gives me 4 meals and 16oz of baby food. If I buy 1 can of carrots for .68 cents (you can also buy fresh carrots) and cook them and puree them myself that gives me 20oz of food or 5 meals! So basically I can spend .68 cents a day or $2.00 a day for almost the same about of meals.

Foods to Start With

I decided to start with vegetables first. To be more specific I started with the orange vegetables first. We started with carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash, and spaghetti squash. I then went to avocados, peas, and green beans. 

Once Averi finished all the vegetables I went onto fruits!

What You Need to Get Started

*A blender

Any blender will work as along as it has the puree button. I use the Nutri Ninja Duo Blender from Bed Bath & Beyond. This blender is wOnDeRfUl!! I never have to shake it or stick a spoon in there to get it blending again because the food gets stuck. We all know how annoying that is!

* Ice Cube Trays

I found that the ice cube trays that allow easy removal were the best! This ice cube tray is one that I love! It is a little more expensive but it works so well. With my other tray I was having to dig out the cubes and they would break and make a mess all over. I also had to run warm water over the back of my other trays just to get the cubes out.  I just touch the end of the cube and it slides right out. Click here for details on this ice tray! There is also a rubber tray that works pretty well too.) Details here for the rubber tray.

It was important that we get covered ice trays. Even though we thoroughly clean and re-cleaned the fridge and freezer to get rid of all the cigarette smell, the outside of the bags in the freezer still have a weird smell to them. So I wanted something to cover the pureed foods that I would be making so that weird smell didn't get on her foods. In case you missed it, you can check out the 
Flint Fixer Upper (Part 3) to see what kind of a mess our house was when we bought it. 

I originally bought the Munchkin Click Lock ice cube trays from Walmart to begin with and ended up taking them back immediately.  They were horrible. The purees would not come out and I had to run the whole tray under hot water and then dig them out with a fork/spoon. Do not get these!

* Zip Lock Bags

You can use whatever size of bag you would like. I usually double bag my food cubes to try and keep them as fresh as possible. I either use a quart or gallon size bag, depending on how many cubes of food I am making. Make sure to use freezer zip lock bags. It will keep the cubes fresher and won't have as much freezer ice build up on your food cubes. 

* Breast Milk, Formula or Water

You will need to have breast milk, formula, or water to make the food thinner and easier for baby to eat. At least your younger baby will need it. Adding liquid also makes it easier to puree the food. When making my puree thinner I either use breast milk or water since I will be freezing them. Don't use formula to make your puree thinner if you are planning on freezing the extra cubes.

Tips

• **DO NOT use cooking water from carrots to thin baby food!! Here is more information about Nitrates and Homemade Baby Food. **
• What worked for us was buying everything we needed and blending everything in one day. Some people find it easier making only a weeks worth of food at a time. You have to find what works best for you.
• Try and use your frozen baby food within the first 3 months. It will be a lot fresher if it is used within 1-3 months after freezing it. 
• Some purees are thinner or thicker than others.You can either put in the breast milk, formula or water from the beginning as you are blending the food or you can just puree/blend the food and freeze it and then when you get a cube to feed your baby you can always add the liquid during this time. I personally used breast milk in the beginning so that it had a more familiar taste. I now just use water. I just add my liquid to the blender as I am pureeing the baby food. I have found that adding it during this time makes to food easier to puree.
• You can either thin your purees before or after you freeze them. It is up to you. I personally thin mine before I freeze them.
• I never pre-mix any of my purees. I just freeze the individual foods and after my baby has tried a variety of veggies I just take whichever food cubes I want to feed her that day, thaw them, and then mix them together at that time. 
• Any food that is not eaten put in the fridge for the next meal. Eat food within 1-3 days after it is put in the fridge.
• Don't keep frozen cubes more than 3 months.
• Each puree cube equals about 1oz of baby food.

Getting Started

(Foods coming soon)

Click on the food to find a step-by-step tutorial of the purees that you are wanting to make. Good luck!!

~ Carrots ~

~ Spaghetti Squash ~

~ Butternut Squash ~

~ Sweet Potato ~

~ Pinto Beans ~

~ Chicken ~

~ Avocado ~

~ Sweet Peas ~

~ Green Beans ~

~ Pears ~

~ Apples ~

~ Peaches ~

~ Mangos ~

~ Bananas ~

~ Blueberries ~