Why homemade?

     At my son's 3 month checkup, our doctor brought up the topic of food describing himself as "bullish" about homemade foods.  He has been around for awhile, and I find him very reassuring so when he suggested this it made me consider the possibility of making baby food at home.  He was of the thought that feeding babies foods that taste like the real thing would increase the probability that they will like the same foods when they are older. This seems logical...I've worked in childcare for 8+ years and have seen more picky eaters than I can count!

     Per my doctors suggestion I have indeed started making my own baby food.  We have started with vegetables and I will be introducing fruits later.  Since fruits are sweet the doctor noted that I won't have a problem getting Grayson to eat those, but encouraging the vegetables is necessary.  So I have decided to do ONLY vegetables until he is at least 10 months old.

oops, forgot the green beans

     Yet another argument for making your own baby food is that saves you money.  Buying 2.5 oz jars at approximately $1.50 each, and going through about 2/day you would spend $90 on food alone not including cereal.  When making your own foods you can buy vegetables that are on sale or are the best deal at your grocery store.  Besides being a ton cheaper, making you own baby food allows you to have peace of mind about what exactly is going in it.  

     Many people write off making their own food because they think it will be too hard, well not so.  It really is simple...I spend about 1 hour per week making baby food.  Each week I make a different food, and of course I make extra each week so I have a variety of foods all the time.  Currently in my freezer:  butternut squash, acorn squash, peas, green beans, and sweet potatoes.
     You don't need those fancy, not to mention expensive freezer trays they sell, you can use plain old ice-cube trays.  Then I store the cubes in freezer bags and thaw/warm up 2-3 at a time.  Super easy, and cost effective.
     All the food made above cost $5 or less per week (like I mentioned I make one per week, and make enough to last several weeks.)