BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

my parents asked me if im going to make my own baby food... and i really never even thought about it. couple of questions for those who have done it (or are planning to do it):

how time consuming is it?
does it really save money?

besides the benefits of it being healthy for the baby since there's no preservatives, what are the other pros and cons?

thanks!

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

I didn't find it time consuming - I'd either prepare a few veggies/fruits at a time (& then freeze) or just use whatever veggie DH & I were going to be eating. I did it more so I knew what was going into it, so I could adjust consistency according to my daughter's needs/likes and then later so I could add my own spices/combinations.

I foundnit easy to travel with - if we were going out for the day, I'd just pop a few ice cubes worth of vegs/fruits in a bowl and they would defrost by the time she needed to eat.

There were some jarred food I'd buy - such as prunes. I wasn't about to make a prune puree lol Overall I found the smell and taste of jarred food, well, jarring. So for me, making her food was easy.

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

Yes, it was very easy and did save money. You don't need one of those fancy beaba things, I steamed the fruits and veggies, then used the blender. I'd make big batches and then freeze them in ice cube trays - then put the cubes into ziploc bags, each one labeled.

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

I did both. I made my own of the foods that I thought were unappetizing in the jar.

Sweet Potatoes in the jar are too watery, I made them thicker, like mashed potatoes. Peas in the jar...again, kind of gross..so I made those myself, and some others, too.

Primarily, though, we did jars.

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

thanks everyone! maybe i'll do both - make some of my own and buy some jarred. how many ice cubes equal a serving?

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

each cube is ~2oz...sonit depends on age. I started with 2 cubes/4oz.

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

I took one look at the prices of baby food and was like oh man I need to be able to do something better than this. Luckily at the same time, I saw this thread on the Parenting board

Making Your Own Baby Food

It made me feel much better about my thoughts on making my own food.

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

didn;t find it that time consuming bc you make it in bulk, and I don't know if it saved money...never compared. I just enjoyed doing it and felt like I was able to give DS more variety with homemade food.

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

Yes. She never had a jar of store bought!

I just liked the idea of making it all myself and knowing exactly what she was getting. I used all organic so I dont know how much cheaper it would be, but I would just make huge batches and freeze them in ice cube trays.

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

I did and loved it...I loved knowing what I was putting into DD... IMO she had time to eat all the processed stuff to come! I have the beaba and plan on making this next ones food again....In a bind I would use Earths Best Organic...

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

I did make most of DD's baby food. I didnt really do it to save money but more for the fact that I liked knowing exactly what she was eating. It was not too time consuming for me. I mean for instance, bananas. Takes just as long to mash up a banana as to open a jar of it.
But for stuff like veggies, I found it easy to steam and puree while I was cooking dinner. Then froze in trays. DD went to table food pretty quickly though so I only did purees for a few months.

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

So easy and worth the time. I made all of my baby food, especially after my DS started meats and began refusing veggies by themselves. I used to make one-pot meals and add extra veggies so I knew he was getting plenty.

Pros:
-Much cheaper- you will be amazed at how much 1lb of veggies will get you. Also my SIL started making her 4th childs after seeing how easy it was a she kicks herself for not doing it for the others bc of how much $$$ she would've saved!
-Healthier- You control how much sugar you are putting in food. Have you ever tried jarred bananas- I can't find a banana on this earth that is that sweet.
-So easy- An hour a week gets you a month worth of food.
-Always have something quick to feed them
-DS moved on to table food by 10mths

Cons- can't really think of any.

Give it a try!

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

I would like to do this. I have a food processor that I plan on using. Also, someone mentioned steaming and then using the blender. I like the ice cube tray ideas. I definitely want to give this a try for at least some food.

Re: BTDT: did you make your own baby food?

I say try it but it wasn't for me.

I used my baby food processor all of 2x's. I really just didn't have the time to do this. I work 13 hours a day, so when I come home at night it's bath time, a little play time and then bed time. After DS goes to bed I clean up the house, do dishes and get eveything ready for 5am the next day. The weekend brings a host of other things I have to catch up on and more importantly spend time with DS.

While I would've loved to do it and commend the mothers that do it, I just found that when I even thought about doing it it just added to the list of things I already had to do.

Good luck! Check out this site if you do decide to try it:
Wholesome baby Food