Those who made homemade baby food...

Do you feel as if your baby had more options or less because you were making homemade food?

So far I've made: (oh, and Riley is 5 months)

peaches
pears
apples
butternut squash
sweet potatoes

banana
avacado -- both no cook

And I've used store-bought oatmeal because I felt like that would be trickier to make.

But I was looking at the baby food pouches in target this morning and there are so many things I haven't made yet.

I haven't attmpted any green veggies such as peas or string beans (and read you have to strain them, which intimidates me for some reason) and there are things like barley, oatmeal, plums, apricots, etc that I haven't made.

Do you think it's more importatn that the food is homemade? Or that your child gets variety and tastes lots of different flavors?

Are there any foods that you prefered to just buy pre-made?

Those who made homemade baby food...

I made DD what you mentioned and also carrots, peas, green beans, mashed white potatoes, zuchinni, mango, and I don't remember what else. I mixed things to give her some variety. For example, apples and sweet potatoes, carrots and peas, butternut squash and pears, etc. You can use the flavors available in store for inspiration. But DD moved to table food fairly quickly (never did the staged foods thing), so at that point I introduced a much larger variety.

Also, with the peas and string beans - I never strained them. I used the regular Magic Bullet to make her food, and while they will never be as smooth a texture as store bought, she handled them just fine and they were not any more difficult than the others to make.

Those who made homemade baby food...

IMHO, quality over quantity. He'll get variety! DS is 6.5mos and I've made:

Banana
Avocado
Pear
Apples
Peaches
Plums
Sweet Potato
Pumpkin (canned)
Butternut Squash
Acorn Squash
Carrots
Peas
Green Beans
Chicken

Peas and green beans don't require straining. They puréed well, grainy, but that's just the nature of the veg. I do lots of combos and add in some spices. At 8 mos I'll be doing blueberries, cauliflower, and more.

I love the site wholesomebsbyfoods.com.

Those who made homemade baby food...

i make some of DS foods. My fav is baked sweet potato. I also bought a steamer (one of those flower contraptions that go inside a pot). I have made squash, carrots, potato, and tried steaming some fruit.
Some days I'm too tired to make something and will have back up jarred foods. I prefer Beechnut stages, and make sure to get the ones with green veggies in them. I decided not to make the fruit, but only bc I suck at it and DS will not eat bananas when I mash them for him so all his fruit is jarred.

Re: Those who made homemade baby food...

You can make anything!

The only thing that I ever bought pre-made was jarred prunes in a pinch so Logan would poop!

I just started about a week and a half ago.

I've made:

zucchini
sweet potato
avocado
banana
pear
carrot
yogurt

I just try to see what's fresh and in season and I use that.

Remember, you don't have to steam everything! You can also bake or roast things too.

We never did any kind of cereal :)

Re: Those who made homemade baby food...

Also, we don't follow any sort of order. We just try whatever we think of! The only foods we will avoid until age 1 are nuts (Logan is allergic), sesame (Logan is allergic), egg white (outside of baked goods) and honey.

Re: Those who made homemade baby food...

oatmeal is not tricky at all.. you can just put the rolled oats in food processor and make them more like flour

and just cook it like you would oatmeal but less time


same for rice, barely, millet, etc etc.


The only thing I preffered premade where the pouches .. like Plum organics makes. To have food on the go, made it so easy.

Message edited 9/4/2012 2:59:40 PM.

Re: Those who made homemade baby food...

I did homemade because it was affordable, plain and simple.

She got lots of variety but I also realized what she ate then wasn't the road map for the future. She ate avocados then, doesn't now. Wouldn't eat green beans then, loves them now. Ate peas then doesn't care now. and on and on. It wasn't like I was making a picky eater. She ate some stuff not others, same as today, but it saved me money, time and trouble. Besides, I feel she went to table food easier as the food tasted the same (or close to) vs jarred foods which I tried once and the smell alone turned her off. I don't blame her. We tasted everything before she ate it... god knows the hubby's reaction to jarred food was enough for me to toss it out. Why feed her bland, salty or plain yucky stuff if we won't eat it.

Those who made homemade baby food...

As long as the bought food doesn't contain any additives (besides water) it is fine. You can't make yourself crazy, unless you'll be making everything she eats from scratch for the next 18 years.

Re: Those who made homemade baby food...

I made a few staples for convenience/price, then bought Earth's Best to let them try all the different combos and varieties.

Disclaimer-- I never really got into the "my baby NEVER had food from a jar" mindset. Honestly, I loved jarred food-- when the lid popped as I opened it, I knew it was fresh and sterile. Never had to wonder about whether I cooked it enough, whether the texture was right. No hunting for organic ingredients. Totally portable for outings and vacations. Both my kids seemed to eat it eagerly. No complaints with jarred food at all!

Those who made homemade baby food...

I do home made because I want to and it's cheaper. I do use jarred food for meats. I LOVE the Earths Best and Plum Organic for that as does he. As for "variety" I always looked at it as it's great he would get Banana mango pear but after he is eating real food will he eat that again? I just feed them what we eat so if we don't eat a crazy combo they don't really either. Does that make sense? Plus like a pp said you can make anything yourself! I just canned some Pear/Apricot/Applesauce and it was freaking A-MAZING! Way better then store bought with just fruit and a pinch of cinnamon. My kids love it! Don't be to hard on yourself. Think of why you're doing it. For me the cost is a huge issue as ds is a piggy lol. I can justify the pouched or jarred meat meals since I am making the other 2. Plus as they eat more you can just blend up what you're eating. Like last night I made beef stew. I just pureed it up for ds...he hated it and then I added a 2oz cube of my frozen sweet potatoes and he gobbled it all up!

Re: Those who made homemade baby food...

I found that for fruits, buying packaged baby food was cheaper. To get 4 oz. of pears, for example, I had to buy two pears ($1.39 off-season), when 4 oz. of baby food pears was 69 cents. Same with apples, peaches, etc.

For vegetables, it was no contest - making it at home was easy and so much cheaper. Throw 3 sweet potatoes in the oven, bake them, peel them, and mash them with some water and your baby has enough sweet potatoes for weeks, and it costs you like $2. Ditto butternut squash. For peas, string beans, etc. try buying them frozen. Then all you have to do is heat them up (steam, boil, or microwave) and throw them in a blender. I don't remember straining anything. I used to make lots of cubes of food, store them in ziploc bags in the freezer, and then combine them however I felt when I was heating them up. DD's favorite was squash with avocado. Peas and carrots are a good combo, and sweet potato apple... just think about what you might like to eat, and try it out with the food cubes.

Message edited 9/4/2012 8:49:23 PM.

Re: Those who made homemade baby food...

I honestly do not know why I am making the food instead of buying. . . But I have been following the website whoesomebabyfood.com it tells you at what ages you can start certain foods and gives you recipes too.
So far I have done:
Green Beans
Peas
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Butternut Squash
Bananas
Apples Pears
Peaches

Re: Those who made homemade baby food...

I've made him just about anything and everything! What I won't make is meat. We have started meats at 6 months and I am buying them. Mostly the meat that is already mixed with a veggie or fruit, like apples and chicken or beef and garden vegetable. I figure its for a short while, because soon he'll start on bits of table food. For now, I've made

peaches
pears
plums
apples
apricots
banana

squash
sweet potato
green beans
peas
carrots
avocado
spinach