For all you mama's out there who are thinking of making your own food, here are some tricks I've learned to making super healthy food for a fraction of the cost:
1. Skip buying anything from the "Make Your Own Baby Food" section of the baby websites, cause you probably don't really NEED a Beabo, or special baby food freezing trays, or even food storage containers. All you need is a blender (or food processor), cheapo ice cube trays, and used baby food containers. You're going to need to buy some baby food for when you're on the go anyhow -- I bought some Gerber organics and Target Up&Up stage one purees in the plastic container and used those to store food when I send it to daycare. (Note-- don't microwave the plastic. Thaw the food in a glass ramekin or small bowl, then spoon into the plastic container. Cover, stick in the fridge, and it's ready for daycare in the morning!)
2. If you spend about four hours on a weekend afternoon, you can puree all the fruits and veggies you need for the month! I'm personally into the whole Farmer's Market thing and we're lucky to have a year round Farmer's Market in Falls Church, near our home. I will go in the morning and buy what I need, then go home and spend a few hours chopping, microwaving (yes, I microwave, and from what I've read it retains the most nutrients, however, you can steam or bake if you're more comfortable with that! I DID invest in a couple $10 Pampered Chef microwave steamers, which I use to cook the veggies, and I find it invaluable!), blending, and freezing. (I should also mention that we are blessed to have two freezers. This might not work as well if you're low on freezer space.)
3. For grains, I use regular old adult food and puree it. Right now, I'm doing a lot of oatmeal and brown rice. Every Sunday I cook up a few cups of the grains I plan to use, and refrigerate in canning jars for the week. It stays fresh and tasty -- I don't recommend freezing the grains because the texture gets a little funky.
4. Yogurt is a great healthy mix in! I buy Trader Joe's European Style Organic Whole Milk Plain Yogurt, and mix it into cereals and fruits. It's so healthy, and she loves it!
5. YES constipation can be a problem for babies that were breastfed exclusively for close to six months and then begin solids. YES it was a problem anyhow for Susie, and the solution I found was to mix in pureed prunes into one of her meals every day. She LOVES bananas, so what I did was for every banana I stuck in the blender, I also added one prune. I poured this mixture into the ice cube tray, and I add one banana/prune cube into her cereal every morning. She loves the taste, and I'm always happy to read "Dirty Diaper" on her daycare report each day.... before, her wonderful childcare provider was saying "No dirty diaper, not one!" and I wouldn't have any either, and the poor child would scream until I finally would have to resort to Pedia-Lax... no more! Yay prunes!
Here are some of Susanna's regular food mixes that she eats at six months of age:
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