A few months ago a friend of mine was talking about a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious. I didn't study it too closely, but from what I understand it is filled with recipes that you can hide a pureed vegetable (or two) in and you won't even notice. She mentioned that you can use the purees as baby food too. I never even thought about making my own baby food.... so I went home and googled it. (I google just about everything). I found this great website.
Its super simple. You cook/steam/boil whatever you are making, puree it, and freeze it.
For example: Yams. I peeled and cut them into big chunks and boiled them until they were soft. Then I put them in the magic bullet with some of the leftover water (I'm sure you can use a blender, food processor, or a fine strainer) and blended them until they were baby food consistency. I used a really fine handheld strainer and mashed them through with the back of a spoon at first. It took 1,238,462 years to do half a yam. So I invested in the magic bullet. It is SOOOO worth it. Then I spooned the pureed yams into an ice tray, covered them, and froze them overnight. Then I put them in a bag and dated it. The frozen baby food is good for about 3 months but the website is more accurate than me!
I have made butternut squash, sweet potatoes, yams, green beans, peas, and carrots so far. Its really gratifying and I assume more healthy. The website tells you that foods that are frozen retain more of the nutrients than canned food. I got a book at the library that said the same thing. Baby food from the store is heated up to really high temperatures to kill bacteria and preserve it for a shelf life of 1 year. The picture up above is of green beans. The homemade is a lot greener.
But it has its downfalls. It takes about 2 hours to thaw out at room temperature... which isn't a big deal. If you forget to take it out 2 hours in advance, you can thaw it out in a double boiler on the stove. It takes about 10 minutes. Its not incredibly convenient either so I have some store bought for times when we'll need it and there are things I'll probably never make... like prunes.
Baby food it not going to break the bank, but making it at home is a lot less expensive if you already have the tools. Plus, it makes me feel good that I know how to do it. And it makes me feel good knowing that I made it for my baby monster!
