Home made baby food

When Wells was a baby, I decided that I wanted to make my own baby food. Like the decision to cloth diaper, this was at least partially an attempt to save money. But, I also knew that I didn't want to eat any of that food that comes in a jar. It looks terrible and smells even worse. So, if I didn't want to eat it, why would I think my baby would want to eat it? After making all of Wells' food, I knew I wanted to do the same for Wren. I thought someone else might benefit from knowing how it is done!

First, I stumbled upon a book called the petit appetit cookbook at a discount book store. It looked intriguing, so I bought it. It has been wonderful. It is full of information and "recipes" for different baby foods. I also really like the website http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/. It has great information, too, and you don't have to buy anything!

Here is what you need to make your own baby food at home:

Just an oven, a stove top, a pot with a steamer basket of some sort, and a food processor (you can use a blender, magic bullet, an immersion blender, etc). All of the foods that I have prepared, I either steam on the stove top or bake in the oven first.

I made applesauce last night. I started with apples.

Cut them into quarters and remove the cores. Place them in the steamer basket, with about an inch of water underneath (the water shouldn't come up into the basket and touch the apples). Bring the water to a boil and steam for 10-12 minutes, until they are soft to pierce with a toothpick.

Let the apples cool, and then cut the peels off and put the apples in the food processor.

Mix in a little of the cooking liquid if needed to get the right consistency.

When it is finished, I usually put a couple of days' worth in the fridge. The rest, I put in ice cube trays to freeze.

Once they are frozen, I move them to ziploc bags for storage in the freezer. Pull out a cube or two when you are ready to feed! So easy!

And, the result... Wren is happy! (And so is mommy!)