Homemade Baby Food

Yep, it's time for homemade baby food in our household! Nehemiah is now 6 months old!

My Mother-in-law made baby food for her 3 girls, so she introduced me to not only making homemade baby food, but making it in bulk when Trinity was about 6 months old. Now, we're on baby #2!

Gina (my Mother-in-law) has 2 big steamers, a nice blender, and lots of leftover baby food jars so I usually only make baby food in large quantities when she helps me. (I only have 1 steamer and our blender doesn't work so great.)

We got together last week and got Nehemiah all stocked up!

 Here is the outcome:

Total jars: 67

~18 jars of mixed vegetables (started with 4lbs frozen)

 ~15 jars of sweet potatoes (started with 3.76lbs fresh)

 ~12 jars of peas (started with 3lbs frozen)

 ~11 jars of butternut squash (started with 3.85lbs fresh)

 ~11 jars of green beans (started with 3lbs frozen)

Total spent: $14.50

I'm happy to report that Nehemiah loves his baby food too! :) He is eating at least half a jar at a time.

It is very easy to make, just time consuming...well, if you make it in bulk like we do around here. :) If you're interested in making your own homemade baby food, here are some simple steps to follow. I must say that it's much cheaper and healthier to do it this way!

Directions:

1) Buy fresh vegetables and/or frozen vegetables

2) Prepare fresh vegetables (wash, peel, cut, etc)

3) Steam vegetables until they are soft and easy to "mush" (takes approx 30 minutes)

4) Mix in blender until it comes to a puree.

You'll probably need to add water to most things, so be sure to use the water from the bottom of the steamer...it has nutrients off of the vegetables in it.

5) Pour into baby food jars or small storage containers 

6) Get out air bubbles with a straw...this helps to keep it fresh longer

7) Seal jars and add labels with the vegetable name and date

8) Store in freezer and thaw as needed.

I had to add a picture of the kids. The girls kept Trinity and Nehemiah busy and happy for me while Gina and I worked! It was wear purple day apparently! :)