I toyed with the idea of buying a Baby Brezza or a Beaba Baby food maker. But the more reviews I read, the dumber the idea sounded. There was a ton of reviews that said these things breakdown quickly, get disgustingly dirty {and not to mention - unsanitary}, and were generally a waste of money. Especially since I already have most everything that I need to make baby food. I actually just visited my kitchen and realized that not only do I have a restaurant-quality Cuisinart food processor, but I also have a KitchenAid blender, AND a Cuisinart hand-held blender with a mini-blender attachment - which is actually turning out to be PERFECT to make baby food! {All of these things were wedding gifts, but a good, old-fashioned food processor or a blender would be plenty.}
Duh. Why would I buy a baby food maker when I already have one? What am I - made of money?? Um, no.
So, now - how do we do this? Well, easy. There are TONS of recipes for baby food online. And I stumbled upon this gem in my quest for good recipes: wholesomebabyfood.com. Tons of great baby food makin' resources, like when to start and what to start with. It also has great suggestions for how to prepare, store, and freeze baby food. Again, no reason to spend money on recipe books when you can literally find everything you need online. Of course, your pediatrician is also a good resource, especially if you have an awesome one like mine who also just had a baby.
Now my personal two cents on the issue is this: if you're going to spend time making baby food, you may as well make it in large batches and freeze it. It is time-consuming to make your own baby food, but if you make enough for two weeks at a time, you're only spending two days a month making it. This is where a little money is required because you gotta spend a little on storage containers that are BPA-free, and are dishwasher, microwave, and boiling water safe. I personally will not use a microwave to defrost my baby food and will instead defrost overnight in the refrigerator or heat it up using boiling water. I did a ton of research on the best ones, and the winner is the OXO brand storage container. They are specifically designed for baby food and are the perfect size for baby portions. And use common sense - freeze things that take time to make - like sweet potatoes or squash or other things that require cooking. Freeze them in the aforementioned containers and pop them in the fridge the day before you need them. Then warm them up to room temperature by leaving them in hot water for a few minutes. These are also perfect to throw in a daycare bag straight from the refrigerator once they have thawed. Easy!
And now for Olivia's first taste of something other than the milk from her Momma's body......SWEET POTATOES!! She loved, loved, loved her sweet potatoes!!
And now, two weeks later, this little piggy eats a tablespoon of sweet potatoes, a tablespoon of green beans or peas AND a tablespoon of applesauce - all in the same feeding! Ha!! And this is after she gets a little nibble from me!! Love her.
We are having too much fun making this baby some fresh, delicious food! I highly recommend it for all you mommas out there!
