Baby Food

With Adler I exclusively breastfed until he turned 6 months.  My Dr told me if he was nursing well there was no reason to introduce any rice cereals or baby food until then.  I had made the decision to try making my own baby food while I was pregnant so I bought a baby bullet.  It was super easy but over the past few months I've found that I like to make bigger batches so it isn't very convenient.  My sister and brother got me the Ninja Stackable Chopper for Christmas and it works great! 

 

I made squash today so I thought I'd show you how I do it.

 

This is a butternut squash.

I had no idea what I was buying the first time - I had never made any kind of squash before.  I've found now it works best for me if I find one with a long, thick "neck." 

 The first thing I do is slice it about 1-1.5" thick.  I had no clue what I was doing the first time so if this is not the correct way to cut up a squash, please, don't tell me.

 Then I cut the skin off of each piece all the way around.

 Cube it in fairly even chunks so that it cooks evenly.

Then I put all the pieces in my steamer (I bought a very inexpensive one off of Amazon and seems to serve its purpose).  I usually cook my squash about 35-40 minutes. 

 This is what is left.  I usually don't even attempt to get it out of the bottom but my assistant told me I just needed to cut around the seeds!

Everyone needs a 3 year old to tell them how its done :) 

 Once its cooked I just throw it in my Ninja, add a little water and Adler's favorite: cinnamon!

 You can control the consistency by how much water you add. 

 My squash weighed a little over 4 lbs and cost me $2.50.  I got about 37 ounces of baby food out of it.  If I calculate that correctly it would cost about $6.50 to buy the same about of Gerber squash.  And I've had both... mine tastes better!

I usually keep a little out for him to eat that day and put the rest in ice cube trays to freeze.  I just set them in the deep freeze for about 24 hours then break them out of the molds and put them in freezer bags.  Then it is so easy for me to pull out what he gets for that day each morning.  Right now he is eating about 6 ounces at each meal (each cube is about 1oz). 

 

I will keep making his food for sure.  Its something I really enjoy doing, I think its better for him and it is less expensive.  A win-win for me.

 

Some of the other foods he enjoys: sweet potatoes, avocados, bananas, peas, carrots, potatoes.  I also puree my Mom's homemade chicken & noodles, veggie soup and one dish dinner.  Those are probably his favorites!  For some reason my little man doesn't care for fruit!

 

** I also did bananas this week.  I bought a 3 lb bunch at Sam's for $1.48 and I got 44 oz of baby food out of it.  That is the equivalent of paying $0.25 for each 2 pk of Gerber (Those run about $1.19 at Dave's when they're on sale **