Baby food...nom nom nom!

Solid Food. What a big milestone my sweet baby has achieved! He is now eating real food, well kind of, and enjoying more than just mommy milk. As of October 3rd James had his first experience with food. We started with avocado and he LOVED it. He was kicking his feet and yelping with excitement after his first taste. We did avocado for a few days and then let him have chunks of banana. I gave him a big chunk to hold and let him gum it and he got it down to almost nothing. He's now had butternut squash and blueberry applesauce too and loves that as well - what can I say? My boy loves to eat!

This weekend I set up some time to make loads and loads of baby food. I wanted to make a bunch and freeze it so I didn't have to think about it and I could just pop it in his bowl each day. I wanted to share with the internet world how I make his food and encourage all you mamas to do the same - it is so. easy. and SO much more affordable than those baby food tubs!! What a rip off!

Not only is it super easy and affordable but I also love knowing exactly what he is eating, organic fruits and veggies without a bunch of preservatives and crap that comes in the store bought baby food.

First thing I made to freeze was butternut squash. I spent a whooping $3 on a butternut squash and got almost 25 meals for James. I cut the squash in half, took out the seeds and strings and laid it in the dish with about an inch of water. 350 degrees for 45 minutes and it came out nice and mushy. I scooped the squash into a bowl then used my emulsion blender to puree it. I added a little water as I pureed to get it to a perfect consistency. Viola!

This weekend I made carrots, broccoli, peas, sweet potatoes, pears and blueberry applesauce. Yum! 

For the carrots I peeled and chopped them then placed them in a double broiler to steam them, then pureed them with the emulsion blender. Once they were nice and pureed I put them in the freezer trays to freeze. I also put a few in cups to have for meals this week. Once the cubes were frozen (about 5 hours) I plopped them into freezer bags and into the freezer they went. They are good in the freezer for about 3 months. 

Broccoli - same thing. Chop, steam, emlusion blender and then into freezer trays to freeze. The broccoli took a little longer to freeze (weird?) but once it was frozen I put that in a ziplock freezer bag as well. Easy as pie! 

Next I made some blueberry applesauce! Yummy! I almost wanted to eat it myself. I used 3 gala apples, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes. Then put them in the pot with 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of blueberries. I cooked it on medium until the apples were tender. Then I used the emulsion blender to puree it and divided it up into food cups to freeze. 

 

Aaaand at this point I got sick of taking pictures. :) 

I also made sweet potatoes - done very similar to the butternut squash. Put them in the oven for about an hour and then peeled and pureed. I added quite a bit of water, maybe 1 cup for 2 large sweet potatoes, until the puree was at the consistency I wanted. I put those into freezer trays as well. 

Pears - very similar to the apples. I peeled those and put them on the stove with a little water. They took much longer to soften than the apples, probably about 30 minutes. Once they were tender I pureed them and divided them into freezer cubes. 

I also made green peas. I bought a bag of frozen peas, put them in the microwave covered with 1 cup of water. Then pureed and put into freezer trays. 

My freezer is stocked and I love it. I spent about $15 on food at the grocery store and one afternoon and have probably 100 meals for James.