Hey Moms!
So, did you know that an average jar of baby food can sit for as long as 3 years?? 3 YEARS.
I’m sure they don’t here in our local grocery stores but the point is that they are made to last that long! Crazy, right? This is due to the manufacturers boiling their food in super high temperatures to kill off any bacteria so that they are able to store it longer. But in this process, they are also burning off the nutrients and vitamins that are meant to be there. So at this point, the only reason to buy already made baby food is for the convenience. And I totally get it! Especially for working moms or moms with more than one child (you guys are my heroes!).
But, think about it: would you yourself want to eat fruits or vegetables or even a protein (such as chicken or beef) that has been sitting somewhere for even a year? I know I wouldn’t! So why would we want to feed it to our babies?
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This is where I come in and try and change your minds and you roll your eyes but then deep down you think, “hey, she might be on to something!”
I was there too at one point. It came down to one day where my daughter was just starting out on baby food and I had opened up a jar of green beans. I gave her a spoonful and her face said it all. She spit it out, she gagged and pushed the spoon away. I tried again and she had the same reaction. So I decided to taste it because why would I let her eat something I wouldn’t? I tasted it and it was horrible! It tasted kind of like plastic. Definitely not like any green beans I’ve ever had. I threw them away and thought maybe it was just a bad batch.
I then opened a jar of bananas and she made the same exact face. Once again, I tasted it and sure enough, terrible! I went through two more jars with the same outcome.
That day I looked into making my own food online and on Pinterest, ordered a Baby Bullet and haven’t looked back since.
I first started with basic foods that most kids usually eat. Bananas are of course the easiest and I just kind of went from there. I steamed what needed to be steamed (apples, peas, carrots) and just mixed and matched until I found the way that she liked them. One thing I did learn was that when introducing new vegetables and fruits, do it by itself so that way, if there are any allergies, you can easily identify what the culprit is.
We had so much fun as a family making these together. My husband was even in on it and would suggest purée mixtures and if it was something new, we would make sure to feed her together (one with a camera in hand just in case a funny face would happen). If it was something she didn’t like, my husband and I would use it in a smoothie for us! It was also very cost effective. We would buy fresh when it was something that needed to be fresh. But our go-to was frozen because you can use what you need to and then stash the rest for the next time!
Even though my daughter is 14 months now and eats what we eat, I’m proud to say that we provided a gateway to healthy eating and our daughter now loves bananas and apples and pears and sweet potatoes and peas and carrots (the list goes on and on). We’re still working on green beans but we’ll get there someday. It does take some planning, time and a little bit of extra money at the beginning (jars and such) but in my opinion, it is so completely worth it. No, you don’t have go out and buy a Baby Bullet (I’m what the kids say nowadays, “extra”, sometimes – ha!). Any type of blender or food processor should work. But that piece of mind knowing exactly what was and is going into my daughters body is awesome and knowing that we’re saving money by doing this is helping out in the long run as well. I understand that not everyone is afforded the same opportunities and sometimes can’t make it into the kitchen to boil an apple or sweet potato and that’s totally fine! It happens. I know for sure when she gets older, she’s totally going to be getting McDonald’s and Chick-Fil-A every once in awhile (this mama needs her Chick-Fil-A sauce). But just knowing that I’m helping our daughter pave the way for a healthier way of life makes it all worth it!
If you’re looking for some simple FALL purées (because it’s here!!!) anything with apples, sweet potatoes and pumpkin would definitely be on my grocery list. I also added very small amounts of cinnamon or vanilla extract (alcohol free) to sweeten it up just a tiny bit for the littles.
