Homemade baby food

Emily is officially eating 2 solid meals a day. Well, we attempt to feed her 2 solid meals a day and she usually will eat at least half of it. I have a picky kid guys. Seriously. She does this new thing where if she is full and I try and feed her more, she will scrunch up her nose and breathe in and out really fast. It is hysterical. I can't keep from laughing every time she does, which has resulted in her doing it all the time just to get our attention. Silly little girl!

I made Emily some fresh homemade baby food and it's pretty safe to say she hates about 75% of it. I made fresh peaches, sweet potatoes, green beans and carrots. She doesn't seem to mind the peaches and sometimes sweet potatoes, but despises the carrots and green beans. Really that means she likes 50% of it, but I still say 75, because she really only tolerates it, doesn't really like it. And by despises, I mean she gags/dry heaves on every bite of the green beans and carrots. :( She loves her cereal though.


We have found that we can get more solids in her if we feed her earlier in the evening, so we are working on a more solid feeding schedule overall. Stretching out the time between bottles is helping her drink more at one sitting instead of battling to try and get her to finish at least a few ounces. This sounds like common sense people, but this kid would seriously go HOURS without a bottle if I let her. She really only likes to eat at night taking 6-7 oz as opposed to 3-4 during the day.


Anyway, yes, I made her some food. Just got fresh ingredients and my friend Jess let me borrow her Beaba Babycook to whip up some meals. This thing is great, but not something I would have bought myself because it has a pretty hefty price tag for what it is. A simple steamer and blender/food processor will do the trick. But it was nice and convenient to do it all in one machine. I have been using http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ for recipe ideas. I find it has a ton of information on food combinations and age appropriate foods.


Sorry this picture is kind of grainy. It's from my phone. Anyway, I just pureed each fruit/vegetable and spooned it into an ice cube tray. I have 2 different kinds. The one above, which is more like 2.5oz servings and a regular cube tray that is more like a 1 oz serving. I use the little cube for daycare and then the bigger ones on the weekend. Anyway, once they are frozen I popped them out of the tray and into a freezer bag. Most things keep for up to 3 months. Overall it was super easy and really didn't take that long. I will continue to make her purees till she is ready for bigger chunks of food. Plus it is a lot cheaper. I don't feel as bad tossing out what she hasn't finished like I did when she was sampling different jarred purees. It maybe cost $5 to make her about a month worth of food. Big improvement from $.89+ a jar. We will have to see if I have to stomach to make her meats though. Pureed meat sounds sick.