Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Homemade Baby Food


One of the things we did differently with Gator vs Baby Girl was that I made her baby food. In a hopes to save some money, I tried my hand at it. And the fact that Gator had ZERO interest in baby food, we were willing to try anything!. We figured, try it and save - YEAH! Try it and bomb - at least we tried.

I hit the produce section. I got a pound of every fruit and vegetable that seemed good for a baby. Then I got to the task of slicing, dicing, steaming, processing, and freezing. Yes, I did large batches and froze them in ice cube trays and stored in freezer bags.

At the end of the day I was tired. Baby Girl felt like a grown up (she LOVED holding the button on the food processsor...she's such a great big sister). And Gator ate it! Really ate it. In fact, she loved the homemade baby food! And I loved it!! I could get $20 of produce for her and make nearly a months worth of baby food. I could never have gotten $20 of jarred baby food to last almost a month. I even added rice cereal to the veggies and meats, and oatmeal to the fruits. I had all of her nutritional needs covered!!

Here's a site that helped me with ideas for good veggies and fruits.
Then came the day that Gator needed more finger food than baby food. I was sad. I had enjoyed my cooking days with Baby Girl. I enjoyed watching Baby Girl wanting to help make Baby Sister's food. She really LOVED it.

I still make Gator's toddler food, somewhat. She eats pretty much anything we do now. As long as she can pick it up with her fingers, she'll eat it. And I know my days of making "her" food are numbered. (Yes, I know, I'll be cooking for her for many years to come...but its not baby food!)

I never thought (A) I would enjoy making baby food as much as I did (B) I would miss it so much.

Anyone else have a similar moment/event as a parent?

What do you miss the most as they grow, that you didn't even think you'd enjoy in the first place?

2 comments:

  1. I love making Colin's baby food. Barry thought I was nuts and for school/in a pinch we have Gerber but it is so satisfying watching him eat so enthusiastically. In fact, he hates the stage 3 foods and would rather just eat regular food. It's so easy. More people should try it.

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  2. Gator never got past stage one...I tried each fruit and veggie to make sure that she wasn't allergic...then it was off to the homemade food!! And she is a good eater (so is her sister...even though I didn't make her food!!) Now if I could just get Gator to use utensils of some sort...she likes to hold a spoon or fork, but much prefers using her hands to get the food to her mouth! Ah, the new stages of life!

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