Baby Food - Done at home, cheap and easy

Having twins has forced me to become super frugal these days.  I use double of everything!  Double diapers, wipes, formula, lotion and toiletries, and double the laundry!  So getting a bargain or a deal on any of these items is always at the forefront of my mind.  Now that I have moved the twins to a more constant schedule of solid foods in their diet, I decided to make my own baby food at home in an effort to save some more money on, yet again, the double cost of baby food.  Those little jars are expensive and I really don't know what is in them.  So I decided to feed my kids food that I know is pure and 100% what I think I am feeding them.

Many family members laughed at me and said something to the effect of "ya, call me when that works out for you!"  Well, I am the one laughing now, because I have found the cheapest, quickest, and easiest method that definitely "works for me."

Before doing this in bulk, I consulted with one of my good friends who is also a mom of multiples.  She gave me tips on how to freeze the blended food in ice cube trays for future use.  She is so smart!  So, here is how I began this successful process....

On a shopping trip to Sam's Club yesterday, I purchased a large bag of pears and apples.  Large meaning there were probably 15-20 pears and apples in each respective bag.  I started with the pears since I have already tested pears with my kids and know that they are not allergic to them.  So, I peeled them like I would peal a potato or a carrot.  Once peeled, I sliced them and cut out the middle and placed them in a pot of boiling water to poach.  I didn't cook them very long...maybe only 2 minutes max...just to get them soft enough in order to blend.  I didn't want to cook them too long as I wanted to keep the nutrients in the fruit.  I then rinsed in cold water.

The next step was to put them in my 11 cup Cuisinart blender.  This blender has been worth every penny!  I love it, I blend up everything in that thing...pasta sauce, salsa, marinade paste, and now baby food!  Anyway, I had so many pears that I had to do two rounds of blending.  So I placed approximately 10 halves in the blender for each round and blended until my heart was content.

Once blended, I poured the yummy pear puree into an ice tray.  Trust me, it was yummy...I ended up having a few spoonfuls!  Who said baby food had to taste yucky?  Only the processed kind in a jar does :-) 

I was able to fill up 3 ice trays full of this pear goodness!  I laid wax paper between the layers and popped them in the freezer.

Let's go back to the cheap factor of this whole process....the bag of pears was about $4.00 at Sam's Club.  For $4.00, I could have purchased 4-5 jars of processed Gerber or other brand baby food, which would have lasted me a whole 2 days...OR I would make it myself and fill up 3 ice trays to last me a whole month!  This is the exact reason why I went through the 30 minutes of trouble to make my own.  It definitely saved my pocketbook. 

There is a bonus to this deal....not only did I fill up 3 ice trays, but I had two large containers left over fresh food for the next couple days!

With this being such a success....my next project is the apples and bananas! 

The bananas obviously don't need to be softened, and actually I may be able to mash them up manually without using the Cuisinart.  I am so happy with the outcome of this process that I strongly would recommend to all my friends with babies or babies on the way (yes, I have many friends who caught baby fever) to use this method.  It will save you $$$ and give you peace of mind knowing that you are feeding your little one exactly what you think you are feeding them.  100% pure fruit/veggies. 

Bon Appetit little ones :-)