Baby Food – Multiples in the Kitchen

One of the things that I never thought that I would do when I found out that I was having triplets was make my own baby food for them. In fact, a friend of mine suggest I do this for them while I was still pregnant with them and I out right laughed in her face.
Not my most graceful moment but at the time, making my own baby food seemed ridiculous. I was going to have triplets. How in the world would I have the time to make my own baby food? Besides, I am not really that kind of mom. Meaning that I don’t think breast feeding is best, I don’t feed my kids organic foods, I let them eat candy, I let them watch too much TV, etc. Basically, the name of the way I mother is what ever is easiest is what I do. And I thought that nothing would be easier than opening a jar of baby food and serving it to my triplets.
But I have to admit that I was curious. I wondered what making my own baby food was all about. I actually listen to people talk about it, instead of poo, pooing it. I did some research online. I talked with my husband and I came to the conclusion that it would be just as easy to make my own baby food as it was to open a jar.
So that is what we did. My husband and I made all our own baby food for our kids. This was one of the best decision that I could have made for my kids. There were three major reasons why we chose to do this.
I must say that the whole process was really, really easy. We used to take one Saturday morning a month and make all the food that the kids would need. Here is what we did.
First, gather your supplies.
I like using frozen veggies and canned fruit (in lite syrup) when I couldn’t get fresh. And since the babies started eating this food in the winter, frozen worked great.
Another supply is ice cube trays. These are how you freeze the food. One cube equals one serving.
Next you want to cook the vegetables and fruit to a soft consistency.
(If using canned, just pour into a bowl or food processor or blender for mixing.)
Blend, Mix, Puree, Go Baby Go.
This was Jeff’s favorite part. I would cook and he would Puree.
And Viola….. Home made Baby Food!
Confused by the bags? Well, all this food was made for my sister and her son. She came over for a lesson in baby food making and had to take the end product back home. Bags are much easier to transport then ice cube trays, trust me. See, They Love It!
I found two books that were really helpful resources. These books were my baby food making Bible’s. Go Check them out (just like the image for the link).
I would really urge you to consider this process if you have a child or children close to eating solid foods. It is really worth it! And if I can do it, then so can you.
10 Comments
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Your ziploc bags look so pretty 🙂
We also do our own food and I'm not shy to admit that it's because I'm cheap. I have a whole babyfood category in my sidebar because people kept asking how I do mine – it is the easiest thing in the world and well worth the hour it takes every week.
Before our girls were born, I had all intentions of making their baby food. I hadn't yet bought the gadget I had researched when the pediatrician told us to introduce solids. I quickly found myself standing in the baby food aisle like a deer in headlights. For about 6 months, I used the packaged stuff, and boy – was it expensive!
When the girls were a year old, I began to transition them to "big people food". I can only imagine the transition would have gone a little more quickly had I been making their baby food. I was very surprised, for example, when they would not eat a (real) mashed banana. It took them about a week to decide that was OK.
At 16 months old, the girls have been completely off baby food for about 2 months. I love making all their food and knowing exactly what they're eating. Although they're happy and healthy and I really can't complain, I kick myself a little bit for not having done this all along.
Great post Jen!
I too made all of our baby food for our triplets. It was SO much cheaper (I figured I was feeding the boys for about $10-$15 a month) then the jarred stuff. Definitely smelled, looked and tasted better too. I'll never forget the day I offered some jarred peas someone gave us and all three of the boys refused it, but when I popped open a bowl of my homemade peas they ate them right up!
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com was my resource and I LOVED that site!
I make all my baby food as well. It's amazing how much money you can save and how easy it is to grab a couple cubes and go. It's really not any harder than grabbing a jar to take with. My kids really do not like bland foods. They love things like squashes mixed with cinnamon or chicken cooked with a little wine. I don't blame them as I wouldn't want to eat bland food all the time either. I make a bunch of food at a time and have spent very little time on it. I can roast squash and sweet potatoes together, while I make a few things on the stove. If a food isn't new to them, I don't bother washing out the food processor between items.
I made baby food for my quads & encouraged my best friend to do it for her son recently. It was the best thing I ever did! You can give them so much more variety. My quads are FAR BETTER eaters than my older son! It's easier than people imagine & much tastier! I loved "Top 100 Baby Purees" as well. I do suggest the Magic Bullet though. Makes the food so smooth super quick!!! Love it!
We make all our own baby food as well. Actually, 'make' might be the wrong verb. We have a handheld and operated baby food grinder and we just grind for the babies whatever we happen to be eating. Once the babies are a bit older, we've ground pizza, hamburgers, chicken, restaurant meals…really whatever we're having as long as it's not spicey or contains allergenic foods. I love, love, love not spending a fortune on those silly little baby food jars.
I think you and I would get along! Having multiples has definitely made me go for whatever's easiest. That's all that matters. Thanks for showing us how to do it. I'm well-past that stage but just the idea of it sounds overwhelming. Looked pretty simple afterall!
We did most of their food (mostly because my husband refused to feed them anything he couldn't stand the taste of) Wasn't too much worse than all the bottle-cleaning and such we were already doing.
I couldn't believe I was able to do it, but I made most of my girls' food too. I loved your line about not breastfeeding, eating candy, etc….that was so me!! I was pretty proud that this was one thing I did get to do that I never imagined I'd be able to.
Even easier than making your own baby food is not using it at all! With our triplets we followed the principle of self-feeding and it was wonderful! The girls' first food was sweet potato that I roasted, let cool, peeled and chunked.
Kellymom.com is a great reference for self-feeding.