Homemade Baby & Toddler Food

[MrsPinecone]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14486383

There are three pretty fancy-schmancy recipes here, but the idea is good!

What were your kids' favorite homemade foods?

When I was a baby, homemade baby food was whatever mom & dad were eating, run through a food mill!

[BzyBee]

I started making baby food based on what I saw in the jars for the appropriate age. i kept it simple to start, and froze the baby food in ice cube trays and stored in zipper bags. As the kids got older, I could mix veggies, add meats and try some more flavored desserts. I also got a food mill to use when they could handle something a little more chunky. We took it out to restaurants as well. Neither one were picky eaters so I made just about everything and that is what they ate.

I made baby food because it was BC (before coupons) and it was cheaper.
Are there good deals to be found on jarred foods with coupons?

[berlinsmommy]

Oh yeah, jarred foods are dirt cheap w/ coupons, well, at least they were 3-4 yrs ago. Gerber mailers during doubles &/or triples was how we did most of it. Also, whenever packaging or popular flavors change, the old stuff is clearanced, so free or dirt cheap with coupons, then the new stuff comes out and since its new there are high $ coupons and good sales too, at least thats how it was for us! We moved to Graduates as fast as possible because the fruit and veggie dices with the mailer coupons you get by sending in UPCs is one of those neverending cycles of dirt cheap baby food, more coupons, more jars, more coupons, its endless!! I just traded off my last batch of 100+ coupons about 2 months ago and that deal is still going!!

[mama22qts]

My kids came along before coupons as well. I made all their baby food, especially during the first year. I steamed veggies (carrots, beets, broccoli, green beans, butter beans) then pureed them. Froze in ice trays and stored in ziplocs like a previous poster. I did the same with their meats. Desserts were done that way too, especially peaches and bananas. I did banana pudding and peach cobbler for them as well.

As for sales/coupons, etc, I do see a lot of stage 2 coupons, but not sure about others.

[ASweetHeart]

For my oldest DD I bought a really cool book called "Super Baby Food". It lists all the basic kinds of foods you would feed your baby, different ways to prepare them, what age to give them at. It also had several recipes for meals for them as they got older.

[jessaw1981]

Hi guys,
My DD`s also came befoe coupons also because i`ve only been clipping for about 1 mo.LOL.
I started making home made baby foof for my youngest (4 in Dec.) because she had problems going to the bathroom, She was constapatied all the time,that is really weired for a BF baby,My Dr. said to make all her baby food because she didn`t have the problem befor she statred eating baby food!So I did,I went to the dollar store and got the littlest food storeage containers they had they were tiny just big enough to hold I think 2 oz of food,I got a small food prosser and took peaches,pears,green beans,patato`s,Her fav. was mangoes,any food that she could have at her age,I got it fresh and cooked it just long enough to make it tender and ground it up for her,When she was older about 1 yr. I would even take salad w/ everything in it and out it a baby food grinder and grind away she loved it and now at 4 she will eat a salad or any fruits or veggies. So salad and mangoes were her fav.I think makeing all her food helped because I did n`t have to do that for my oldest and she is now 6 and I have the hardest time to get her to eat anything good for her.But my youngest eats slad,all veggees even w/ out dip,(dressing) she has half of it ate befor I have time to get the dip on the plate LOL.

[esperanza]

My 1st ate jarred b/c she was a daycare baby and it was more convenient for me.

My 2nd never once ate from a jar. I'm oddly proud of that. I got a great tiny food processor made just the right size for baby food(although I will be using it for other things as well) as a shower gift. Best gift ever (besides the jumparoo). She ate everything we did, since I do a lot of braised meats they were easy to grind up as well.

[LoisGriffin]

I'm just now starting to puree whatever we are eating for my 8 1/2 month old.
Up until now I was only pureeing fruits and veggies. He had his first pureed chicken, potatoes and dumplings today and he gobbled it up so quickly it shocked me! He loves malt o meal too..

[*sparkles*]

Here's the site I use.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

I hope that's okay...if not sorry. Just wanted to share.

My first had major food allergies so making our own was safer. We will do the same with our ds as soon as he's ready.

[KimJSTL21]

I also used www.wholesomebabyfood.com and I had the book homemade baby food pure and simple. I would make large batches of fruits/veggies for DD and put them in ice cube trays and after they were frozen I would put them in large ziplock freezer bags. This worked out great for us.