The baby food aisle is well-stocked with all kinds of jars and pouches, but you can save a lot of waste, not to mention time and money, with just a little know how.
First, and this is important: no matter how cute the packaging, jarred baby food is nothing more than mushed up food. The same food we eat ourselves daily. So, if you’re looking for baby food, look no further than your own fridge and counter.
A typical meal for our one-year-old: cut up fruits,
veggies, bread, and cheese, plus some leftover
roasted vegetables from dinner last night.
How to Make Baby Food Puree
You can buy a special baby food blender, but I have found an immersion blender and a small Pyrex container work great. Simply spoon out enough of your cooked meal into the dish, wizz the immersion blender until the consistency is baby-safe (you may need to add some water or milk), and PRESTO! You have just made baby food! You can feed baby straight from the glass container and store what’s leftover in the fridge for the next day.
It can be fun to steam veggies or fruits slightly and experiment with different combinations like “apple pear banana cinnamon”, but when you’re tired at the end of a long day, the easiest thing to do is just blend up dinner. Then baby gets to share in the family feast too, plus he or she will start to get used to herbs, spices, and other flavors you use in your home.
Another method, is to feed baby from your plate by breaking up the food you are eating into pieces and letting baby mouth them and eventually get used to eating solid food that way. This method is called baby-led weaning. Babies never eat the pre-processed food in jars or pouches, but learn how to hold and chew food right from the beginning.
Here is the same meal, prepared for a toddler, or for baby-led weaning.
Either way you choose, you’ll save yourself lots of money by skipping the baby food isle entirely (learn how to skip the diaper section here!) and you’ll save so much waste by avoiding all those little jars and pouches.
Oh, and as your kids get older, make sure to teach them to cook delicious vegetarian foods with these wonderful books!
– Hannah