Let Them Eat...PUREES!

While I was pregnant I received a Beaba Baby Food Maker from my Aunt Bobbie and Uncle Bill. I wondered how much food I would have to make to feed two babies for one week. Of course when they first start out, they are only eating a tablespoonful at a time but eventually they would be consuming 2-4 ounces of fruit and vegetable per meal. I decided that if I couldn't find time to make ALL their baby food (yeah right) then I would at least make some of it. I wanted their first tastes of foods to be homemade and after that they could eat it from a jar if they had to.

Before I started making baby food (purees) I knew that I needed to find something to freeze and store it in. I bought some 1 oz. and 2 oz. Baby Cubes (2 boxes of each) made by Juvenile Solutions. I asked my new mom friends at Mother's Milk for suggestions. They gave me a few tips:
* If you are going to freeze it, don't use formula.
* Save the cooking water to add to the puree to get the right consistency.
* Let foods cool completely before putting them into the freezer.
* If you are going to freeze it, double bag to prevent freezer burn.
* Label and date each food (many can look the same when pureed).
* Don't freeze for more than 2 months.

When Tanner and Abigail turned 5 months old I decided that it was time to start making some purees to put in the freezer. I started with apples. I used the Cooking for Baby cookbook that my aunt and uncle gave me to find out how best to cook each food and then used the Beaba to puree. I filled only the 1 oz. containers because I knew that their first tastes weren't going to be big and I wanted to keep waste to a minimum. Once the apple puree was frozen I popped the cubes into small Ziploc bags and put the smaller bags into a larger Ziploc bag. Then I filled the cubes with other purees: pears, squash, sweet potato, etc. Soon my freezer was filled with baby food purees, awaiting the day Tanner and Abigail turned 6 months AND we got the green light from Dr. Russ to start solid foods.

Once I started feeding them the purees the supply began to diminish. When one food was completely gone, I would buy more at the store to replenish. As they got older they ate more so I began filling both 1 oz. and 2 oz. cubes...now I only use the 2 oz. cubes. When we are home I try to feed them the homemade food as much as possible and save the jars for when we are away from home.

I have had fun making food for Tanner and Abigail but I am not the kind mother who believes that ALL their food needs to be homemade. I will continue to experiment with baby food recipes and prepare as much as I can, at least until the day they can cook for themselves.