HOMEMADE BABY FOOD

I'm by no means an all-natural mother. Buying all organic food simply isn't cost-effective for me, I give my kid candy and soda in tiny amounts, and I sometimes forget to put sunscreen on him. On every level, I think I'm pretty much the same as every other mom, trying her best and sometimes coming short. But when Henry was born, there were a couple of things I knew I wanted to do that were a little on the "attachment parenting" end of the spectrum. Breastfeed as long as it was mutually wanted, make baby food when I could, and wear him until my back couldn't take it anymore. Turns out, that last one was pretty short-lived. He got too big after about four or five months, and now he's nearly the size of a one-year-old. We're still nursing, and I'm loving it.

As far as making homemade babyfood, I always have at least one kind in stock. Two if I'm Holly Homemaker, which I'm usually not. For all the women who think the idea of making baby food is overwhelming and time-consuming, it's not. The key to making it easy on yourself is to cook it in large amounts, then freeze it in portions. I buy produce at Costco in bulk, then cook it in a large pasta pot. I bought these freezable plastic containers that have been great for dividing and freezing the baby food.

I steam or boil peeled and evenly sized carrots, sweet potatoes, or pears until they pierce easily with a fork. If I'm doing sweet potatoes, I make four or five at a time, and if it's carrots, I do about five pounds at a time. With pears, I wait until they're good and ripe. I only end up cooking what we don't eat on our own, so only two or three pears at a time. I peel and core them, and boil them for about ten minutes.Then I puree them either in the blender or with my immersion blender. All three of them (carrots, sweet potatoes, and pears) go well with a good dash of cinnamon blended right in. You can even combine them to mix flavors.

Henry loves it and it's really cost effective. But let me clarify: I still buy baby foods that I can't make myself, or don't want to make. For example, Henry needs a little... assistance in the poop department sometimes, so I buy prunes because I wouldn't even know where to start with making them. Give homemade baby food a try, and if you find any food is especially easy to make, let me know!