So today was the day.
Noah was 5 1/2 months old and it was time to start solids. A few days before I knew this adventure was going to begin I decided I'd better scope out the different kinds of baby foods and price them out. When I had finished my investigating I was pretty shocked. First of all, I realized I could not read anything on the labels so I had no idea what ingredients were actually in the jar. And then I could not believe a single jar of baby food was around 128 yen plus ($1.50 each).
Now on a missionary/teacher budget that was going to be hard. This is when I decided that I would make all of Noah's food. I was pretty overwhelmed at first with this task. It stressed me out that I was going to have to make two sets of food for our family every day. But after careful research, I realized it wasn't going to be nearly as hard of a task as I thought it would be. In fact, after I found out about homemade baby food cubes things were even easier! I wanted to share with you one homemade food and the recipe for it for each month that Noah has been enjoying since we jumped into the world of solids:
5 Months- Homemade Baby Rice Cereal
6 Months- Crock Pot Apple Sauce
7 Months-Oatmeal Cereal
8 Months- Pumpkin Yogurt (Although I used squash)
9 Months- Red, White and Yellow Saute (Puree before 10 months)
10 Months- Sweet Potato Pancakes
11 Months- Tofu Nuggets
I know I am writing this as an overseas mom but really and truly any mom can do it and I am pretty sure it will save you money no matter where you live (I think).
Want more info? A very helpful website for homemade baby food is Wholesome Baby Food. If you want to purchase a book in case you will be in a country that does not have Internet, I think the best one is Super Baby Food. I loved this book!
Does any mom reading this have any baby food tips they want to share? Any new moms have any questions about the homemade baby food process?
I made pretty much all of Aiden's baby food after we passed the first few weeks with the organic baby food we were getting (too pricey!). We had so much fun ~ it was a great experience and very healthy for him. Sunday afternoons were 'baby food production' - the whole kitchen would be up and running. Once he was a little bigger we introduced small grains & pastas too. I would give "homemade baby food" a HUGE thumbs up too!
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