1. The cost -- with having our income cut in half in order to allow me the joy of being 100% available to our precious son, this certainly got my attention. Right now, Landry is only eating a small amount at lunch and dinner, so it doesn't seem like that big of deal right now, but I know later it is going to be amazing the savings we will get from me making his baby food. Let me give you the mathematics so you can see the savings.
Baby food ranges in cost from $.40 - $1 for a serving of food, depending on brand and organic vs non-organic. So as of right now, Landry would be consuming about $2 worth of baby food a day, which totals to about $60/month. When he's older, I assume that might increase from anywhere between $4-5, which means we could spend an upwards of $120/month. Yikes.
I went to the store the other day and bought $7.49 worth of fresh produce including avocados, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and bananas. Out of this I was able to make a little over a month's worth of baby food. $60 vs. $7.49 .... That is an amazing amount of savings. In just one month, I recouped the cost of purchasing the products I use to portion and freeze it in.
2. It's healthier -- Store bought baby food has a really long shelf life, and looking at the nutrition labels on the back of them shows why. Non-organic baby foods are full of preservatives in exchange for the long shelf life, and organic costs an arm and a leg. Giving an infant the chance to taste the food at its true taste by eliminating preservatives seemed pretty convincing to me. And it's fresh. Frozen baby food is only good for about a month in the freezer, so although you can only make a month at time, it is well worth it to offer fresher tasting foods that don't have all the yucky preservatives in it. I am by no means a health nut, and those of you who know me know I love my fair share of junk food, but this was an added perk I found in making my own baby food.
Before deciding to commit to this feat, I had a few concerns that I will share that could help someone reading this that might have the same questions.
1. I wasn't sure how to make everything. ---I would not consider myself a cook at all, so I needed step by step directions on how to prepare the different foods. My solution: www.wholesomebabyfood.com/momtastic
This website provided great age appropriate recipes with detailed directions on how to cook, store, and thaw the foods.
2. The upfront cost --- It doesn't take an expensive food processor to make baby food, all you need is a blender and containers that are freezer safe. I spent about $40 up front to purchase the trays and portioned containers I use to freeze and store the pureed baby food. These are BPA free and are freezer, microwave, and dishwasher safe. While this is an up front cost to consider, you will see that in just one month, the cost is recouped for these products.
3. TIME--- This was probably my biggest doubt/concern, because let's face it... spending hours upon hours slaving away making baby food is not on my list of favorite ways to spend my time. It took me about 2.5 hours to make one month's worth of food, and that was my first time, so I assume it will only get faster from here on out. All you have to do is just devote one afternoon, or evening after dinner one night and that's it!
Well, that's the facts, my next blog is going to show you a photo diary of my experience and steps to making it.
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