Terrifically Thomas: gettin' FRESH

Many a folk have been inquiring about me making our own food for the Toots man over here. Thus, as your neighborhood friendly blogger, I thought I'd offer a few tips/ insights to a mass viewing audience instead of responding to each person. I have a 6-month old over here who is semi-mobile so I don't have much time...HA!
Now, what you must know is that while I AM a vintage lover, I most definitely am NOT a crunchy granola type person who lives by a free-swinging, "go green" mantra and all that that entails. I'm not moving to commune any time soon, if that's what you're thinking. I do like the peace of mind in knowing what's in every bit of what Jack consumes, but I'm not concerned with any of the other stereotypes you might label or attach from there. Bottom line, I make my child's food and we like it. End of story. Well, and the fact that making his food really is so simple and we just absolutely love making it! It really is not too time consuming and saves you a boatload of money...like so much money Jackman gets 3 times the toys ~~clothes~~ with the dollars we've saved money. Real talk. It's a verrrrry economically friendly alternative that mi gusto muy mucho! There's also something to be said about the love and devotion put into each batch as well :)

As with anything, there are a few precautions to consider and we'll go through those. Then, I'll lay out a few of ~~our~~ Jackman's favorite foodies to whip up and you will be well on your way to pureed bliss!

I mean, doesn't this look like THE FACE of a happy consumer?!?

Tee-hee...

Equipment:

We use the Baby Bullet (click there to read much more about it) from the Magic Bullet company. It is priced at $59.99 at Babies-R-Us, Buy-Buy Baby, and Target, each store with about 20 other options for processors as well, ranging from $19.99 (labor intensive) to $499.99. We prefer the Baby Bullet because it didn't cost an arm and a leg, doesn't have too many pieces, doesn't take up counter space (most important for our smaller than preferable kitchen), and stores and cleans easily (I keep it and its parts in a basket in our pantry on a shelf). It also comes with a handy-dandy recipe book for all stages of development and ideas for storage, foods, and tips, as well as different blades, food cups, and freezer storage containers. It is our go to guide for all things Jackbaby food and we are having a great time with it!

Selecting ingredients:

Always begin with good quality ingredients. It's best to use fresh whenever possible, but we also use frozen which is soooo cheap! Frozen is no different than fresh because it's flash frozen veggies straight from the source. We most definitely do NOT buy canned because that completely defeats the purpose. Plus, canned "anything" has added sugars or salts as preservatives and that's precisely something we try to avoid in our child's food if at all possible. I mean, how do you think that baby food stays preserved for so long? Yeah... mull over that for a bit and in the meantime, I'll be over in the produce aisle. I buy the grocer's brand of frozen veggies which with most, you can get a family size bag (32oz.) for around $1.00 each. That 32oz. bag makes 32 - 1oz. servings or 16 - 2oz. servings which is what Jackman has. Thus, him having just 1 of those 2oz servings a day (he obviously has more fruits and veggies in different meals, duh!) means I can feed my child at least one of his veggies for 16 days at about $0.06 per day. If you bought that in a prepackaged form, it'd be $0.50 for one day!!! Saving $0.44 a day?!? That's $3.08 a week, $12.32 a month, and about $150 a year...just on ONE food item...imagine what you save with all the rest!!!

You may be wondering, do I add anything as I'm making the food? NO! Fruits have natural sugars and thus are naturally sweetened.

Here are some MAJOR DON'Ts to add to the food / feed your baby:

--Dairy products made from raw, unpasteurized milk (may contain bacteria that can cause serious illness)
--Honey (puts your baby at risk for botulism...eeeee!!!)
--granulated sugar (hello! Why would you?!? I must reiterate...did you know that fruit is a natural sweetner?!? AWESOME.)
--home-canned food (may contain harmful bacteria if canned improperly)
--outdated canned food (I say NO to using canned anyway...again, defeats the fresh purpose!)

Preparing Baby Food:

Because the oh-so-very precious babes have a higher risk of getting foodborne illness than us older peeps, it's important to make sure you are taking specific precautions to ensure you are being as safe as possible:
--wash hands and the equipment prior to beginning
--sterilize after each use
--wash fresh fruits and veggies thoroughly under clean, running water (even if you're peeling the fruit or veggie like a cantaloupe or squash, wash it first!)
--do not over-make; you can always make more! Since the foods are fresh, you either need to use them within 2-3 days or freeze the remaining (which is what we do).
--use the stored frozen foods within a month to 5 weeks (6 at the tippity tops) to avoid freezer burn which as you know, tastes yucky and you won't get the precious reaction of delight you so very much anticipated :)

Other notes:

--for frozen foods, start with a cup at a time (8oz) and boil until tender. You can adjust the quantity as needed for your child and as you get the hang of the entire process. **Believe me, once you get a schedule and rotation going, you're whipping up delicious delights left and right just for the fun of it because you love it and it makes you chipper doing it. You should see me going, it's a sight I tell ya...a SIGHT! But I digress...
--for fresh foods, after washing, slice into edible pieces and then peel before boiling until tender. This helps the foods cook more evenly and quicker and also helps when it comes to processing.
--the more water you add, the more fluid the results. Jackman's does not have too much water added now because he is onto a bit thicker purees.
--the containers (Baby Bullet and freezer storage trays) each make 2oz serving sizes which would be 1 whole container that you buy at the grocery
--you can always add water to a puree, but never take it away so always start with a smaller amount than recommended and add and blend from there to thin puree out
--once you freeze the foods in the freezer trays, you can pop them out and store them in your freezer in gallon size Ziploc bags. I label mine with the food and date and then I take two fruits and one veggie each morning before he heads to his Nanny's house for the day. Perfect portions everytime!
--Each day, Jack has: cereal mixed with a whole fruit serving in the morning, one veggie (2oz) in the afternoon, and then another fruit (2oz) as we eat dinner as a family. Thus, we are saving almost $2.00 a day on baby food! Not to mention, he still has breastmilk so he has virtually been a cost-free kid. Well, in that capacity at least :)
--I make ALL of Jack's food, down to his cereal, except for prunes (haven't quite figured those out yet). Thus, we buy frozen bags of: squash, peas, green beans, and carrots - and fresh: apples, bananas, avocados, pears, sweet potatoes, peaches, and oatmeal.

So, let's sum up our savings - just with the baby food part and not counting the breastmilk, we are at about $2.00 a day (this is a verrrry conservative figuration folks), so that's $14.00 per week; about $60.00 per month; and about $720 per year...ummmm WOWZA! Again, I 'll reiterate that was a verrrrry conservative estimation. I think we're more along the lines of $3-4 saved per day, you do the math.

Also, you can't put a price on the pride you feel for doing something like this for your baby...it's awesome!

Toots doing some shopping...some "manly" shopping in Lowe's with Daddy (hence the different car-seat too - they went in Daddy's car!)

Now, onto a few "recipes" (I put it in quotes because they're not really recipes, just what we do to make his food currently...which to be honest, isn't much...it's really THAT easy peasy lemon squeezey!).

I'm not lying, you'll be blown away by how little we do to make his food.

bananas:
--buy fresh bananas and let sit for a few days until they are browning and seem like they'd be ready to make bread or go into a recipe (this means they are verrrrry sweet and thus verrrrrry tasty for little Toots people!)
--peel 2-3 of these (depending on batch size you prefer) and slice into bite-size rounds.
--these do not really need water added, but if you need a thinner puree, then add 2 tablespoons of water at a time
--load into large bullet cup, attach chopping blade, and puree for 20 seconds
--voila! Bananas! I pour some into containers for immediate use and then freeze the rest for an instant snack at a later date

apples/ pears
--use apple corer to slice and remove core of either (I usually do about 3 or 4 pears or apples at a time -- OR, you can do 2 of each for a different, yummy treat!)
--cut each slice into a half
--use a small kitchen knife to thinly slice off skin
--put into small pot on stovetop
--fill with enough water to cover
--boil for 10-15 min. (pears don't need as long) until tender enough to slide a utensil or finger through (I don't recommend using your finger...it's too hot, but you get what I mean!)
--drain
--pour all into large Bullet cup
--puree for 10-15 seconds
--voila!

sweet potatoes/ squash/ carrots:
--if frozen, simply bring 1 cup of water to boil on stove, then add desired amount of veggies, boil until tender, drain, and puree with very small amount of water until desired thickness is achieved.
--if fresh wash thoroughly, use peeler to remove skin, chop into small pieces, boil until tender, drain, and puree with little to no water until desired puree is attained.

peas/ green beans:
--we buy these frozen so we bring 1 cup of water to boil, add 2 cups of veggies and boil until tender (usually about 7 minutes for peas, and about 15 for green beans.
--remove from heat and drain
--add to large Bullet cup
--add 1/4 cup of water
--blend until pureed!

avocado:
--this is one of the best things for your little bits! It is super healthy and chocked full of good stuff that's excellent nutrition that you CANNOT buy packaged at a store!
--you have to wait several days until avocado is nice and soft so it is plenty ripe
--the skin is easy to peel off and slice it so you can remove the pit
--add small bits at a time to large Bullet cup
--start with 1/3 cup of water and puree it once you add it. It ends up being thick and pasty so you have to continuously add water and puree until desired consistency is achieved.

Brown Rice Cereal/ Oatmeal: (these are the most labor intensive recipe in comparison to the others, but there's virtually nothing to do, it just takes several minutes to actually cook it before storing)
--add 1/2 cup of uncooked brown rice/ uncooked whole oats to short Bullet cup
--twist on milling blade and mill rice/ oats to a fine powder (about 30-40 seconds)
--add the milled brown rice/ oats and 4 cups of water to a pot and cover until it boils. Then, turn down heart to low and cook with cover for 20 minutes.
--test consistency and add water if necessary
--once desired consistency is achieved, put into storage containers and freeze.

We are moving onto new foods in the next month like asparagus and white potatoes, and will be trying new combos such as:
--green beans and brown rice
--mango and banana
--apples and plums
--apples and pears
--peas and carrots
--yellow squash and brown rice

Jack already has the combo of cereal with apples, pears, or bananas. Once we introduce the other combos I listed, I will post the how-to guides as they may involve an extra step or two in ye old bullet blender.

DISCLAIMER: Please know I am not here to say that my way is better and you are wrong in buying store bought baby-food...I most definitely do not expect to force my beliefs upon you; I just want to share the love! This is a method that we love and are excited about and I am confident that if you are willing to try or are considering it, you will LOVE it once you get going! If you do not, then feel free to come on over and give me a verbal shellacking. In the meantime, read over my tips, do some research and get going on gettin' fresh! Happy bulleting :)

**And of course I have to leave you with some sunshine :)**