WHY oh WHY did I not make baby food for Reese and Quincy when they were babies?
So other than green beans, I had pretty much ran out of the baby food I made last round (remember that post?), and I got lazy, so I just bought a bunch of food this time.
With coupons, I still spent $28 and it was gone in a week!
My baby is such a hoss!
-I have 2 quart sized bags worth of peas and carrots and after my coupon it cost me just over $1 for the bag of frozen veggies.
-1 butternut squash made another quart size bag full.
-I used up the last 6 slices of a $2 package Farmland ham (that I purchased for a different recipe) and pureed it with 1/3 of a jar of homemade unsweetened applesauce for another bag of food.
-2 sweet potatoes and the last cup of baby carrots were also blended together and filled a quart bag
The last 1/2 cup of the beans, rice, corn, or turkey breast from dinners, that ordinarily gets thrown out because it's not quite enough to save in a tupperware is now getting pureed, frozen, and fed to the baby.
I love that we aren't wasting so much food.
I love that Corbin gets variety in his diet.
I love that we are not spending $100 a month on store bought food. I was reading the labels and a ton of them have apples as the main ingredient. Everything is "peaches and apples, bananas and apples, strawberries and apples, blueberries and apples, pears and apples, chicken and apples, ham and apples". WHY?
Apples are cheap. How much of the store bought stuff is actually chicken? Even with a coupon, the markup on baby food is ridiculous.
Also, one of my goals for 2010 is to recycle. I'm not going to go all crazy and recycle used kleenex or anything, but I find myself throwing away a LOT of stuff that could be reused in one way or another. Corbin eats the equivalent of 6 jars of baby food a day. That is a lot of wasted glass.
I also started composting kitchen scraps. (more on that later)
So, of course I purchase some jars. It is convenient for when we're on the go, and I like having a small supply in the cabinet, should we lose power or something.
But for the most part, homemade food has become the majority in our house. I can't believe I didn't even attempt this with my other babies.
Next week, I going to make him spinach.
or should it be "spinach and apples"?
9 comments:
You. Are. Awesome.
I want to be YOU when I grow up!
I agree, you are awesome.
ps. so you started your compost. In your garage?? In a bin? Lid on?? I'm so so so excited to do it....the whole winter thing is still confusing.
Corbin is a lucky baby and he asked me to tell you, "Yes, add apples to the spinach!"
SOOO cool! You make it sound simple which gives me hope!!! It's nice knowing the babe is getting FRESH food with no preservatives!!!!
Isn't it amazing how much less it costs to make it yourself? I am also kicking myself for not making baby food for babies one and two. So much money!
You are a money saving wizard! Thanks for sharing your tips with us!
Good for you Megs-I also made all of Abbie's food and plan to do the same for Rachel. Not only do you save money but it just makes you feel good :).
Funny that when I was trying to make food for Evie back in the day, it was costing me MORE to make her food than to buy it. Gotta love living in Utah Provo with a million other young moms and the prices to show it. And I loved having all those glass bottles around - perfect for putting beads, hair ties, glitter, sauce, more baby food, etc. in. I'm rather dismayed at myself for getting rid of my stash when we moved.
The next kid, though, will have homegrown homemade baby food. Because I have that much faith in my gardening abilities. Free, baby, free.
I never buy baby food either but than again you have seen my daughter. She went straight to regular table food. Ha ha...Good job making your own stuff. You must be saving a ton of money.
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