Making Your Own Baby Food

I made most of my own baby food for my last baby with the goal of feeding him healthy homemade food. This time around, I am enjoying making my little girl's food for the health-factor as well as the cost-savings. Today I made 42 servings of vegetables for less than one-third the cost of retail organic baby food in one hour. I compare the cost of my homemade food to the more expensive organic baby food because all the fresh veggies I cooked were, of course, organic. (Soon they'll all be from my garden, which will be even more thrilling!)

Today I started with 2 sweet potatoes, 6 small carrots, scant 1 cup of frozen peas, a 2-pound container of pre-chopped butternut squash, and 1 pound of green beans. The cost off all of this produce totals around $10 (thank you Costco!). (I wish I would have taken a photo of all this beautiful produce in a pile.)

The green beans, squash and peas could just be added straight to their pots and pans with an inch or so of water. I had to peel the carrots and sweet potatoes first, of course, before I added them. (I kept these scraps for the hamsters and chickens!)

Here are all the veggies steaming on the stove over medium high heat. They only take about 20-minutes, or so, to get nice and soft.

 

 

 Meanwhile, I set up my blender and containers. I use whatever containers I have on-hand, as well as freezer safe plastic bags and ice cube trays. All washed well, of course.

When the thicker veggies are fork-soft, I turn all the heat off and start spooning the veggies into the blender.

I usually add a cup or so of water, or about half way up the veggies.

I use my "blend" setting, and let 'er rip!

As the blender gets going, I help it a little by scooping the veggies away from the side and toward the middle. (Being careful not to let my scraper go down too far toward the blades!)

As soon as I see this little swirl in the middle I know that the veggies are being blended all the way to the bottom. (If I don't see this, I add splashes of water a bit at a time until it has enough liquid to fully blend.)

I pour the veggies into my containers, leaving a bit of room for expansion when it freezes.

If I use plastic bags, I push all the air out of them and label them with contents and date.

This time I even decided to make some mixed vegetables, which I've never done before. I think the smoothness of blended carrots really improves the peas, which have an odd texture even when pureed. (You can see that the blended squash is still hanging out on the sides of the blender ~ I didn't bother to wash the blender between veggies today since I was experimenting with mixed vegetables. I figure, why not?! More tasty goodness not washed down the drain!)

I filled a couple ice cube trays with sweet potatoes and green beans and smoothed all the air bubbles out and covered them with plastic before putting them in the freezer. After they are frozen, I'll pop them out of the trays and into a large freezer safe plastic bag with the contents and date written on the front. (It is easy to pop two or three of these into a bowl in the morning and let them come to room temperature by lunch time. Then after the lunch bowl is washed, pop another couple in to thaw-out for dinner!)

  

 

 

 

The fruits of my labor! Or, should I say, the veggies of my labor?!

(I actually forgot about the green beans until after this photo, so there is actually more than this.)



All the yummy food tucked away in the freezer. I like to use these plastic tubs in the freezer door so the small containers are not sliding around all over the place in the larger spaces. (You can see the bag of peas I did about a month ago that have been popped out of the ice cube trays.)

 After these are frozen, they'll be added to the containers in the door, too.

 

So, that's about it. Easy peasy. About $10 of food split into 42 servings. This will last my daughter about three weeks of lunches and dinners (of course, supplemented with crackers, cheese, cereals, yogurt, eggs, etc.). Next time I'll do apples, peaches and pears and make breakfast servings.

Again, it only took about an hour to steam, blend, bag and store all of this. Certainly it took longer when I was learning, but it really is that easy. The "clean-up" is about a full bottom rack in the dish-washer, which is a small hassle for the pure goodness I just made my precious baby.

EDIT:
**I have to add, too, not to get pulled into the hype that is so popular right now that you need a special system and equipment to make your own baby food. If you have a pot or pan you can add an inch of water to, and a blender - you are set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting an Early Spring-Fix by Starting Seeds

I've mentioned in other posts that we are going to "do-it-up-big" in our garden this year, in hopes of moving toward more sustainable living. We are trying to get off on the right foot in a lot of ways to ensure success. One thing I'm doing this year that I haven't bothered to do before is start seeds indoors. I always hear around this time of year that Northwest gardeners should start seeds indoors to extend the growing season.

Well, all my seeds came in the mail recently, so I bought some growing light bulbs and lamps, as well as self-watering trays and set them all up on a plastic shelving unit in a bath-tub we rarely use. Voila! A little indoor greenhouse!

However, when I looked online at which can, and should, be started indoors I was a little disappointed. Out of all my seeds (beans, cucumbers, radishes, peas, spinach, corn, pumpkins, cabbage, broccoli) ~ all I have is cabbage and broccoli that they suggest starting indoors at this time. (My tomato and pepper plants are coming as starters in April, and potatoes, onions and garlic will be planted as starters as well.)

Oh, well. At least it gave me some experience with the process. Here's my set up.

The lamps on top were just cheapies from Home Depot, but the bulbs are growing lights that only cost a few dollars, and the tray is the Burpee XL Ultimate Growing System. The peat pellets are in the container already and the instructions are very clear on how to layer the watering mat and risers under the plant tray and fill from the bottom with water. It has stayed moist all week without a re-fill.

I have extra peat pellets below for staggering some starters through the beginning of the season.

(On the left you can see a couple celery stalks that I am re-growing after we bought them at the store and ate the tops of the stalks. On the back right is an avocado pit I am trying to grow. Down below I also show a close-up of how I'm storing my seed packets this year - I am reusing a baby formula tub! It clips shut to keep them dry and works wonderfully to stand them all up in alphabetical order. I'm quite pleased with it.)

 

The seed packets said 10-21 days until germination, but after 5 days here is what we found!!!

 

I'm pretty excited about the prospects of starting my garden with these little seedlings, but I'm almost concerned they are going to get too big for their little pots before the weather will allow me to put them outside!!

Has anyone else started seeds indoors this early? What was your experience? Please share some tips and hints below!!

Here chick-chick-chick!!

We got our chickens today!

There are three of them: two copper colored and one black. I tried to convince the boys to let me name them Pepper, Paprika and Ginger & post a sign that said, "The Spice Girls." But they wouldn't go for it. (There is something terribly amusing to me about naming chickens for spices I would eat them with.)

So, in the end, I only got to name one little girl: Paprika. My oldest boy named his copper beauty "Madam Flappy" for the obnoxious way she beats him with her wings when he tries to pick her up. I get a kick out of it, so "Madam Flappy" it is! (Plus it reminds me of the perky grandma squirrel on The Animaniacs cartoons, and that makes me smile.) My younger son made the logical connection that his chicken is black and steel is black, so she gets the strong name of the group: Steel.

Paprika, Flappy, & Steel:

Paprika is actually a Buff Coronation Sussex, Flappy is a Red Star Sex-link, and Steel is a Black Star Sex-link. I've read that they are all well-suited to be backyard chickens, are docile and high producers. (Their previous owners collected 6 eggs just this morning!)

We enjoyed watching them get adjusted to their new home this evening. They are very laid-back. I'm curious to see if they feel so comfortable that they will lay tonight or tomorrow... we'll see! The adventure begins!!

Check out my coop here.

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Gung Hay Fat Choy, friends!

Okay, okay ~ so it isn't the New Year. But, it was just Chinese New Year, so I'll take it!

This year, 2013, is the year of the Snake on the Chinese calendar. But for me it is the Year of Sustainable Living! That is the theme I've chosen for this year in my life because it seems best to encompass my growing passion for all things home and hearth.

I am picking up my knitting again, pulling my mother's old sewing machine out of the garage, tilling the garden plot, cooking healthy meals, putting my bread makers to use, adopting chickens, composting kitchen scraps, reusing/reducing/recycling, learning to clean and shoot a rifle, making my own yogurt and learning about the wonders of raw milk and prepping! Whew. All that while raising two boys and a baby girl and homeschooling. I have a lot on my mind! And that is what I'd like to share here. Everything under the sun in the life of a mom who's gone country.

Thanks for joining me in this Year of Sustainability as I write about everything from babies to boots!
Gung Hay Fat Choy.