Food, Food, and More Food

 Since the girls are quickly moving forward with their exploration of food I've spent some time thinking about their future food choices. From the start I was very against making our own baby food because as it stands now, spare time is a luxury around here! I had done a lot of reading on it and when it came down to it I just felt I was not capable of doing it or at least doing it well haha! However, as the girls have gradually tried a few things I've found I haven't exactly been thrilled with the baby food choices out there. So I did more reading and decided I would give it one go with the tools I already have and if it worked fantastic if not I could at least say I tried. I headed to Sprouts and grabbed squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, apples, pears, bananas, avocados, and blueberries. Back at home I waited until the girls went down at 11 then I decided to start with the apples, blueberries, and pears. After peeling, coring, cooking, and puréeing the apples (in my good old blender...goodbye margaritas!) I felt like a champ! I moved on to the blueberries-again success! I was a little disappointed how much the blueberries cooked down but I remained optimistic that my final money comparison would still show it was worth it. Then came the pears. Oh the pears. We are no longer friends. Let's just say thank God I did the pears last because if that failure had been first I might have stopped right then! The good news is I learned from that mistake and only lost half my pears :-) At this point I stopped for the day, pretty proud with myself and my several ice cube trays full of baby food. The next day I chose to work with the squash and sweet potatoes since they baked at the same temperature. Those too went really well so I finished up with my remaining apples.  Again, I packed up my tools for the day pleased with my progress.  Over the weekend I cooked, pureed, and froze peas and green beans.  All I have left are some more pears and avocados that aren't quite ripe.  The result of three days of work: one broken ice cube tray, 4 burnt to a crisp pears, one gauged thumb from the apple corer, one sliced pinky from said broken ice cube tray, one slightly burned pinky, and 193 ounces of baby food.  The price comparison: I spent $26 on fresh fruits and vegetables whereas to get the same amount of jarred baby food would have cost me $54 (and these numbers still don't include my pears and avocados...so I imagine it is closer to $26 vs $64)!  ***As of today 1-17-12, I finished with the pears and avocados.  Final price comparison: total of 238 ounces of baby food costing $26 in fresh fruits and vegetables is the same as 238 ounces of jarred baby food at $66.  $26 vs $66***  I have to say, for all the war-wounds I suffered and the length of time it took me, I'm overwhelmed by the savings.  I have also found that I'm now recommitted to making this work and getting it down to a better science so that next time it doesn't take me three plus days.  All in all this whole experiment went pretty well and the best news of all is that the girls have loved everything I've made so far--I really didn't expect any different since they've always been champs when it comes to eating--but still, their approval certainly doesn't hurt my confidence :-)

My tools: 2 pots, 2 steam baskets, one blender, and ice cube trays

The finished product (minus the pears and avocados)