Food

"When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste." ~Laiko Bahrs

"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." ~Lewis Grizzard

"What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?" ~Lin Yutang

"As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it." ~Buddy Hackett

I've talked before about how important we feel it is for Thomas to love food: real food. We talked about this long before we knew he was even on the way. I know it's because both BT and myself grew up in homes with parents that cooked: cooked fresh ingredients, cooked from scratch, and even when they didn't they made sure we developed an appreciation for good, wholesome ingredients. My parents made my baby food from scratch. I'm sure they mixed some jarred baby food in there somewhere, but for the most part, my dad cooked and pureed all vegetables, fruits, and meats that I ate. He told me the other day that I loved pureed roast beef. I mean, he pureed everything.

We pulled out the Beaba Babycook tonight and started the process. We bought four sweet potatoes at the store today, on sale, and those four potatoes were $1.04. That breaks down to twenty-six cents per potato. One potato steamed and pureed made three servings. Which means one serving of potatoes (ie: equivalent to a 2oz jar) cost 9 cents. A jar of the organic babyfood we buy Thomas costs .69/jar. That's a sixty cent savings. So YES, it is cheaper too.

It was so easy, and so fun! Of course we're also very grateful to have gotten this little handy contraption from a friend for a baby shower present, but you could also just as easily regularly steam and blend the foods with the kitchen equipment you have on hand.



Cut to the chase...with five minutes of peeling and dicing, fifteen minutes of steaming, and two minutes of pureeing, we have fresh, homemade baby food for our little guy! Our plan is to do some serious cooking next weekend to stock the freezer with the essentials. Of course, we'll still use the jarred food too, but this just makes me feel a little better about the food he's getting, and in my mind, I hope that it will help him develop a love for fresh, pure, natural ingredients long-term.