So what have I been cooking? Lots these days since our littlest one is in full swing of solids and finger foods. Oh do I have some money saving tips for all of you who are also doing the solid thing with your little ones. First, naturally baking things yourself is lots cheaper than buying them at the store pre-made- I know this is a given. In fact, when I started staying home I asked a dear family friend, who stayed home when her daughter was little (now she's a freshman in college, yikes) and she told me baking things herself instead of buying pre-made stuff is one of the biggest ways she saved money. It's pennies to whip up your own blueberry muffins and dollars to buy them at the store. So one of the things I was making was muffins. I found this yummy blueberry oat recipe in one of my Pampered Chef cookbooks. I was looking for something with a little less sugar than my MIL's wonderful, taste like cupcakes, melt in your mouth recipe- very hard not to be glutinis with those bad boys on your counter. Then this week I made pumpkin muffins- lots of sugar but so yummy! Olivia has loved them both. She enjoys anything she can pick up herself and put in her chubby cheeked mouth! She's been enjoying banana, peaches, and pear chunks. Also a favorite is Gerber Puffs, cheerios, and cracker pieces. She still prefers her veggies over fruit and will eat up her pea, carrot, or green bean puree with a big smile and moans of happiness.
So money saving tips for baby food. First you need to get yourself an immersion blender. I asked for one for Christmas last year after Esther informed me that they are great for making baby food and oh yes they are, but we'll get to that in a minute. Instead of buying small, expensive jars of baby food, I purchase cans of adult food and blend them. Go down the can food aisle in your store and look for the can of peas and green beans that says No Salt Added on the can. Check the ingredients label and you'll see that the only ingredients are water and peas (or green beans). Once you're home you open the can, dump it into the little cup that comes with the blender, pop it in the microwave for a minute or two (depending on the power of your microwave) take it out and blend it. Voila- you've got baby food at a fraction of the cost! I've found that you need most of the water in the can for the peas to have a good consistency but drain most of the water off for the green beans. For carrots, I just buy the baby carrots, boil them in a pot on the stove until fork tender, put them in the cup with a little water from the pan and again yummy baby food for lots less.
I've microwaved apple slices until they are tender and I've also made homemade applesauce too. I can't wait to try squash this fall and my next shopping trip will include sweet potatoes.
You can store them in the fridge or buy ice cube trays and freeze it. One cube is 1 oz. of food. That makes it easy. I freeze the fruit but not the veggies since she just has a spoonful at lunch and then again at dinner until that veggie is gone- which is less than a week, so I skip the freezing step. I also mashup banana for breakfast or now I just give them to her in little chunks. Sometimes, to get her fruit in, I mashup a small bit of banana and mix it with pear or peach for breakfast or lunch. If you need more instruction than this a great website is Wholesome Homemade Baby Food. I got that from Brooke's mom- there are some neat ideas there. I use a handful of cookbooks my MIL picked up at garage sales too.
She likes to make a big mess of herself but it is with joy and lots of paper towel that we clean her grubby face up!
Also on the topic of food is school! On C week we made cake for Daddy's birthday and then this week our bible story is Moses and the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus) so I found a fun craft on Pinterest that we made last night as Matt mowed the lawn. I got the idea from this blog. She had a great time with both fun activities. She'll tell you the best part has been eating it! She was super excited to eat up Moses- it sure beat last weeks baby Moses in a basket craft. We also made sure to enjoy some yummy eggs since it's E week. So much fun with food around here!
"Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything." Genesis 9:3
So money saving tips for baby food. First you need to get yourself an immersion blender. I asked for one for Christmas last year after Esther informed me that they are great for making baby food and oh yes they are, but we'll get to that in a minute. Instead of buying small, expensive jars of baby food, I purchase cans of adult food and blend them. Go down the can food aisle in your store and look for the can of peas and green beans that says No Salt Added on the can. Check the ingredients label and you'll see that the only ingredients are water and peas (or green beans). Once you're home you open the can, dump it into the little cup that comes with the blender, pop it in the microwave for a minute or two (depending on the power of your microwave) take it out and blend it. Voila- you've got baby food at a fraction of the cost! I've found that you need most of the water in the can for the peas to have a good consistency but drain most of the water off for the green beans. For carrots, I just buy the baby carrots, boil them in a pot on the stove until fork tender, put them in the cup with a little water from the pan and again yummy baby food for lots less.
I've microwaved apple slices until they are tender and I've also made homemade applesauce too. I can't wait to try squash this fall and my next shopping trip will include sweet potatoes.
You can store them in the fridge or buy ice cube trays and freeze it. One cube is 1 oz. of food. That makes it easy. I freeze the fruit but not the veggies since she just has a spoonful at lunch and then again at dinner until that veggie is gone- which is less than a week, so I skip the freezing step. I also mashup banana for breakfast or now I just give them to her in little chunks. Sometimes, to get her fruit in, I mashup a small bit of banana and mix it with pear or peach for breakfast or lunch. If you need more instruction than this a great website is Wholesome Homemade Baby Food. I got that from Brooke's mom- there are some neat ideas there. I use a handful of cookbooks my MIL picked up at garage sales too.
She likes to make a big mess of herself but it is with joy and lots of paper towel that we clean her grubby face up!
Also on the topic of food is school! On C week we made cake for Daddy's birthday and then this week our bible story is Moses and the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus) so I found a fun craft on Pinterest that we made last night as Matt mowed the lawn. I got the idea from this blog. She had a great time with both fun activities. She'll tell you the best part has been eating it! She was super excited to eat up Moses- it sure beat last weeks baby Moses in a basket craft. We also made sure to enjoy some yummy eggs since it's E week. So much fun with food around here!
"Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything." Genesis 9:3
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