If you’ve ever taken a stroll down the baby food isle or have kiddos of your own, you know that baby food is crazy expensive. I was determined to save as much money as possible on food for Hayes. Especially since he has to be on soy formula, which can cost an arm & a leg! (Let alone his NICU bill… YIKES.)
Yes, making your own baby food is a little work, but so worth it.
I bought a bag of organic sweet potatoes for $7 at Costco, a butternut squash for less than $2 & two ice cube trays from Walmart for $1.50 each.
Here are the directions for some of the food I’ve made so far!
SWEET POTATOES
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Once preheated, place 4 medium sweet potatoes straight on the rack. There is no need to poke them with a fork or put them in foil. You should, however, put a pan on the rack beneath in case they drip. Roast the potatoes for 45-50 minutes.
Take them out of the oven & let them sit for 10 minutes. The skin of the potato will be wrinkled. Pull the skins off of the potatoes & put the potato straight in the food processor or blender. I processed 2 potatoes at a time.
They were a little thick, so I poured about 1/2 cup of water & it started to smooth out a little. Then fill the ice cube tray with the puree. 2 potatoes filled one ice cube tray.
Wrap each tray in plastic wrap & freeze the puree in the ice cube trays for 24 hours. Then pop them in a freezer baggie.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH & APPLE SAUCE
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cut the squash in half length wise & scrape out the seeds. Place face down in a glass dish. I put a little water in dish to make sure it doesn’t stick. Cover with foil & bake for 45 minutes.
Let cool for about 10 minutes. Scoop the squash into your processor & process until smooth. After tasting the puree, I found it to be a little bitter. I had a couple organic, no sugar added apple sauce cups, so I mixed those in & it tasted SO much better.
HOORAY 🙂
Each cube is about 1 oz. of baby food. So for my 5 month old, all I have to do is grab a couple cubes, throw them in a microwave safe bowl & thaw them in a microwave for about 30 seconds! I mix them with a little oatmeal.
They freeze well for 1 month without any freezer burn.
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