Cheap Baby Food

My little Boy is old enough now to eat baby food--and that can take a lot of our weekly budget if I am not careful! He seems to be eating more than his sister is :-) Thankfully, I learned with Girl how to make my own baby food and save tons of money in the process!

Packaged baby food is expensive--even the generic brand at Target is $0.87 for two containers of 4 ounces of food (considered "Stage 2" baby food), or 10.9 cents per ounce. I recently purchased 1 lb. of organic carrots for $0.99 at Target. After cooking the carrots and pureeing them, I filled an ice cube tray PLUS had enough for three of the small baby food containers. I am not certain of the exact amount in ounces, but let's guess on the small side, and say that each ice cube is 1 oz., and the containers were only 2 ounces. My 16 ounce ice cube tray, plus 3 two ounce containers, totals 22 ounces of baby food. At $0.99 for the carrots, I paid 4.5 cents per ounce. When you realize that the carrots were organic, and that organic baby food costs even more than 'regular' baby food, the savings are enormous!




Of course, there is time involved in the cooking and preparing your own baby food. The savings, however, are worth it! I love knowing exactly what my little boy is eating, and that I am saving money in the process. I would highly recommend Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron--though some of the information is dated, the book is an encyclopedia of information about baby food, with a guide in the back that tells you when you can introduce certain foods as well as how to prepare them. It was out of print, but I found a barely used copy for a great price online. I also love my Oxo Good Grips Ice Cube Tray. It has a lid that keeps the baby food from being contaminated in the freezer. Saving money and providing healthy food for my children Works for Me!