Who knew?

My dear friend Christy became Jack’s Mama in December of 2007 one year before I became Eli’s Mama in December of 2008.  Lucky for me Christy had an entire year on me to figure things out and then pass on the info to me!  There are no parenting resources better than other Moms.  Anyway, one of the things Christy taught me was making homemade baby food.  I honestly gave no thought to baby food before Eli was born.  I mean none.  I knew nothing about store bought food and certainly had no idea about homemade food.  When I found out that Christy was making all her son’s food herself with fresh produce from the store I was so excited.  I buy so few things for Milan and I that are prepackaged that the idea of buying food for Eli that was packaged in plastic containers made me cringe.  One minute you are in the hospital figuring out how to nurse your baby and the next minute you are ready for solid foods. 

I have had so much fun making Eli’s food.  It is so simple.  Even a working Mom (which Christy was) could find the time to make baby food herself.  It is that easy.  There is a great website (www.homemadebabyfood.com) that is such an awesome resource.  I am always on there seeing which foods Eli can eat as he gets older.  The recipes are incredible and open the baby’s taste buds to such a wide variety of food that jarred store bought food couldn’t possibly offer.  I am amazed how much money we save by making our food.  I had no idea how expensive baby food is until I started making comparisons.  (Just a note… if you are a Mama who buys jarred food please don’t take offense to what I am saying.  We all ate jarred food and grew up healthy so I am not claiming it is poison or that you are not a good Mama!  Do what works for you!)

Eli is not a picky eater at all!!  From what I have read breastfed babies are much less picky eaters than formula fed babies because the breast milk exposes the babies to lots of different flavors.  This kid will eat anything.  When he is hungry he grunts, makes fists, and bangs on his chair.  He is like a little beast when I am getting his food ready.  He tries to grab our food off of our plates and cries if you eat in front of him.  It is hilarious.  I can just see him as a toddler.  Oh my. 

As Eli gets older his choices for food keeps growing.  I get so excited making him new food.  I am a worry wart when it comes to choking though so texture and finger foods haven’t quite made their way into his meals just yet.  Eli tried avocado today.  He could’ve had it sooner but I just haven’t bought any until this week.  I mashed it up with apples (sounds gross but I tasted it and it was surprisingly delicious) and he devoured it.  I made a little too much and ended up finishing his food.  I doubt I would have done that if he had been eating store bought food.  Avocado and apples may be my new midday snack!  Seriously, it was that yummy.  Speaking of apples, if you make your own apple sauce you will never buy store bought again.  Baking apples and pureeing them sounds like a lot of work but it isn’t and it is so worth it!  I see it as a labor of love! 

I have to take a moment to brag on Milan.  One of the reasons I love making Eli’s food is because Milan gets involved in it.  If we were buying jarred food Milan would just get it out and feed Eli with no thought.  But because Milan actually shops for Eli’s produce and then comes home and helps me make it he too enjoys the whole process.  There has been nothing more enjoyable than going to get fresh peaches (for my little Georgia peach Eli) with Milan and then watching him come home and get to work.  He always offers to peel, chop, process, and freeze the peaches.  Milan loves peaches and gets such a high from bonding with Eli through them.  They sit together and “talk” about how fresh and yummy they are.  It is adorable. 

Who knew making baby food had so much to offer?   Thank you Christy for bringing me into the world of homemade baby food! 

Eli is eating fresh peach chunks!  It is so messy but totally worth it!