Giving in

Last night, because my mother-in-law was watching Jack and I was tired of the computer (gasp!) and there was still another hour before Phillip would get home, I busted out the food processor and - dum dum dum! - made baby food.

Sort of.

I had a sweet potato lying around because I'd planned to make this recipe in my Low Glycemic Index cookbook, but I lost interest because hello, who wants to eat anything that came from a Low Glycemic Index cookbook? I had this lonely sweet potato and it was just lying there doing nothing. So I dug the potato peeler out of the chaos that is our Kitchen Gadgetry drawer, peeled it, quartered it and dropped it into a pot of boiling water.

Then I started to eye the three apples in the fruit basket, sitting there ever since Phillip said, "Can you buy some fruit today?" and I agreed, even though Phillip never eats fruit unless it is cut into neat slices and laid out appealingly on a tray, and even though I was not eating fruit due to the Evil Weight Loss Challenge. (Speaking of, I was kicking ASS in the weight loss challenge, until yesterday when I decided I needed to up my serotonin levels with four handfuls of chocolate chips. And please, no emails telling me that chocolate has nothing to do with your serotonin levels. I won't believe you anyway.)

Without really thinking about it, I peeled and cored the apples and then dusted off Joy of Cooking to see how in the world you are supposed to cook them. Joy of Cooking is not terribly helpful in the baby food department, but going off the applesauce recipe, I decided to just let the apples simmer in a bit of water. Seemed to work.

So I was watching my little pots boil on the stove and congratulating myself on my ingenuity. I had not googled Making Baby Food nor had I cracked open a single How To Make Baby Food book. People kept telling me how easy it was, barely disguising the horror in their voices when they talked about the human rights issue that is jarred baby food. I mostly blew these people off because I was sort of excited to go to the store and stock up on a bunch of little jars. Until I actually went to stock up and saw that Today's Baby eats from little plastic resealable boxes. Genius! But most of all, as you know, Internet, I am lazy. Lay. Zee. I truly did not believe I could be bothered to MAKE baby food. As in, COOK. For someone who will most likely splutter it all over my clothes, my floor and my basket of decorative autumn gourds.

But a strange thing has happened since my part-time work plan flew out the window without even saying goodbye. I've become... economical. Domestic. Housewifey. If I'm not going to be earning any money, the least I can do is start figuring out how to SAVE money. Or at least attempt to use less of it. In some areas, this is pretty easy. Even if we wanted to go out to eat every night, it's impossible. SOMEONE has to be in bed. In other areas it's harder (just because I have nowhere to go doesn't mean I don't want to buy myself new winter boots). But the biggest thing I've been into lately is menu planning and grocery shopping. We used to be a "What are we going to eat tonight?" "I don't know, let's go to the store and figure it out!" kind of family. But now I take inventory of what we have in the house, plan what we're going to eat and shop for (and this is key) ONLY THOSE THINGS. This is hard. But we've been doing it for a month and not only are we saving a little more money, I am COOKING DINNER. I swear, I cook more now than I did before the baby. (Also, Phillip has heaps of leftovers to take for lunch which is where I think most of our money was going last year anyway. Why bring lunch when there's a perfectly yummy deli next door to the office?!)

Anyway, I started to think that making baby food wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

The potato finished first so I dumped it in the food processor, added some of the water and within minutes I had enough sweet potato puree for several weeks. I went to do the same thing with the apples, until I realized the entire bottom of the pan was black. I may be cheap and lazy, but even I won't feed my baby carcinogenic applesauce.

After the baby's nap today I am off to buy some ice cube trays, some freezer bags and a few more fruits and vegetables. The plastic Gerber boxes were cool, but I'm beginning to believe this might be as easy as everyone says it is. If anyone is interested, this is the website I've been using to plan my in house baby food empire. I especially like how they put an exclamation point at the end of every sentence. It makes you feel really good about your domesticity.

Comments

[Lisa]

Ha! I laughed out loud when I went to the baby food site and saw the exclamation points. Congrats on the baby food success. And thanks for the website recommendation. I will need all the help I can get when we get to that point. All about saving the pennies. Oh, and providing the freshest food for baby, of course.

[Leticia]

I have ALWAYS wanted to do this...but never have actually done it. I love the idea of things...not necessarily the execution of it. Very cool.

[ashley]

I just made applesauce for the first time!! It didn't burn and was actually REALLY delicious. In case you want an amazing recipe (Julia Child's):
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/335661_denn17.html

[Meredith]

Ha! Making baby food sounds fun when you describe it! Soon, everyone will be doing it! Exclamation points are fun!

I used advice from the book "Super Baby Food," and felt like the domestic goddess that I am totally not. I have been the laziest lady today, while my toddler ran laps around me and the baby slept in my lap. Now, they're both sleeping on the bed, and I can't move myself to ruin a perfectly lazy day by throwing in a load of laundry.

[Tara]

Ooh! Thanks for the link. I attempted making some squash and pears the other day, and it wasn't that hard! Of course, now I have enough squash and pears to last us till January, but whatever. I used one of those cheap-o steaming baskets in a pot on the stove and that worked well.

You'll have to pass along any more good findings!

Oh, and, he went TWO WEEKS without pooping?!?

[Mrs. Flinger]

Oh, it SO DOES help with Serotonin. And OMGOMGOMG, you're the BESTEST with the baby food making. Holy CRAP (I mean, you know, literally) ;-)

[Sara]

Yay for you! I think that always feels so satisfying, kind of like canning, only easier. I love having all those little frozen cubes. My youngest never was a huge babyfood eater, however, so pretty quickly moved into squished up bits of whatever we were eating (leaving out hot peppers and peanut butter, of course). Oh, and liked that website, but will never forget the disappointment that was the baby pancakes, which you make with leftover rice cereal and breast milk and applesauce and just yummy baby food things. I was very excited about them, since they seemed super nutritious, especially when Else only gained 4 ounces in 2 months between 8 and 10 months old-and they turned out just adorable. And she HATED them. The recipe made four hundred billion, of course, and I froze them and kept trying them later, but never was able to get more than a bite down her before they went sailing across the room.

[jackie]

I love making my own baby food. It makes me feel so domestic. You can't argue with the cheapness -- and plus, my kid loves zucchini!

[Angela]

Look at you and your domestic self! I'm quite impressed!

[corey]

I stumbled on your site through Parenting Post today. I used to love making baby food. The easiest thing to use is avocado and it is full of good fats. I used to add sweet potato, banana or mango to it to sweeten it up a little. I also used to love meal planning and going to the grocery in the morning with all the little old ladies! Now that I am working again, I have to force myself to try to plan for the week. Thanks for the memories!