adventures in baby food making.

so, baby food. ruth has been on baby food purees for one week now. so i thought i would give a baby bullet review.

i decided to go the homemade baby food route for a few reasons. basically, for us, it's what is best. i feel pretty strongly about the nutrition and preparation of jarred baby food and feel most comfortable with making our own. plus, the expense is unreal. it's amazing how much cheaper it is to make this stuff.

my kitchen. before the MESS.

here's the breakdown...i purchased organic carrots, sweet potato, pear, peas, green beans, banana and an avocado for less than $9. each of these items yields about 6-8 servings. she currently only eats about one teaspoon, once a day right now. gradually that will expand over the next few weeks.

so, basically for less than $10 we have a month's worth of baby food. i think it would last longer than a month but homemade baby food only lasts 30 days in the freezer and 3 days in the refrigerator.

the baby bullet set comes with six containers and a sort of ice tray set that you can freeze some up in. my mom bought us several packages of smaller rubbermaid containers and we have more than enough now. i definitely recommend buying extra containers so you can make big batches at one time.

i'm surprised by how quick and easy it is to do all of this. i was a little intimidated but clearly it was unfounded. i whipped up a huge batch yesterday in less than two hours. it's so freaking easy.

first time eating baby food.

our pediatrician assured me that it's not necessary to wait four days in between introducing new foods. he said that if there is an allergic reaction it will most likely happen within 24 hours, if not immediately. so, we've been introducing new foods every other day this past week. she currently has tried banana, peas, avocado and pears...all met with rave reviews.

another thing i love is that the baby bullet comes with a cookbook. it covers what foods are best to start with and when to introduce the others. what foods are off limits the first year and how to cook and prepare everything.

after doing some research and talking with kate and our pediatrician i felt most comfortable with feeding her baby food in between nursing sessions, not halfway through like i have heard recommended. this way i'm sure she's still getting full nursing sessions. both the World Health Organization and American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that a baby's main source of nutrition during the first year be breastmilk.

so, that's been our experience so far. i'm glad we went this route. i feel really good knowing that i am giving her organic, safe, whole foods with nothing else in them. and, to be quite honest, preparing all of it has been a welcome distraction. it's been hard for me...ruth starting baby food and not being exclusively breastfed anymore. i know, insane...but it's tough and i've shed more than a few tears about it. but at the end of the day she is healthy, growing strong and happy as a clam. i couldn't ask for anything more.

and a big thanks to my mom and dad for blessing us with the baby bullet. we love you so much.


sidenote: walmart has the baby bullet for the cheapest price i've found, so far.