Recently I was talking to an expecting mother about why homemade baby food was the right choice for our family. She asked if was really worth all the work. Was I really saving money? I told her that it was all about how you did it. I explained that for certain foods I decided to introduce to Koji, the foods that were considered the dirty dozen, I wanted to make sure they were organic. And if I just ran to the store to buy organic, sure it could be expensive. But the way I went about buying these foods made it easier on the wallet. I have a list of foods and the appropriate age that they should be introduced to your child. When I showed up at the store, I check to see what organic items were on sale that week. For example one week I wanted to introduce apples. Well when I got to Whole Foods I saw that organic pears were on sale. Both pears and apples could be introduced at 6 months. So that week we decided to start pears. Another week we went to the store and both organic sweet potatoes and organic carrots were on sale. I purchased both, made the food and then froze both. When the three day test period for the food was up, I had the other food in the freezer to introduce. I guess what I’m saying is to buy organic, buy on sale.
Last week I found small bags of Organic carrots on sale for $1. I purchased 3 bags, cooked them up and threw them in the food processor. So for $3 I made 13 and a half meals! That comes to .23 cents a meal! Not to bad if you ask me!
Also sweet potatoes were on sale for $0.69 a pound. I baked about 8 potatoes and was able to make 22 MEALS! The potatoes cost about $4.30 making each meal about .20!
So the saving is really there. But making the food is so much more to me. I just plain enjoy it. I like finding the deals, cooking the food and turning it into baby food. As I was making the carrots and sweet potatoes I actually thought to myself that I love doing this and would love to do it for other people. I enjoy it. I know it’s not for everyone but for me it makes me happy to know that I’m doing this for my child.