Homemade Foods: Avocado, Banana, and Squash, Oh My!

The plan all along was to wait till M was six months and start baby led weaning. If you don't know what that is a quick summary is skipping purees and going straight to solids. It's mainly exploring the first month and getting use to foods. As M got close to five months she started sitting up on her own. (big girl) which is one of the main signs that they can start food. I pushed it out of my mind and went on just breastfeeding. Then M got the appetite of a teenage boy. So we broke down and tried organic brown rice cereal. I'm not really sure the difference, but I'm a sucker.

I've never seen a baby do so well with eating at the start. I literally put the spoon up to her mouth and she opened wide to eat. A couple days later I finally accepted that she was ready for food. I always knew plan b to baby led weaning would be making my own baby food. I also always knew that I wanted her first food to be avocado.

Avocado purees are extremely simple. There is no cooking involved. I cut mine into fourths which makes four servings for M. Then take a bowl of water and add a drip of lemon juice.

Dip each slice into the mix. This helps stop the browning. After you have dipped each slice put them  into a Ziploc bag and add the date. Pop your bag into the freezer and you are good to go. I would toss them after a month.

These are M approved! To serve put a slice in a microwave safe bowl and set to 30 seconds. Then add some breast milk or formula to get to the consistency that you want. I use less than an oz of breast milk. Take a fork, spoon, or whatever floats your boat to mash up.

Once M had the three day waiting rule I decided to move on to squash. I didn't think to take any pictures, but it's pretty easy as well. I bought one butternut squash and cut it in half. Fill a 13x9 with about an inch of water and add your squash facing down. Bake this for about 45 minutes or until you can pierce it with a fork at 350 degrees. Once it is done baking scrape it out into your mixer. I had to add about 2 oz of breast milk with it. Puree until you have reached the consistency you want. Put these in the microwave for 30 seconds to serve.

Note how it's spelled wrong. Nice.

To store these I used to ice cube trays. Each spot is about 1oz which is one serving. As they grow you may want to use to cubes. After the squash has frozen pop them out and put them in a Ziploc bag with the date. These should be used within one month. It's a good idea to add the name of your food along with the date. That way you don't get confused once you have multiple foods of the same color. A good tip my sister gave to me.

  

Today we started banana which is another easy puree with no cooking involved. I cut mine into thirds and freeze in a dated Ziploc. I would toss these after a month. 

 

I added a little breast milk to help mash and get a good consistency. Heat for thirty seconds without the peel and mash.

If you're not convinced on why you should make your own baby food here are some good thoughts. That one squash that cost a little over a dollar made 21 servings. One avocado for a little over a dollar makes four servings. One banana makes three. A jar of baby food costs a little over sixty cents and is one serving. Jar food isn't evil, but it feels good giving M fresh and frozen food. Really it isn't much work. People will act like it would so taxing, but if I believed them about everything I wouldn't be breastfeeding or cloth diapering. See for yourself and if it is something you can fit in or not. Make Sunday your mass cook day so you don't have to worry about it through the week. Whatever you choose, happy feeding!