Thanks so much for the comments on the last post! I especially appreciate BethGo’s comment about starting solids. I am “going with my gut” now 🙂

So…our first adventure into veggies was peas. Sissy – do NOT buy a special baby food gadget. I totally thought I wanted one, but then couldn’t afford one. Here are my supplies:

stove
saucepot
silicone steamer basket
food processor
ice cube trays
plastic storage bins for the freezer (y’know, for like soup)
sharpie marker (for marking dates on said storage bins)

Yup. That’s it! My aunt gave me her fancy schmancy food processor. True, it’s like 20 years old, but it’s a spendy namebrand and works really well. I had to buy a steamer basket, and I opted for the silicone one instead of the metal so it wouldn’t scratch my saucepot. That cost like $9. I bought two extra ice cube trays (in addition to the ones we actually use for ice). In the interest of full disclosure, I did buy a set of two ice cube trays w/ lids specifically made for baby food…but they only hold a little, and I made a lot at once. So, they’ll be nice for freezing small amounts of stuff. (like fruit juice…for me….)

So….peas.

I used frozen peas (like $1.99 for the family size bag). I steamed them over an inch of water in the sauce pot, using my new steamer basket. Let them cool (briefly). Dumped them in the food processor. Pureed them until they were smooth (I did add water from the sauce pot to smooth them out). Spooned them into the ice cube trays. Froze them. Popped out the cubes into plastic storage bins. Voila!! Peas!

I can’t get over the color difference between my “homemade” peas and the jars of peas (which, by the way, are like $.99 EACH) in the store. My peas are SO green and bright – the jarred ones are so not.

The first batch (my trial batch) didn’t puree as smooth as the second batch. So he may not eat those, because I still feel pea skins (?) in there. But the joy of this is, I can eat them 🙂

Now, I’m not using organic. Where I live, organic food is scarce and expensive. There is a farmer’s market once a week, but we’ve either been gone or it’s been pouring rain and I haven’t been. Besides, how do I really know if they’re organic?? I am a big fan of frozen vegetables in general, because they keep well and according to research hold their nutrients. I suppose I could buy name-brand frozen veggies, too (think big giant!), but the “generic” that I buy are very good.

I will probably do organic dairy when we get there…but that’s because there are good namebrands of that at our market. Much of the fresh fruit I buy has an organic sticker, but again, that could mean any number of things.

I just feel better that Little Man is eating fresher veggies than come out of a jar. Again, the color difference is astounding. Plus, because I couldn’t breastfeed, I feel like I am doing that much more the help ensure his health.

Oh, and the whole process of making the food? From start to finish, including cleaning the food processor was like twenty minutes. To make probably twenty servings. Easy…

Next up: butternut squash!!