Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Why?

If there is one question about homemade baby food that keeps coming up is "Why?" Sometimes I'm tempted to reply with another question... "Why not?" However, because I think it's important that more and more people make their own baby food, I give them a more elaborate answer.

For starters, I want to know exactly what goes into my baby's food. I am not a green freak, I am not a health nut, I don't even buy organic for us most of the time but I want to give my baby organic food. I don't want to load him with chemicals. I know that commercial baby food is perfectly safe but it also contains fillers. Why give the baby fillers? Besides, I want to give him apples that really taste like apples, beef that tastes like beef, rice that really tastes like rice, etc.

I don't know many people who eat all their meals out a jar. We certainly don't so would I make my baby do so? We have been blessed with the opportunity to experience many different cultures and we love food from all over the world. I want my baby to experience the same culinary variety, I want him to like, or at least try, more than just Chicken Country or Pasta dinners.

Last but not least, make the food at home is significantly cheaper than buying the jars. You'd be surprised at how many baby meals you get from a single sweet potato.

I am not opposed to the odd jar here and there, especially when traveling but I will make my best efforts to be prepared and feed my baby homemade baby food. There might be things I will buy but the bulk of his food will be made at home. That's the plan at least. Making the food at home is not hard either, it's only slightly less convenient that popping open a jar. You can make two or three weeks worth of baby food in just a couple of hours. The starter foods are particularly easy. Assuming you know how to cook vegetables and own a blender, you already have all the skills and equipment you need.

Quite frankly, it never even crossed my mind to use jarred food on a regular basis. I hope this summarized the "Why?" and the other common questions.

Stay tuned for recipes, tips, and more!