Just now a friend of mine stopped me in the street stating that Baby Food is simply too expensive. This is literally what I said to her ... it is not much, it is not long, but her relief at the simplicity of 'doing it all yourself' made me think

I should share it here too.  I know others have written and shared some scrummy recipes in the past and I shall try to link to them at the end.

Too expensive!  I agree!  Often a whole jar of baby food is too much, but it cannot be saved, it must be thrown away ... what waste!  Even 5 years ago I struggled with the expense and rarely ever fed E with prepared baby food preferring instead to feed her from our table.

In my opinon this familiarised E to the tastes and flavours of vegetables and fruit from the get-go. We didn't give her strongly flavoured/spiced food and we have never used salt where it can be avoided.  Pureed vegetables, fruits and soft foods that she could suck on were what we started with.  Each family and culture has its own variety of 'every-day' foods to be found in the kitchen cupboards so just take a look through and see what you have that can be pureed down or put in a muslin and sucked at. 

Foods to try:
Enjoy the fruit and veg area of your local supermarket.  After introducing your baby to the fresh produce you enjoy each day in your home start to buy something new/different to usual each time you go shopping.  By this time your baby will be a little older, their stomach better able to cope with the variety of flavours and with your discretion and assistance will be interested in new flavours.  Also seasonal things are great to try and a treat for the rest of the household into the bargain.  Last month we got around to trying Sharon Fruit.  I don't know why it has taken me so long ... I just kept forgetting to buy it (how lame is that!?!?!), but it is fantastic.  It is soft, pulpy and sweet - perfect for making a mess!

As you cook the family main meal put a little aside for the baby to enjoy.  Then when you all eat the baby can be there as well, learn good table manners and not be trying to pick off someone elses plate because they will have their own with the same.  Naturally they may not realise this at first.  E sure didn't.  She only thought it was the same if she had her peraonal 'area' on my plate, but after a couple of weeks she was reassured and enjoyed her own bowl and spoon.

Equipment:
We had a simple blender whisk, but anything that can make the food into a soupy pulp is ideal.  Food processors are what automatically jump to mind, but I am terribly lazy and they are a lot of washing up after the fact, so I was very pleased with my blender whisk thing.  It achieved the goal quickly, efficiently and afterwards I only had to wash it off in warm water and it was ready to go next time.  It is the only thing in my kitchen that I clean as soon as I have used it.  I have also used other things that achieve the same result, but I do love the whole less mess/less cleaning up concept.

I hope that this has been helpful.

Peace
EF.x