Eat Right: All-natural Homemade Baby Food

Take a trip down any baby food aisle at the grocery store, and the scene can be daunting. There are shelves and shelves of baby food in a range of brands, flavors, textures, and nutritional values.

This is definitely not our parents’ baby food.

At New Jammies our motto is, “Eat right, play right and sleep tight” so starting our kids down a road to healthy ways of eating and living is always on our minds. Baby food is a great start, and making your own at home can be as easy as stopping by the produce and dairy aisles for healthy, all-natural alternatives to prepackaged baby food.

Our friends at Weelicious, which host a website that offers up simple and nutritious recipes for kids of all ages, provide easy recipes for making homemade first foods – and beyond.
“The recipes appeal to a range of ages – from infants starting on solid foods to school-age kids and even adults – and are meant for parents to use as an inspirational feeding guide for their own families,” says founder Catherine McCord, on the website.

According to Catherine, Weelicious focuses on educating kids and involving them in the cooking process. The idea is to make eating and cooking fruits and vegetables fun and nutritious.
“We encourage parents to be honest – no sneaking veggies! – and to include kids in the cooking process by exposing them to food from the moment it comes out of the ground to giving them age-appropriate tasks in the kitchen,” she says.

A quick visit to the site’s First Foods page reveals homemade recipes, videos and tips for helping babies make that pivotal transition to solid foods in a healthy way parents can control. There are recipes for Banana Molasses Oatmeal Mash, Red Lentil Puree, and Tropical Coconut Smoothie, and more — all which can be stored, refrigerated and frozen in 4-ounce Wean Green Cubes. These durable glass containers are BPA, PVC, phthalate and plasticizer-free.

Since our pajamas, footies and short sets are made from 100% certified, non-toxic organic cotton, that’s something we love at New Jammies.

If you’re not sure where to start on the homemade baby food route, Weelicious has a great page with 10 Naturally Sweet Baby Food Recipes that incorporate healthy ingredients, kid-tested and approved. Fruits, veggie and grains used in these easy recipes include bananas, pears, blueberries, mango, apples, peaches, coconut, cantaloupe, butternut squash, dates, avocado, quinoa, and more.

One product on the market that makes homemade baby food prep easy is the BPA-free Baby Bullet Baby Food Maker, available online on Amazon and in many accessible stores including Kohl’s, Target, and Bed, Bath and Beyond. The easy-to-use, four-cup food processor comes packaged with a batch bowl, spatula, batch tray, storage cups and tray, a pocket nutritionist, and a user manual/cookbook. The Baby Bullet retails at around $59.99, and can pay for itself in baby food savings.

That’s considering parents, on average, spend close to $50 per week ($2,448 per year) on diapers, formula and baby food alone, according to the “Cost of Raising a Baby” article on parenting.com.

What’s great about making your own healthy baby food is you can utilize what’s already in the home, too. There are simple items parents can use without shopping, including blenders, food mills, mini food processors, potato mashers, and ice cube trays for freezing. 
The best part of making homemade baby food is the meals are easy, healthy and preservative-free, and moms and dads know exactly what’s going into their children’s meals, made with love.
It’s a win-win for baby and parents.

Here’s to our kids eating right in their 100% pure, natural organic cotton New Jammies pajamas. Bon appetite!