To buy or to make

So someone I follow on Twitter mentioned making baby food tonight and it got me thinking on the subject.

I used to make our dog food and dog treats along with meals for ourselves to put in the freezer for the week, every Sunday.  A few hours’ worth of work to ease the work week was so worth it to me.  We had a friend who’d come over on Mondays and ask what kind of “Pates” I’d made for the week and could she have some (She loved the beef or liver with vegetable ones).  I usually gave her some for the week and she’d eat it with bread or crackers more than her dog would.  You may be thinking ewwww! But it was human food ground up so it was a Pate.  She even asked how to make it when we moved away.

I rarely make the dog’s food or treats anymore with so many organic 100% USA sourced grain free products available but do enjoy making the whole families pet’s goodies for Christmas.

Since I no longer work outside the home I don’t need to do our food  anymore but I already know I’ll be tackling the baby food around here so I know exactly what our baby is eating. I’ve seen these elaborate baby centric food makers in the stores and online and I think, WHY? A good Cuisinart or blender does the same job and I already have them.  I also have strainers to ensure it gets the right texture and without chunks for stage one and two foods.  I understand that maybe you’d like to be able to pouch up your food for trips with a toddler but that won’t be me.  I’d prefer to keep the aluminum away from their food as much as possible.

I have canning jars in a 4oz size and those will work great for baby food. They even make plastic lids now for the jars.  I also have tiny glass Pyrex containers I can freeze the food in.  With the cost and/or additives even in organic baby foods, I just prefer to have them eat what we are eating since I’m cooking it anyway.

I realize I am writing this without a baby and the sleepless days and nights aren’t upon us yet but coming to us eventually. So I may be reverting to the once or twice a week cook and freeze method of a few years ago but at least I know it’s that important to me to make it myself.