How to save money- homemade baby food

Living on one income can sometimes be a challenge. We are lucky that we do not live paycheck to paycheck but part of that comes from being smart with our money. I am always looking for ways to stretch my dollar. We like to be able to go out to dinner once a month and we also like to try and set money aside for mini vacations (like Maine this summer) or family passes to local venues (the Paddle Club last summer and hopefully this summer again). In order to do that I need to make the most of each dollar we spend.

One way I do this is to make most of my own baby food. Babies don't eat that much in the beginning. I have breastfed all three of my children which keeps the cost for the first 4 to 6 months super low (just a few extra calories for me!) but eventually they need more than just breast milk.

When Madeline started eating baby food I decided I would make my own. I did go to the store and buy the baby cereal and while I was there I looked at the prices on the jars. I thought "Hmm, $1 for a pack of 2 containers of peaches. Not bad." Then I realized those two packages might be about 4 meals in the beginning but they would slowly become one meal each. And what happens when Madeline started eating more than 1 jar of food per meal? I started adding it up in my head and I realized that feeding her was going to add a lot more onto my grocery bill than I had originally thought if I chose to use the jars. This reinforced my decision to make most of my own baby food.

I do buy some jars, when it is on sale, to have for traveling or if I fall behind in my homemade stash. I pay at least $1 for what would amount to between 2- 4 meals. If I make it from home not only does my money go further but I know exactly what is in it. No extra preservatives when I cook!

With Madeline and Owen I kept it simple, I pureed vegetables and fruit that we had in the house and mixed them with store bought baby cereal or fed them plain. It worked and I never spent tons of money on the prepackaged stuff. I did buy the pureed meats because I just didn't think I could puree my own. Now I know better. But I still hate the smell of pureed meats so I simply waited until Ben had teeth before introducing meats to him.

With Ben I am getting a little more creative. I'm not sure why I am getting more creative as a I have less time but it is working! I found a great website called Wholesome Baby Food. This is the BEST baby food website ever. I even found a way to make my own baby cereal. I never knew how simple it was and I wish I had known about this for Owen and Madeline.

Today I was looking around the website and found a page that teaches how to make your own baby teething biscuits. This is something I am very excited to try. Both Madeline and Owen loved these and loved to make a mess with these. Ben is just starting to discover them and he also loves his crunchies and his puffs that are made by Gerber. We can get them for a decent price at BJ's. But when I found the recipe for Oats and "Naner Drops I knew I had to try them. I made a batch this afternoon and they were very very easy. Jon tried one and even he liked it. Jon liking a cookie made without sugar is not something that happens very often. I am hopeful that these cookies will be something that Madeline and Owen like as well.

This evening I set aside some time to make baby food for Ben. Jon was home and it was a good time for me to get this done. I set out to make two veggies and one fruit. All I needed was my steamer (which I love for all of my vegetables), my food processor (a blender works well also) and some ice cube trays. When I made Ben's food tonight I spent much less than I would have in the store. It took about an hour to make and clean up from everything. But in the end I have enough peas, carrots and peaches to last about a week for about $1.63. I used 1/2 a bag of frozen peas (50 cents), 1/3 bag of organic baby carrots (33 cents) and 1/3 a bag of frozen peaches (about 80 cents). If I had bought the prepackaged baby food it would have cost me about $7 and that is if I was able to buy it on sale. I put the pureed fruits and vegetables into ice cube trays to freeze over night. In the morning I will pop out the cubes and put them into freezer storage containers. At each meal I will take out one or two cubes and microwave them for about 25 seconds. And breakfast/lunch/dinner for Ben is done.


Ben is also starting to progress to finger foods. I have never bought a prepackaged meal of finger foods. That seems silly to me. I can very easily cut up whatever we are eating for dinner and feed it to Ben for much less than the cost of a prepackaged meal. The other night we had meatballs and pasta. Ben at some of the meatball cut up as well as some noodles. I don't know how much it cost but since most of my dinners cost less than $5 for four of us I know it was less than $1! For dinner tonight he ate some leftover chicken cut into bit sized pieces, small pieces of mozzarella cheese stick, pureed blueberries with yogurt, sweet potatoes, some Gerber crunchies and some crackers. He was a hungry boy at dinner.

It takes a few extra minutes to make my own baby food and with three kids extra time can be hard to find. One way I work around this is to cook the food in batches like I did today. For me the time is worth the money I save.

I'm Still Here

I knew life would be busy with three kids. But I was not aware how busy it would be. Most days I blink my eyes and it is late afternoon. I consider myself lucky if I get a shower and eat my own breakfast by 10 am. Benjamin is doing great, he is almost 9 pounds at three weeks and is such an easy baby. But balancing him and the other two is crazy. Plus Jon is taking a class this week and next so he leaves at 6:30 am for work and gets home at 6 at night from class. After having him home for two full weeks while we adjusted to life with three was great, but I definatly lived in a bubble that week.

To top it all off we are in the middle of a heat wave here. I am not ready to take all three out often yet but I miss going to spray parks in heat like this. But with Madeline going through her "I'm not listening stage" and Owen just being a typical two year old going out is not easy. We will get there eventually, but for now we stay close to home and try to stay busy and cool. The library is still one of our favorite free, air conditioned places to visit and we go there each week. We also try to go to the park each week and Jon takes the kids swimming almost every night at a local beach. I want to visit the children's museum but I think we will wait another week or two to do that. I am brave but not that brave. We are also working on crossing things off on our summer bucket list and I will update that list soon.

How are you all staying cool?

Baby Blues

Well, not really the baby blues because that typically comes after you have a baby. I am having the when do I want another baby blues. We had a plan. I am good with plans. I like plans. And I am having trouble with the plan. The plan was to have all of our babies in the spring if we could. And so far it has worked out that way, very easily.
We also wanted our kids about two years apart. That worked out easily as well.
So far.
If we continue this trend that means I get pregnant in the next couple of months.
This scares me.
I don't know why I am so scared this time and I haven't been before.
And that scares me more.

With big rugrat it was easy. She was our first and I had NO idea what I was getting into. I loved it. I liked being pregnant, even after being diagnosed with getstational diabetes and having the worries that go along with it. Even when dealing with postpartum depression I loved being a mom. And I loved being at home. The transition was hard, but I count my blessings that I can be with her at home each day.
With little rugrat it wasn't as easy, but I still loved it and couldn't wait to be pregnant again. For one I knew I would have gestational diabetes. I monitored my blood sugar from the first doctor's appointment on. I went on medication a little earlier and was in for extra appointments a little earlier. I still loved being pregnant. I didn't mind getting bigger once you could tell I was pregnant (I do hate that "is she fat or is she pregnant?" stage). The postpartum depression was very mild this time, but I worried alot about it before he was born. But little rugrat is also an easy kid. He is busy and takes a lot more energy than big rugrat and again I love being a mom. I always love being with him. And I am still lucky enough to be at home. I work ten hours a week, but for half of it Jon is home.
Now we start talking about baby number three. And I am scared. I want another baby, the family just doesn't feel complete yet. But what about the diabetes? What about the postpartum depression? Can I handle three kids under the age of 4?
If we start trying now in May I could have a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a newborn. WOW. That is what I always wanted. So why I am so unsure now? If we have a spring baby Jon is already planning not to work at all next summer (he teaches and this year is doing summer school so we can save some extra money away). That means extra help. Plus I don't work during the summer so we don't lose my paycheck at all.
But it also means spending the winter trying to find someone to watch my two kids while trucking to the doctor's office once or twice a week from about 5 1/2 months on. Or taking the kids with me.
If we wait and try for a late summer baby (which means I get to be 9 months pregnant in August in New England....) then Jon is home while I am at most of my doctor appointments. But then he goes back to work right after the baby is born, big rugrat starts preschool right after the baby is born and I don't go back to work so we lose about 3 months of my paychecks.
The last option is trying for a winter baby. But having a baby in New England in the winter means a lot more time bundling up before going out. However, it means I may only miss a month of work (I get about 5 weeks off for winter break) and Jon is home extra during the holidays. It is a toss up. Plus little rugrat would be 2 1/2 and big rugrat would be 4 1/2. But again, a newborn in the winter in New England, with two older children who LOVE to be outside.
There is no easy decision here.
I keep reminding myself that I am lucky. I know I am lucky because:
1. we can have another baby, not everyone has an easy time getting pregnant. I do and I try not to forget how lucky I am for that
2. we are okay financially and will not worry. again, not everyone can afford another baby. things will be tighter around here, but we wills till be fine.
3. I am young enough that we can postpone for awhile if we want, even a year or two could pass and I still have plenty of time!
4. even with my complications I have it so much better than some. checking blood sugar, watching my diet, taking glyburide (to help my body produce insulin) and going to the doctors extra is nothing compared to the bed rest and hospitalizion that some women go through
5. I have two healthy children
6. I have family who is there to help if and when I need it
7. becuase I get pregnant pretty easily I can try to plan better when I want to have the next baby. I can't garuantee which month I would be due in, but so far I have gotten pregnant during the first month of wanting to.

I know everything will work itself out. I am just feeling so thrown by not being ready. Everytime I see a newborn I get that feeling the one where you wnat to have another one RIGHT NOW. But then I picture myself with three kids and I get scared.
To anyone who reads this and has three or more kids close in age, please tell me, how do you do it?!?!?!