I take pride in making my baby fresh pureed food from scratch ingredients sourced locally from the farmers’ market. Really. But I have 3 kids and a job meaning some days we improvise. Through trial and error, Rookie Dad Alec (not pictured) and I discovered these homemade baby food “cheats” that are the easiest ever baby foods while still being organic and healthy.
Cheater “homemade” baby food
As long as we have these in the house, Sawyer has organic baby food for pennies.
These are cheats because they come straight out of package as organic healthy mush. I don’t need to buy individual jars or packets labeled for babies, I read the labels and look for good ingredients. Easy.
Applesauce and full fat whole milk yogurt are my two heroes. I serve them straight up or mixed with my homemade purees (or the other cheats). The hardest part is wrestling Sawyer for the spoon.
These other organic packaged goods are best supporting foods: pumpkin, black beans, refried beans (yep, even with the mild chilis).
Here are a few winning combos:
- Applesauce + pumpkin = baby pie
- Applesauce + veggie purees = something sweeter (try broccoli)
- Yogurt + pumpkin = custard
- Yogurt + fruity purees = fruit on the bottom yogurt
- Refried beans + yogurt = Mexican feast
- Black beans solo = hilarious finger food
- Shredded cheese in a little pile on his tray = big mess (see photo upper left)
Do you have any super secret baby food cheats you can share?
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This post was sponsored by BABYBJÖRN with whom we have worked to bring you a whole series of good stuff this summer. Find out more about the sleek BABYBJÖRN high chairs and other kitchen products like my favorite kid plates on their website.
{photos by: heather, babybjorn}
Ha, you clearly have the same approach to baby food that we do, since all of these are staples in our pantry too! Our eight-month-old will eat just about anything if we mix a little yogurt in. Some others that we love: applesauce that isn’t just apples (Santa Cruz and Solana Gold both make this with apricots, tropical fruit, etc.); whole milk cottage cheese (Clover makes a nice version of this); other types of canned beans; most canned soups or stews (for any canned goods, check for BPA-free lids; Eden is really good about this); salsa (sounds crazy but our baby loves it mixed into other foods, and it’s mostly veggies!); and hummus (ditto). Would love to hear additional ideas, too!
Maybe too obvious, but there are the other two cheats – bananas and avocados. They come pretty darn close to the way they need to be… hadn’t thought of combining the avocado with the black beans until now!
My baby is three, and he still loves applesauce and yogurt. There is also, cream cheese, canned fruit, guacamole, tuna, chicken salad. Tofu is nearly tasteless and mashes up and mixes with anything – avocados, bananas, applesauce, anything.
Mashed up bananas, mashed avocado, cottage cheese, tiny pieces of bread, rice and Refried beans. We NEVER took babyfood to restaurants. Usually there is something on the menu or a side or addition to your order that you can mash for a wee one
@Kathleen — yes! In fact, I mush the avocado and banana together for our 8 month old. She loves it!
Greek yogurt is great for kids who are starting to want to feed themselves; it is thick enough for them to grab. Cottage cheese. Stellini pasta. Baked sweet potatoes and regular potatoes are easily mashed with a fork. Also, Trader Joe’s prewashed and cut veggies allowed me to make my own veggie purees even when juggling twins meant we didn’t make it to the farmer’s market.
My 18-mo-old is still eating our homemade and cheater baby food. He doesn’t like the texture of most “grown up” food, except he loves carbs (cereal, crackers, toast) and dessert (who dosen’t). I worry about him not getting enough protein, otherwise he is the healthiest eater with all these fruit and veggie purees and yogurt! Thanks for the tips on the beans and canned tuna fish! Anyone else have a late bloomer when it comes to food?
My son eats lots of frozen veggies. We buy them in bags, pour out just enough for him, and heat them in the microwave. Peas, carrots, corn, and edamame are his favorites. Since it only takes about a minute and a half from freezer to his mouth, these are generally his appetizer while we get the rest of his meal ready.
My son loves the carbs too. He loves toast, breadsticks, and O cereal.
Thanks for sharing these other protein suggestions. I can’t wait to try them.
My little one loves cottage cheese, zucchini muffins, pancakes, baked sweet potato fries, and fruit/yogurt Popsicles made in these molds that are great for little hands. http://www.amazon.com/Freshfoods-78962-Fill-Freeze-Pops/dp/B006Z6E810/ref=sr_1_2?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1342238848&sr=1-2&keywords=annabel+karmel
@Art, I’ll have to try the salsa. Sawyer will gnaw a raw lemon wedge.
@Alissa and @Kathleen, I also mix avocado and banana on a regular basis but wasn’t counting them on my list of cheats because they are “real” food. Ha! Sawyer has it on his menu for today.
I love the pumpkin idea- never thought of giving it straight out of a can!
My kids still eat plain whole milk yogurt and applesauce all the time. When they were babies I would mix it together. We did lots of banana and avocado and sweet potatoes and other soft foods too. And black beans were also a favorite. I pretty much skipped the purees (homemade or jarred) to be honest. Easy and cheap!
Love the pumpkin and combo ideas. Saving this for next time.
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