Why I Made My Baby’s Food and How

ByTheBehaviorBlend

When it came time to start solids with my baby, I made the decision to prepare homemade baby food. My top reasons?

  1. I wanted to control what ingredients were going into her tiny body.
  2. I wanted to introduce her to the same foods we eat as a family.
  3. And—let’s be honest—homemade is so much cheaper!

Why I Chose Homemade Baby Food

1. Clean Ingredients

There are so many unnecessary additives in packaged food—even baby food. I wanted to be sure her meals were 100% food, nothing else. By making it myself, I could use fresh, local produce without preservatives, added sugars, or mystery ingredients. If I wouldn’t eat it, why would I feed it to her?

2. Family-Friendly Flavors

I loved the idea of starting her on foods we already eat as a family—sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, apples, and more. (Okay, maybe I eat more vegetables than my husband, but still!) It helped me feel confident that she was getting a balanced, real-food introduction. It also made transitioning to table food much easier later on.

Bonus: Making my own purees meant I could gradually increase texture as she was ready and mix up my own flavor combinations—no extra jars required.

3. Major Savings

We don’t qualify for WIC, and buying jars or pouches every week would’ve added up fast. Making baby food at home was way more budget-friendly. One sweet potato could turn into several days’ worth of meals!

4. Less Waste

Another win: sustainability. I used reusable glass jars and ice cube trays—so we weren’t tossing out tons of plastic containers or pouches. Don’t get me wrong—we definitely used store-bought pouches here and there (especially for travel or emergencies), and I always kept prunes on hand for constipation. But overall, 99% of her food was homemade, and that felt really good.

How I Did It (It’s Easier Than You Think!)

I kept it super simple:

  • What I used:
  • The process:
    1. I’d cook and blend one food at a time using the baby food maker. Most machines include a guide with cooking times, which made it really easy.
    2. I’d pour the puree into ice cube trays and freeze.
    3. Once frozen, I popped the cubes into labeled freezer bags.
    4. Each night, I’d move a cube or two into a glass jar in the fridge to thaw for the next day.

As she grew and needed more food, I started combining cubes—like one cube of sweet potato and one of apple for a yummy blend.

Some veggies like zucchini and green beans came out a little watery once thawed, so I kept rice cereal on hand to mix in and thicken the texture when needed.

Was It Worth It?

Honestly? Yes. I thought it would be more time-consuming than it was. Prepping a few fruits and veggies on the weekend gave me enough food to last for days. And in those early stages, she was only eating a couple cubes per day anyway.

Making my baby’s food gave me peace of mind, saved money, reduced waste, and made me feel really good about what I was feeding her.

But here’s the bottom line: Fed is best.
Whether you go homemade, store-bought, or a mix of both—you’re doing an amazing job. This is just what worked for us.

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