Chef Ainsley - Making Baby Food



Ainsley's Finished Product



Today Ainsley and I went to Whole Foods. I wanted to get enough produce to make a weeks worth of Baby Food for Ainsley. After reading a few articles, talking with other parents, and that "Tapped" movie... We have decided that we really want to give her the best food possible. When we can I want to feed her Organic Fruits and Vegetables and "Hormone Free" Dairy and Meats.

My first worry was... the cost. I have heard that Organic food is more expensive than the regular version.  But at $.50 per jar of regular Gerber baby food how much more expensive would it be?  

To my surprise... it was actually cheaper!  It does take some time but within an hour and a half I had enough food for Ainsley for a week (25 servings) and at less than $.30 a serving. And it is all organic!  As exciting as finding out the final costs was it was more exciting to feed Ainsley samples of the combinations as I made them.  She was so happy to eat and was smiling every time I gave her another bite.  I think her favorite was the Acorn Squash and Pear combination.  I thought I would post the recipes here for future use. 

Recipes: 
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Bake in baking dish for 30 minutes.

Carrots, Parsnips, and Yellow Squash: 
(yeilds 10 servings at $.42 per serving)    
- 1 lb carrots (Peal and cut into pieces)- 3 medium parsnips (Peal and cut into pieces)
- 2 small yellow squash (Sliced)
       
Roasted Pears and Bananas:
(yeilds 5 servings at $.17 per serving)
- 1/2 Banana (don't peel)
- 1 Pear (Cut Pear in half and spoon out middle where seeds are)   

Roasted Acorn Squash and Pears:
(yeilds 5 servings at $.29 per serving)
- 1/2 Acorn Squash (seeded and filled with a bit of water)
- 1 Pear (Cut Pear in half and spoon out middle where seeds are)    

Roasted Acorn Squash and Bananas:
(yeilds 5 servings at $.20 per serving)
- 1/2 Acorn Squash (seeded and filled with a bit of water)
- 1/2 Banana (don't peel)