Baby Bullet

If you had asked me even 2-3 years ago if I would be a mama who made her own baby food, I probably would have laughed and said absolutely not.  I'm more of an "it's just easier to spend the money" mentality.  (I rarely even shop at discount stores like Ross and Marshall's because I don't like to have dig for a deal.)  Plus I'm definitely not one of those all organic, go green, au naturale people.

But some of that is changing since we're having to revert back to a single salary after having two...at least how easy it is to swipe that card toward a big bill is getting MUCH more difficult!

My mom got me a Baby Bullet for Christmas.  She went on a limb there, knowing my philosophy of the past...  But since I was going to be staying at home now, she thought I might like it.  And what a good call that was!

Really any steamer and blender/food processor will work, but again, I'm all about convenience.  I like having all of the parts to the same system.  I like that because of that, all of my measurements and recipes are written out and they match because the products match.  And the Baby Bullet is very user friendly, easy to use, and easy to clean!

Once made the food will last three days in the refrigerator and a month in the freezer.  This means I make it in bulk when I make it.  I usually make up to a month's supply at a time.  It takes a little longer, but I'm not having to do it as often.  Since she's eating more now, this past time I needed even more food.  So I broke it up over three nights with a few foods each time.  It worked really well since it didn't take up quite as big of a chunk of my day.

So here's the skinny:

• Most foods need to be peeled and steamed before blending.  This takes up the most time.  But you can multitask to help, peeling while a batch is steaming to keep the process going.  Foods that are already soft like bananas, watermelon, and cantaloupe don't have to be steamer (although peeled!) before blending--surprise, surprise, those are the easiest and my favorite to make!  The Baby Bullet steamer (purchase separately) makes the steaming process a cinch.  It comes with it's own measuring cup, several trays, and a guide book that tells you how much water and which setting to use for each food.  Then all you do is enter the button to your setting and hit start.  That's it!  (It also serves as a tool to sanitize bottle parts and pacifiers--that comes in handy too).

• Once you get it steamed, all you do is pop it in the blender, add a little water (more or less depending on the consistency you want), and push it down until all the chunks are gone.  SO easy.  And it rinses out easily so you don't have to completely wash it when you're doing a marathon making session.  

• The system comes with six little storage cups for the fridge (with date dials so you know when you made them) so you can keep some out fresh for the next few days and freeze the rest.  There are only two storage freezer trays, and I normally make much more food than what those alone will hold.  So I also use ice cube trays.  The storage trays are silicone, so once the food is frozen and you're ready to remove it, all you have to do is run it under a little warm water and then push them out.  For the ice cube trays, spray them with a little Pam first to help the food come out more easily.  Once they're frozen, slide a butter knife along the edge of each cube and it will pop right out.

• I label Ziploc bags with the type of food it is (it's not always as easy to recognize when it's mushed up and frozen...) and the date I need to use it by (a month from the day it was made).

• Every night, I pull out a fruit and a veggie for her to have the next day, put them in those fabulous little Take 'N' Toss bowls (they're cheeeeap and they have lids), and put them in the refrigerator.  They're thawed out by the next day!  (You can also defrost them with the steamer, but then the food is hot and you can't serve it until it cools down.  Plus then you have to get all of that back out and wash it...)

Food for tomorrow about to go in the fridge--frozen zucchini (top), frozen peaches (bottom)

3 carrot cubes, thawed after a night in the fridge

• I give her one Baby Bullet serving (the bigger serving trays that come with the system) or three ice cubes.  I also mix all of her food with cereal (Oh, and I forgot that the system comes with a milling blade so you can make your own cereal--haven't done that yet though).  

So now my freezer drawer is full of fresh, natural food for my baby girl.  No need to introduce her to extra sugar or seasoning--if she doesn't know what she's missing that's bad for her, she won't miss it. Plus at her age, it's just not necessary at all.  And there's nothing artificial.  It's just like her picking up a piece of fresh fruit or a nice clean vegetable and chowing down on it--except in a form she can eat without choking and giving me heart failure...

The number of servings you're able to make out of a small amount of food is just incredible.  I mean one sweet potato yields 10-12 servings!  That would be $6 plus tax if it was processed food--instead, you just have to pay 50 cents for a sweet potato!  It's fabulous.

Bottom freezer drawer full of nothing but baby food!

Right now, I have made and stored: (I am considering a serving to be one Baby Bullet storage tray unit or 3 ice cubes)

• Carrots (1 small bag of baby carrots = 8 servings)
• Zucchini (2 zucchini = 8 servings)
• Squash (1 bag of frozen squash = 15 servings)
• Green Peas (1 small bag frozen = 14 servings)
• Green Beans (1 small bag frozen = 14 servings)
• Broccoli (1 bunch of broccoli = 9 servings)
• Plums (9 plums = 9 servings)
• Peaches (8 peaches = 12 servings)
• Watermelon  (1 small container already peeled and sliced = 6 servings.  A whole fruit would be cheaper and give so much more food!)
• Cantaloupe (1 small container already peeled and sliced = 6 servings.  A whole fruit would be cheaper and give so much more food!)
• Apples (4 apples = 8 servings)

I have also made sweet potatoes, bananas, and potatoes (wasn't crazy about how the regular potatoes turned out...).  I plan on trying avocado, asparagus, pears, eggplant, mango, and pineapple soon.  She's also getting old enough for me to start adding in some different meats.  We'll see what happens and when I can get around to that!

Go save some money!  And be organic while you're at it, haha!  Really, it's so easy and so good for your baby (and your bank account!).  I think you'll enjoy it if you give it a shot!

I mean, how could I not want to feed this sweet thing the best I can offer?!

Let me know how things go for you!

love, angie