September 3, 2008

Baby Food 102

(Top to bottom: peaches, carrots, sweet potatoes, yellow squash, chicken, black-eyed peas)

Well, the last batch of baby food lasted us a looooong time. Partly because we started them out slowly, partly because it was just a whole ton of food. See Baby Food 101

So, I got together with my terrific aunt and made a bunch more. Here's what we made, notes on how we made it, and the approximate cost. Again, it took about 2-3 hours for the whole process (minus shopping, which we needed to do anyways), and we have at least enough for a month. We put them into approximately 9 oz. containers.

2 lbs. blackeyed peas @ .85/lb. (see earlier entry) =$1.70 Made 10 containers
2 lbs. peaches (a gift) =5 containers =$0.00 Made 5 containers
4 lbs. carrots @ .70/lb. = $2.80 Made 9 containers
7 lbs. whole, hormone/antibiotic free chicken @.89/lb.= $6.25 Made 10 containers
3 lbs. sweet potatoes @ 1.00/lb.= $3.00 Made12 containers
2.5 lbs. pears @.90/lb. = $2.25 Made 5 containers
3 lbs. yellow squash @.80/lb. = $2.40 Made 5 containers

56 containers x 9 oz. = about 500 oz. of food
Total cost approximately $18.50, round up to $20.00 for tax, etc.
$20 divided by 500 oz. of food = $.04 per ounce. Or $.16 per 4 oz. jar

• Blackeyed peas, sweet potatoes, carrots: see earlier entry
• We cooked the fruits (pears and peaches) in their own juices with a small amount of water to keep from burning. Same for the squash, except we added water to cover the bottom of the pan.
• We boiled the chicken, allowed to cool in the broth it made, shredded it off the bone, and pureed it with some of its broth in a food processor. The chicken seems kind of expensive at first. But it's really good quality chicken, and I think a lot of the baby foods combine chicken with less expensive stuff, like rice. We'll get a similar effect through mixing it with veggies and rice cereal, so actually I think it's a really good deal for what we got out of it.
• Sweet potatoes and black-eyed peas are the cheapest, and both incredibly nutritious.
• We decided not to do apples this time around. The cost and labor just wasn't worth it with the price of apples right now. I think we'll just get some organic, unsweetened apple sauce next time it goes on sale. I also want to do some spinach or other green veggie for them, perhaps in the crockpot.
• BTW, there's a great entry on making crockpot/slow cooker baby food here. I'm definitely going to try this out. I was thinking that pumpkin or other winter squash, when they're in season, would be a good choice.
• Also, we would have saved a ton of money if we had gotten our food at a farmer's market. Take advantage of it if there's one near you. Seriously.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 8:30 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

April 3, 2008

Saving $$ II: Baby Stuff

1) There are tons of companies that offer free things for moms of multiples. I�m sure even moms of singletons can call some of these numbers and ask for coupons or offers. We�ve gotten free diapers, toys, formula, and tons of coupons, some of them for $5.00 or so off of diapers, or for free baby food, etc.

2) Joining diaper and other baby clubs is totally worth a little bit of junk mail, or junk e-mail. I made an e-mail account just for that sort of thing so I wouldn�t get overwhelmed by more junk.

3) Publix and other stores have terrific baby clubs. Publix has sent us coupons for free baby stuff, BOGO on diapers and wipes, etc.

4) Plus some stores�like Publix and Kroger�allow you to combine one manufacturer�s coupon and one store coupon. One week I combined a $5.00 off diapers coupon (manufacturer�s) with a buy a pack of diapers get a pack of wipes free coupon, and saved about half off what I would have paid. Last week, I got a pack of 136 diapers for $12.00 by getting an on sale brand, and using a $5.00 off and $3.00 off coupon.

5) Tim has a friend at work who has given us diapers her baby has outgrown, and another who regularly saves coupons for us. And we�re very grateful!!

6) When the time comes when we run out of baby clothes, we'll definitely use thrift stores, consignment shops, garage sales, etc. We already found some great outfits and toys while I was pregnant. And there are tons of consignment sales around, when I keep my eyes open.

7) Things I don�t do, but think are cool: cloth diapers, and cloth wipes. I�ve heard (if you don�t mind gently used diapers) that Ebay has great buys on cool new cloth diapers.

Any other ideas?

Posted by Tim and Jo at 5:14 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack