In two months of making my own homemade baby food instead of purchasing it ready made in jars - I have saved $228

Here’s how:

Llany is now one year old.  He has been eating more than one jar of baby food per meal.  Typically he can eat two, stage 2 jars per meal which was coming out to a consumption of six jars per day.

I had been buying Earth’s Best organic baby food which ranges in price from $.74 – $.99 per jar.  For the sake of this comparison I rounded up to $1 per jar because in my state there is also added sales tax to consider.

So at $1 per jar, consuming 6 jars per day – I was spending $6 per day on baby food.

To keep this up, in two months time, this would cost me:

$360 for a two month supply of jars of baby food.

Since making all my own baby food, and providing even more than the portion equivalent of two jars per meal, it has cost me:

$132 for a two month supply of homemade baby food ingredients.

The following is a shopping list of products I used to provide TWO MONTHS of meals for baby:

(Not all items were purchased in one shopping trip.  Some of the fresh produce was purchased separately each month.)

Fruits

2 Bunches Bananas             Costco             $4 ea.               $8

2 Flats Pears                          Costco             $6 ea.               $12

1 Frozen Strawberries       Costco             $10 ea.             $10

2 Flats Apples                       Costco             $10 ea.             $20

I also picked up a couple cans of organic pumpkin and sweet potatoes at Trader Joes.  I’m not sure the cost, but it was only a few dollars and 1 can lasted me for a whole week mixed amongst all these other options.

Veggies

1 Orgn Frzn Grn Beans       Costco             $6 ea.               $6

1 Organic Frozen Peas       Costco             $6 ea.               $6

1 Organic Frozen Corn      Costco             $6 ea.               $6

4 Bags Avocados                 Costco             $6 ea.               $16

Base Mixers

4 Cans H.B. Cereals – Albertsons       $4 ea.               $16

8/32 oz. Org Yogurts    Wal-Mart          $4 ea.                $32

You can also use scrambled eggs, pasta, and rice that you already have for bases to mix with purees.

From the above shopping list I’ve been able to mix and match ingredients to create meals like this:

Breakfast: Fruits and Yogurt or Cereal

Lunch: Fruits, Veggies, Yogurt and/or Cereal

Dinner: Veggies and Cereal and/or Meat from family dinner – pureed fish, turkey, chicken, or beef

Snacks: Finger food fruit pieces, crackers, dry cereal

To find out more about how I prepared and stored my homemade baby food, click here.