Baby Spartan's Mom

Well, not quite Betty Crocker (if she were an actual human and not an invented personality, she’d be rolling over in her grave). Which, by the way, was very smart of General Mills but very disappointing to me when I realized as a young adult she wasn’t real. Makes me think of the TV show, Madmen. GREAT show. But man, those ad guys were professional con-artists-slash-spin-doctors back then. You don’t have to like it (in fact, it’s appalling), but what they did for the cigarette industry was nothing short of brilliant.

ANYWAY >>> I did, however, have a little spurt of domesticity the other day. Must have been the full moon. Ask my mom…I was born wearing pants in a family of 5 men.

So, this is what happened during my manic mommy phase…

I bought some organic veggies & fruit and made baby food!!!


It’s so very simple. And trust me…if I can do it, ANYONE can. It’s easy to buy organic jarred food from the store (I always try to buy organic…Earth’s Best is my favorite, but Gerber has an organic line as well); however, the truly Eco-friendly moms cook their own. (Disclaimer: I am in no way, shape or form claiming that I am an “Eco Mom” raising an “Eco Baby”.) I DO TRY, but I fail. {sigh} I am the mom that shows up at the eco-friendly mommy groups and changes my daughter’s Huggies in the corner so no one can see that I’m using disposable. I don’t have my crap together yet to spend that much time on my daughter’s butt. I was a bit overwhelmed at becoming pregnant at 39. Yes, that's an excuse. I know. Maybe if I had a Nanny…

Okay, back to COOKING ~

Pears were ridiculously easy:

1. I cored and pealed 2 pears.
2. Steamed them until soft.
3. Put them in my cheapo $10 food processor I bought from Target.
4. Pureed them until they were nice and smooth.
5. Spooned them into my little Earth’s Best baby food jars that I ran through the dishwasher twice to disinfect.
6. Put them in the freezer!

See, I told you…easy breezy :)

For the yams, I peeled and cut them up into chunks, stuck them in a covered Pyrex dish with about a half cup of water, and baked them at 350 degrees (I rarely cook so my oven experience is slim to none…350 seemed logical to me since every frozen pizza I’ve ever made seems to be cooked at that temperature. Plus, I was just too lazy to look it up). Don’t ask me how long I baked them, I just kept checking until I could “stick a fork in it and call it done” (said with a Southern drawl…not sure why, just sounds good). When I pureed the yams, I had to add more water to get the consistency I wanted, unlike the pears which naturally have more water in them.


You can see in the picture how lazy I was about labeling…if it didn’t completely fall off in the dishwasher, I just wrote over the existing label with a Sharpie. I'm so ghetto.


Bottom line: 2 regular sized pears made 2 jars. 1 regular sized yam made 6 jars. I saved a few pennies with the pears, but the significant savings were the yams. I paid $1.83 for two pears (at $2.99 a pound, this was a splurge for me) ~ so at $.89 to $.99 a jar, it wasn’t that much. But, I paid $2.39 for the yam ($1.99 per pound), which saved me about $3.00 in the end! Plus, there is no negative environmental effect, it’s healthier for my baby and I get to brag that “Oh Yeah, I make my own baby food”. Of course, I pulled out jarred food for her lunch today because I forgot to thaw the yams and pears. My role as a mommy is a work in progress.

Oh, and a word of advice, don’t forget to leave some space in the jar or they will explode in the freezer.

Also, tip number 2 ~ it might help to check if your garbage disposal is working before peeling all these healthful fruits and veggies into the sink, otherwise, you’ll be sticking your hand down the drain while images of a horror film flash through your mind: the disposal mysteriously turns on with your hand in it and the sink devours your entire body then spits you out of some other portal in your home as a big chunky mess of blood and guts, all over your husband.

I didn’t say that happened to me…I’m just saying…

I need a nap.