I was just curious as to how many of you have made or make your own baby food. Do you have anything that your kids just really really liked? Benjamin seems to really like pears and sweet potatoes, but he will eat almost anything...although peas and green beans took him a few times.

I only ever made baby food. The jarred stuff was just too scary. I used to make up big batches and then freeze them in ice cube trays. Once they were frozen, I stuck two or three cubes in little sandwich bags. I also did that with teething biscuits and things that I made.

DS loved sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, carrots, avacados and green beans. DD hated bananas (she still does- weird kid). DS ate baby food for a long time. He wasn't really into real solid food. DD went almost straight to real food, but I nursed her exclusively until she was 8 months old. I also gave them yogurt and anything we were having that I thought they could handle- mashed potatoes or refried beans or whatever. I also have to admit that DD got peanut butter and chocolate before she was a year old. How do you tell one kid she can't have a treat the other is having? She didn't have any milk at all though until she was 2. She was WAY allergic to milk and would have a reaction for a week if I even ate a piece of cheese while I was nursing her. Now she's fine, but it sure made going out for ice cream exciting for a few years :rolleyes:

I made most of my son's baby food, although I did buy some prepared foods like applesauce and cereals. One of his favorite dishes was a puree of spinach, carrots, peas, and chicken livers. Oh, and he loved plain yogurt mixed with rice cereal and blueberry puree.

I found that texture was usually a bigger factor than taste when it came to him rejecting certain foods. If your baby refuses to eat bananas mashed with a fork for instance, try blending them smooth. Or you might have a baby who actually likes more texture, and will grow up to be one of those people who asks for lumps in their mashed potatoes.

:bluesmile

I never bought baby food or made my daughter special food, just served her bits of the same food we ate. When she was ready to eat, she picked the pieces up and fed herself. Before that time, I just figured she wasn't ready.

She grew up fine.

I made 90% of my babyfood from stuff we had for meals. Leftovers were frozen in cube trays too. I did have some of that jarred stuff on hand for car trips and longer visits though and when we werent having something the baby would have or if we were going out/eating late.

Thank you all for your reponses. It's neat to see how others do things.

All my kids ate homemade babyfood. I have always been suspicious of babyfood because it has such a long shelf life. The exception to that is Gerber Baby Bananas, which I love & still buy ocassionaly for myself :ponder: and the Gerber Rice Cereal.

My kids were breastfed and they always seemed to want to eat when it was my mealtime. I knew they were ready for solids when they started reaching for table food.