One of my greatest pleasures as a mother is feeding my kids. (Um, really? Who would have guessed?) Feeding my babies is a particular joy. I love introducing them to new foods and flavors because they’re just so receptive. They even make cute faces when they don’t like something!

I made almost all of Wyatt’s baby food myself and I’m doing the same for Augie. I don’t do anything fancy — I just steam veggies and then puree them with an immersion blender or the food processor. Sometimes I add a little water to thin it out. So far I’ve made big batches of sweet potato, parsnip, and butternut squash for Augie. After I get the puree made, I freeze it in ice cube trays and then later, I pop them out and store the frozen cubes in bags in the freezer. That way, I always have something on hand to give him. My favorite thing to do though is to puree any veggie side dishes the rest of us are eating for dinner (without butter or seasonings, of course — he’s too little for those just yet). I like for Augie to sit at the table with us and eat what we’re eating. I usually try to make a little extra when I do this, so I can make icy little food cubes out of these purees as well. I find broccoli and green beans work especially well for this.

I like making my own baby food for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I know exactly what my boy is eating. I can choose organic produce and I can be confident there aren’t any additives, fillers, artificial colors, or other chemicals in his food. It’s also significantly cheaper to make your own baby food than it is to buy it in jars. This chart over at wholesomebabyfood.com indicates that jarred food costs between 4-6 times more than making it at home! Yowza! It’s also easy. With my immersion blender, I can whip out a batch of baby food in less than a minute. Cleaning the blender takes even less time. And finally, I’m not collecting a million little baby food jars, or even piling them up in the the recycle bin so I’m reducing my carbon footprint and all that.

But what I love most is making something for my baby with care, with my own hands. And putting lots of love in every tiny little spoonful.