Yard Sale Score!

Since JJ is now of solid food age, I have been looking into making his food (because Megan never does anything the easy way...), and was a little bothered that the "spend money to save money" concept was back in play.  Food steamers, food grinders, food storage systems, on-the-go items, cook books...there is a LOT out there for people who are trying to save some money by making their child's food, and I felt that it would take a while to see the savings. The only thing keeping me interested was that I could control the quality of my child's food and the waste from all of the packaging.

Enter this weekend. Jim and I went to a yard sale in town, and I was thrilled to find some of the very items I had been scouting in the past few weeks! I got a food grinder, 2 food storage trays, and an on-the-go grinder for food from my plate at restaurants, as well as some very helpful advice from the seller. And all for...$6!!!!! . I feel like I hit the jackpot! Here's a picture of my score. The items are as good as new!

So I purchased 8 jars of food for JJ (of Earth's Best "First" series), so that I can try out different foods to see how he reacts before I spend a lot of time making them (then I also have 8 jars that I can use to take his food around!). I started with sweet potatoes, and he seems to enjoy them! So I will add that to my list of things to make him. Next up, I will try squash, since our doctor recommended starting with yellow/orange veggies before green ones, then moving on to fruit.

Anyone out there have any tips for making your own food? How much did you make at a time? Did you develop any sort of routine that seemed to make the task easier?