Just say no to graduate foods

Have you seen them? Those little 4-ounce jars of diced foods marinating in God knows what in the baby food aisle of the grocery store? Before you grab a few dozen of those, read on.
First, let's take a look at what you are actually buying: roughly 2 ounces of diced produce and 2 ounces of liquid (water or juice) and, depending on the product, perhaps some preservatives thrown in there as well. The cost: roughly 39 to 66 cents, depending on brand and sales.
Now, let's do a little math: Let's say you find some diced peaches on sale for 39 cents in the baby food aisle. That's 39 cents for 1/8 of a peach. Stroll over to the canned fruit aisle, and those same peaches, but in halves now, are generally 85 cents for a 16 ounce can that typically contains 2 1/2 peaches -- or about 4 cents for the same amount of peaches that are in that 39-cent jar of diced peaches a few aisles away. The savings applies to every produce item you can think of. Parents trying to save money would have to be crzy to buy the diced baby foods instead of making their own.
Making these diced foods for your baby is extremely easy -- easier than making pureed baby food. All you have to do is wash the produce as you normally would, dice into the correct size for your baby, place in a small container, add water and freeze. When it's meal time, simply pop one in the microwave and heat for a minute or so. By the way, my favorite containers for diced foods are the 4 ounce baby juice jars.
Even easier to use as "graduate" foods are frozen peas and green beans because there's no cooking involved and the vegetables can remain frozen. Canned fruits are an easy choice too, but make sure you buy the light variety and rinse well to eliminate as much added sugar as possible. Harder produce such as apples and carrots will still require cooking to soften them before dicing and storing.
So, the next time you go to get finger foods for your baby, think twice before picking up those jars and graduate to homemade diced foods instead.

Kristine;-)

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