Nine months into this new stage of life called mothering and it’s been the ride of a lifetime.  And one that I’d be happy get back in line and ride again. I truly love being a mom and am thankful for the little blessing that God has entrusted to our family.

Once I knew that a little one was on the horizon, questions started immediately running through my head.  How am I going to do this thing called mothering?   Would I make my own baby food? Or buy stock in Gerber? Attachment parenting? Schedule?  Breastfeed?  Bottle?  Cloth diapering? Disposables?  Way too many choices.  And with so many looming options, I started to wonder where the manual was–especially since these days even the simplest child’s toy includes a manual.

And each person seems to know (or think they do) the protocol to mother ‘THE RIGHT WAY’.  And it was my experience that everyone also wanted to share it–even down to the cashier at Kroger.  Even when random strangers don’t care to share how you should parent, there are equally as many people willing to be  the naysayers to all your good intentions:  “Oh, we’ll see how long THAT will last…” (especially in regards to my cloth diapering choice & desire to breastfeed.)

As everyone does, we have done what works for our family.  I’m not naïve to think our way is the BEST way.  But OBVIOUSLY, we do what works best for us, or we would do otherwise.  And each set of parents will chart their own parenting blueprint, and I’m truly fine with that.

I started feeding Pierson solid’s at 6 months.  I purposed to make his baby food because I figured it would not only be cheaper, but I also figured that Gerber couldn’t do any better than my fruits, veggies, and blender could.  And it has worked for us!  Amazingly, my budget stayed the same, and no one as gone hungry.

Lately, making baby food has become increasingly easy.  Here’s why.

On Wednesday, I made an easy, yummy teriyaki noodle dish.  (THANKS, ALDI!!!  Why I love Aldi:  This yummy 2 lb veggie/noodle/teriyaki sauce was $3.00; the chicken was $2.00.  Total meal =$5, plus a couple dashes of extra sauces to kick it up a notch.)

How the baby food happens: I rinse off any extra spiciness.

I go to town with Pampered Chef’s food chopper until the food looks unappetizing and baby food like.

And here’s the verdict:

I did a full month and a half of pureed fruits and veggies, then started introducing this type of baby food.  He loves it!  The past couple of weeks, little guy has eaten teriyaki chicken noodles, Stir fry, beans and rice, curried chicken salad, zucchini chicken casserole, chicken pot pie…you get the picture! Easy schmeezy baby food that takes no extra work (other than ensuring your meals are healthy & balanced!)

YEAH FOR SAVING $$$!