Baby food pouches are expensive.

We’re starting to dip our toes into feeding Walt. Not literally – obviously. You shouldn’t eat toes, and neither should your infant.

Something that is really important to me is feeding my son real food, and baby pouches are EXPENSIVE. We aim to spend under $80/week on groceries altogether, and if I were to purchase just ONE organic pouch a day for him, that would be almost 20% of our weekly budget. I’m not spending 20% of my food budget on mush for my 6 month old. Pass. Good thing they are super easy to make! I made a batch that cost me exactly $0, because everything I needed, I had on hand. But if I had to buy new ingredients, they would come out to about twenty cents a pop. That’s more like it.

You can probably do this with things you have on hand anyway, but there are a few kitchen items that come in handy.

1. 1. Blender – I LOVE my Vitamix and use it constantly. You could easily use another blender or a food processor, but if you’re looking to make an investment you won’t regret, this is a good one.
   2. This Infantino pouch squeezy guy. It comes with ten reusable pouches and what I affectionately call a pouch squeegie. When these pouches “go,” (they won’t last forever) I probably will not replace them and will instead go the small glass mason jar route. But this is a great starter tool and is especially helpful for keeping track of quantities because of the measurement lines.

How to make the pouch filling:

1. 1. Roast your denser fruits and veggies! I used about a third of a big bag of organic baby carrots, drizzled with a bit of olive oil and cinnamon. They were the perfect softness after 30 minutes in the oven at 425. Use your judgement – if your roastings are soft without being burnt, they’re done! (Note: If you are starting with food that is already on the soft side -like raspberries or avocado- there’s no need to roast. Just plop it in the blender with your roasted goods.
   2. Blend your roasted items with anything that doesn’t require roasting. I had unsweetened applesauce on-hand, and I know Walt already likes that so it is a safe bet. I added about 1/2 cup. No measuring cups here – just eyeballs and feelings.
   3. Add liquid. How much will depend on how you prefer the consistency. I started with 1/2 a cup of water and added a few more tablespoons along the way.
   4. Blend until the filling reaches your desired consistency. For me, that meant working all the way up to level 7 on the Vitamix.
   5. Squeegie or jar your goods. If you’re using the infantino, you can measure how much goes into each by filling to the lines. Handy for feeding fixed amounts!

I can’t wait to experiment making pouches with other food combos! I love this concept because it gives me total control of what is in my son’s food, as well as the easy ability to sneak quality veggies in. This will be important once he has strong opinions. Anyone who knows his mama knows that he for sure is going to have strong opinions. Once we’ve introduced meat, I’m going to make a pouch version of my Butternut Squash and Chorizo soup. It’s the perfect recipe for a cooler evening. Hopefully Walt agrees!

XO-
Weez

P.S. You’ll notice a few affiliate links peppered in. If you shop from those links, you’ll be supporting my little family. I’ll only ever link to things I actually use and love. I hope you love them too!